01 · Build
Describe your site, then copy the prompt
Fill in the boxes for your own business. The prompt below updates as you type, and the highlighted parts come from your answers. Nothing you type here is sent anywhere.
Then type your own business over it.
Open ChatGPT SitesYou need ChatGPT Plus or a higher plan. Sites isn't on the Free or Go plans, and it's still in beta, so things can change. Prices change too, so check ChatGPT's pricing page before you sign up.
Prompt 1: Build the site
This is the prompt from the video. Click "Show me an example" above to see it word for word.
Prompt 2: Change one thing
The change I asked for in the video. Swap in your own change, and keep asking for one thing at a time.
Prompt 3: Swap in a real photo
A first version may use a drawing. Ask for a real photo instead, then check that you like it and that it's free to use. Your own photos are even better.
Prompt 4: Make the form a working form
My first version had a demo form that didn't save anything. If your form says it's a demo, or nothing shows up in Settings → Database after a test, send this.
Prompt 5: Add a privacy line and a tick box
Fill in the privacy line maker in step 02 first. This prompt picks up your text from there.
Prompt 6: Ask for a copy of your files
OpenAI's help pages don't show an official way to download a site. So ask in the same chat, and save what you get on your own computer (check 4 below).
02 · Protect
Make your privacy line and tick box
Your form collects people's names and email addresses, and you are responsible for what it collects. OpenAI's help pages say the site owner should have a visible privacy policy, ask for consent where it's needed, and handle requests to delete someone's details. Fill in three boxes and you get a short line to start from.
Your privacy line
Your tick box text
In South Africa, POPIA is the privacy law. Other countries have similar rules, so check what applies where you and your visitors live. If you also want to send people tips or newsletters, ask with a separate tick box, and don't tick it for them.
03 · Launch
Publish, then put it on your own domain
A new site is private until you publish it. After that you can put it on your own web address. You must already own the domain, because ChatGPT Sites doesn't sell domains.
Publish
Your own domain
A subdomain is a free extra address on a domain you already own, such as site.yourbusiness.com. Your main website stays exactly as it is. Custom domains work on the ChatGPT Plus plan.
Will Google find it? OpenAI's pages don't say how Sites works with search engines. Give your page a clear title and description, and if it's on your own domain, you can add it to Google Search Console.
04 · Check
5 checks before you rely on it
ChatGPT Sites is quick and easy, and it's also a new service in beta. Do these five checks before you put your business on it. Where OpenAI's pages don't answer a question, this checklist says so, rather than guessing.
1Who owns it
OpenAI's ChatGPT Sites Terms say your site's content, including the code, is yours. The same terms say that during the beta they can unpublish or remove a site at any time.
2Where your form data goes
Form requests are saved only in the site's Database (Settings → Database), not in your email list or email tool. Sites doesn't email you when someone fills in the form, so you need to check it yourself. If you delete a site, it can't be restored. Restoring an older version brings back the page, but not the form requests.
3Your chats
On Plus, the chats where you build your site may be used to improve OpenAI's models if the setting "Improve the model for everyone" is on.
4Keep a copy
OpenAI's pages don't say how to download a site's files, and there's no official export button in the help pages. When I asked ChatGPT for the files (Prompt 6), it gave me a zip file to save. Two things to know: the form requests aren't in that copy, and moving the site to another host would need some technical setup. So it protects your work, but it isn't a one-click move.
5What happens when you stop paying
OpenAI's pages don't say what happens to a site when your plan ends. Sites isn't on the Free or Go plans, so don't count on your site staying online. Plan for it now, while everything works.
My landing page video shows another route: make the page with Claude and put it on your own web host. It takes a few more steps. Both routes are good, so pick the one that fits how you work.