How to customize ChatGPT for a better experience

Most people using ChatGPT are leaving performance on the table. They fire it up, type a question, and take whatever response they get. But ChatGPT has personalization settings that let you customize how it responds to you, and when you set these up right, the quality of your interactions improves dramatically.

Think of it like this: you're hiring an assistant, and you get to tell that assistant exactly how you like to work. Do you want them to assume you're an expert, or explain things from basics? Do you want long, detailed responses or quick answers? Do you want sources cited, or are you okay with general knowledge?

These aren't one-size-fits-all questions. Your ideal settings depend on how you use the tool and what you're trying to accomplish. Let's walk through how to customize ChatGPT to work the way you work.

Where to find personalization settings

In ChatGPT, look for your profile settings. You'll find a section for customization where you can add instructions that ChatGPT will follow in all your conversations. This is different from typing instructions in each chat. These are persistent preferences that shape how ChatGPT responds every time.

The instructions you add here become part of the context in every conversation. You're essentially training ChatGPT on how to work with you specifically. And once you set this up, you don't need to repeat yourself in every chat.

Setting your expertise level

One of the most impactful customizations is telling ChatGPT what level of expertise to assume. The default behavior is to explain things at a fairly general level, which makes sense for a tool used by millions of people with varying backgrounds. But if you're a professional using ChatGPT for work, those basic explanations waste your time.

Here's an instruction that changes this: "Treat me as an expert in all subject matter."

This single line shifts how ChatGPT responds. Instead of explaining basic concepts, it assumes you already know the fundamentals and gets straight to the advanced stuff. Instead of saying "SEO, which stands for Search Engine Optimization, is the practice of..." it just talks about SEO strategies assuming you know what SEO is.

For marketers, this is huge. You don't need ChatGPT to explain what a conversion funnel is or define what CTR means. You need it to help you optimize your funnel or improve your CTR. Setting this expertise expectation makes responses more useful and less cluttered with information you already have.

The caveat is that you should actually be somewhat knowledgeable about what you're asking. If you're asking ChatGPT about quantum physics and you have zero background in it, telling it to treat you as an expert might lead to explanations that fly over your head. But for your professional domain, this setting is incredibly valuable.

Handling uncertainty and accuracy

AI tools sometimes guess when they don't know something. They'll present uncertain information as if it's fact, or they'll confidently state things that aren't quite right. This is one of the bigger problems with using AI for professional work because mistakes can be costly.

You can address this with an instruction: "Mistakes erode my trust, so do not guess."

This tells ChatGPT to be upfront when it's uncertain. Instead of guessing at an answer, it should either tell you it doesn't know or be clear about what it's sure about versus what it's inferring. This doesn't eliminate all errors, but it reduces confidently stated wrong information.

For speculation or predictions, you can ask for a flag. "If you use speculation or prediction, just flag it for me by appending :interrobang::interrobang:."

The specific flag doesn't matter. You could use asterisks, a warning emoji, or any marker you prefer. The point is that when ChatGPT is extrapolating or making predictions rather than stating facts, you want that clearly marked so you know to verify before relying on it.

This is particularly important in marketing where data accuracy matters. If you're asking about industry trends or competitive strategies, you want to know what's established fact versus what's ChatGPT's best guess based on patterns in its training data.

Formatting for readability

The way ChatGPT formats responses affects how useful they are. A wall of text is harder to scan than well-organized content with clear structure. You can specify your formatting preferences.

"Provide answers with clean markup, using headings, whitespace, and when possible use bullet lists with creative emojis for style."

This instruction does a few things. First, it asks for headings, which break up long responses into scannable sections. Second, it requests whitespace, making responses easier on the eyes. Third, it suggests bullet lists where appropriate, which are faster to read than paragraphs for certain types of information.

The emoji bit is optional and depends on your preference. Some people find them helpful for visual scanning. Others think they're unprofessional. Customize this based on your taste.

If you prefer a different style, specify that instead. Maybe you want dense, technical formatting with minimal styling. Maybe you want numbered lists instead of bullets. Maybe you never want emojis. The key is being explicit about what works for your brain.

For marketing work, good formatting helps you extract information quickly. If you're asking ChatGPT to analyze competitors or outline a campaign strategy, clear structure makes it easier to pull out the pieces you need.

Removing unnecessary preambles and disclaimers

ChatGPT often includes preambles, disclaimers, and explanations that might be helpful for casual users but are redundant for professional use. You can strip these away with specific instructions.

"No moral lectures. Await clear instructions before proceeding to provide a long answer. Discuss safety only when it's crucial and non-obvious."

The "no moral lectures" part addresses ChatGPT's tendency to add ethical considerations to responses, even when you didn't ask for them. If you're asking for marketing copy that creates urgency, you don't need a paragraph about making sure your urgency is genuine. You're a professional who understands ethical marketing.

"Await clear instructions before proceeding" prevents ChatGPT from jumping ahead with assumptions. If you ask a question that could be answered in multiple ways, you want ChatGPT to clarify what you need rather than guessing and giving you a long response that might not be what you wanted.

The safety discussion instruction is about relevance. ChatGPT sometimes includes safety warnings that are obvious or not applicable. You want safety information when it actually matters, not boilerplate cautions.

For marketing applications, these settings help you get to useful content faster. You're not wading through caveats and general advisories. You're getting strategic help with your actual work.

Handling content policy limitations

AI tools have content policies that sometimes get in the way of legitimate work. Maybe you're asking about competitive analysis and your question gets flagged. Maybe you're working on sensitive topics and running into restrictions.

You can address this: "If your content policy is an issue, provide the closest acceptable response and explain the content policy issue."

This instruction tells ChatGPT to work with you rather than just refusing. Instead of a flat "I can't help with that," you get an explanation of what the concern is and the closest thing it can provide. Often, the issue is how the question was phrased, and understanding the policy concern lets you rephrase effectively.

This is particularly useful in marketing because marketing sometimes touches on sensitive topics. You might be developing campaigns around financial services, health products, or other regulated industries. Having ChatGPT explain policy limitations helps you work within constraints rather than hitting dead ends.

Source citation and verification

For professional work, knowing where information comes from matters. You can't just take ChatGPT's word for things and use that in client deliverables or strategy documents. You need to be able to verify and cite sources.

"Cite sources whenever possible, and include URLs if possible. List URLs at the end of your response, not inline."

This instruction pushes ChatGPT to be more explicit about where information is coming from. It won't always have URLs, because much of its knowledge comes from training data without direct source attribution. But when it can point to sources, this ensures it does.

Listing URLs at the end rather than inline keeps the main response clean and readable. You can check sources after you've digested the information, rather than having links cluttering the text.

For marketers doing research or competitive analysis, this verification capability is crucial. You need to be able to check claims, especially if you're going to base strategies on the information or present findings to stakeholders.

Removing meta-commentary

ChatGPT often includes meta-commentary that adds no value. It mentions its knowledge cutoff date, discloses that it's an AI, or explains its limitations. For professional use, this is noise.

"No need to mention your knowledge cutoff. No need to disclose you're an AI."

You already know you're talking to an AI. You don't need that reminder in every response. And while the knowledge cutoff is sometimes relevant, most of the time it's just taking up space. If the cutoff actually matters for your question, you can ask specifically.

This streamlines responses and keeps focus on the actual information you need. In a professional context where you're moving fast through multiple tasks, removing this overhead helps you work more efficiently.

Customizing for different use cases

The instructions above work well for professional, expert-level use. But your ideal customization might be different depending on how you use ChatGPT.

If you're using ChatGPT primarily for creative work like writing marketing copy or brainstorming campaign ideas, you might want different settings. You could ask for more expansive, exploratory responses. You might want ChatGPT to offer multiple options rather than narrowing to one answer. You might care less about citations and more about creative variety.

Your instructions might include: "When brainstorming or creating content, provide multiple diverse options rather than a single approach. Prioritize creativity and novelty over convention. Push boundaries while staying effective."

If you're using ChatGPT for data analysis and strategic work, you want different things. Precision, structure, and logical reasoning become priorities. Your instructions might emphasize: "Approach problems analytically. Break down complex questions into components. Show your reasoning. Quantify where possible."

For learning and skill development, you'd customize differently again. You might want more explanation, examples, and step-by-step breakdowns, even if you're generally an expert. Your instructions could say: "When teaching new concepts, provide clear examples and analogies. Break processes into discrete steps. Offer practice applications."

The point is that there's no universal "best" customization. Think about how you actually use the tool and what would make those interactions more effective.

Marketing-specific customizations

If you're primarily using ChatGPT for marketing work, certain customizations become especially valuable.

You might want to specify your brand context: "I work in B2B SaaS marketing, targeting mid-market technology companies. Frame marketing advice and examples in this context rather than using generic or B2C examples."

This saves you from constantly having to reframe generic advice for your specific situation. ChatGPT will naturally provide more relevant examples and strategies.

You could specify your marketing philosophy: "I focus on value-driven marketing that educates and serves rather than interrupts and sells. Avoid suggesting tactics that rely on hype, manipulation, or aggressive sales tactics."

This aligns ChatGPT's suggestions with your approach, reducing the need to filter out advice that doesn't match your style.

For content creation, specify your preferences: "When writing marketing content, prioritize clarity over cleverness. Use concrete examples over abstract concepts. Make every sentence earn its place. Avoid marketing jargon and buzzwords."

This shapes the quality and style of any marketing copy ChatGPT generates for you, making first drafts more usable and reducing revision time.

Privacy and context considerations

One thing to keep in mind: the instructions you add to your personalization settings are visible to OpenAI. Don't include confidential information, proprietary strategies, or sensitive business details in your standing instructions.

Instead, keep your instructions focused on how you want ChatGPT to behave, not on private context about your business. Save specific business context for individual conversations where you have more control.

You can include general context (like your industry or role) without giving away anything proprietary. "I'm a marketing director in the software industry" is fine. "I'm working on Project X for Client Y with budget Z" should stay out of your persistent instructions.

Testing and refining your customizations

Don't expect to nail your perfect customization on the first try. Start with a basic set of instructions based on what you know frustrates you or what you find yourself repeating.

Use ChatGPT for a week with those settings. Notice what works and what doesn't. Are responses too terse? Add an instruction for more detail. Are you getting too much unnecessary explanation? Specify more conciseness. Are formatting choices not matching your preference? Adjust.

Your customization can and should evolve as you understand better how the tool responds to different instructions. This isn't a set-it-and-forget-it feature. It's something you tune over time as you learn what makes your interactions more productive.

Combining customizations with good prompts

Even with great personalization settings, your individual prompts matter. Your settings establish how ChatGPT should respond, but your prompts determine what you get.

With your settings tuned for expert-level, no-nonsense responses, you can write more efficient prompts. You don't need to specify "don't explain basic concepts" because that's in your settings. You don't need to ask for citations because that's automatic. You can focus your prompt on what you actually need.

A prompt like "analyze the competitive landscape for marketing automation tools in the mid-market segment, focusing on positioning differentiation and pricing strategies" will get you exactly what you asked for, formatted the way you like, at the expertise level you specified, without a bunch of preamble about what competitive analysis is or disclaimers about AI limitations.

That's the power of good customization. It removes friction and lets you work at the speed of thought.

When not to customize

There are times when starting fresh with no customizations makes sense. If you're exploring a topic you genuinely know nothing about, expert-level responses might not be helpful. If you're trying to understand how a general audience would interact with something, you want more general responses.

ChatGPT lets you start specific conversations with custom instructions that override your defaults. If you need to step outside your normal working mode, you can do that for individual chats without changing your overall settings.

The real benefit: reducing cognitive overhead

The underlying value of customization isn't just saving time, though it does that. It's reducing the cognitive overhead of working with AI.

Without customization, part of your brain is always managing the interaction. You're filtering out unnecessary information, reformatting responses mentally, adjusting for the wrong expertise level, and second-guessing accuracy. That's exhausting, and it makes AI feel like more work than it should be.

With good customization, ChatGPT works more like a well-trained team member. You can trust the format, trust the expertise level, trust that uncertainty will be flagged. You spend less energy managing the tool and more energy on the actual work you're trying to do.

For marketing professionals juggling multiple campaigns, constant context-switching, and tight deadlines, that reduction in cognitive load is genuinely valuable. It's the difference between AI being occasionally useful and AI being a reliable part of your workflow.

Getting started today

If you haven't customized ChatGPT yet, spend ten minutes doing it now. Go to your settings, find the customization section, and add a few basic instructions based on what would help you most.

Start with expertise level. Add something about formatting if you have strong preferences. Include the instruction about not guessing if accuracy matters to you. That's enough to make a noticeable difference.

Use it for a few days, then refine. Add or remove instructions based on what's working. Within a week or two, you'll have ChatGPT tuned to work the way you work, and you'll wonder how you used it any other way.

The instructions shared at the beginning of this article are one example of how to customize for expert-level professional use. You might use those exactly as written, modify them to fit your preferences, or develop something completely different based on your needs. The goal isn't to copy someone else's setup. It's to create a setup that makes your work better.