Give ChatGPT context about your role, preferences, and style
September 25, 2025 · Last updated on September 30, 2025
Customizing ChatGPT for your role
Custom Instructions let you shape how ChatGPT responds to you. You can provide preferences on tone, level of detail, and areas of focus so the AI can better match your needs. Combined with prompt engineering, memory, GPTs, and projects, you have multiple ways to make ChatGPT sound like you and reflect your working style.This saves editing time, reduces back-and-forth, and helps you build trust in ChatGPT’s outputs.
Try it out
There are a few ways to better customize ChatGPT’s responses. You can set instructions at multiple levels: at the user level through settings, within a specific project’s instructions, inside a custom GPT, or even just in the chat itself when you need a one-off adjustment.
Set custom instructions through settings: Go to your profile and then click “Personalize.”
Experiment with prompt engineering within a chat: Give clear, specific guidance in your prompts, such as:
“Draft this in a casual, conversational tone as if writing a team Slack update.”
“Rewrite this in a persuasive, marketing-style voice that emphasizes benefits and urgency.”
“Frame this in a neutral, technical style suitable for a policy document.”
Provide samples: Paste in examples of your writing and ask:
“Summarize my tone and style, including word choice, sentence length, and level of formality.”
“Mirror this style in a new draft about [topic], matching tone, pacing, and structure so it feels seamless.”
Recreate this style but adjust slightly for a different audience, such as executives vs. frontline staff.”
Use memory: Enable memory so ChatGPT can remember your style preferences and reuse them across conversations. With memory turned on, ChatGPT can recall not just tone but also recurring details like preferred formats, terminology, or audiences. See Memory FAQ.
Use instructions in GPTs and projects: You can create a custom GPT that always responds in your preferred format or voice, or set project instructions that define the style and tone for a specific body of work. See custom GPTs and Projects.
Use cases for your role
Role
Example customization
Sales
Have ChatGPT write prospecting emails in your personal tone to keep outreach consistent.
Marketing
Mirror your brand voice in campaign copy by training ChatGPT with style samples.
HR
Generate policy drafts or employee communications in a clear, approachable tone.
Finance
Standardize reporting outputs (tables, summaries, commentary) for executive audiences.
Product Management
Maintain consistent tone in PRDs, release notes, and stakeholder updates.
