A comic-book style illustration featuring a confident man holding a laptop with the GPT logo on screen. Behind him are icons of a lightbulb, gear, and document, with the bold headline "Getting Started with Custom GPTs – Your Next-Level AI Toolkit" popping against a textured teal-blue backdrop.

Getting Started with Custom GPTs: Your Next-Level AI Toolkit

Business Growth & Real Estate
November 03, 2025•7 min read

You've started using AI. You're beginning to understand what a powerful tool it can be and how a well-crafted prompt can make the difference between "meh" results and "HOLY COW" results from your AI models. And you're ready to advance your AI game.

Welcome to custom AI tools, commonly referred to as custom GPTs.

The AI gurus you follow? They're using them. The businesses on the front lines of AI adoption? Yep, them too. Custom-built and trained AI tools are what's powering much of the AI revolution.

But can I let you in on a little secret? They're crazy easy to build.

I discovered this myself when I was using ChatGPT for content creation. It did a really good job of writing my blogs and social media posts, but they all seemed very... AI. Generic. Polished but soulless.

That changed completely when I built a custom GPT trained on my writing style, voice, and writing examples. The results went from generic to very much sounding like me. So much like me, in fact, that my mom called me in tears after reading a blog I had written with my custom GPT because she was so moved by what I said.

That's the power we're talking about here.

Now, I want to be transparent: custom GPTs are easy to build. I'm going to show you how. But the real power comes when you learn how to effectively design, test, improve, and deploy your AI tools. That's what separates a hobbyist from someone who's truly leveraging AI to transform their business.

What Exactly Is a Custom GPT?

Let's start with the basics. A custom GPT is an AI assistant that you configure with specific instructions and knowledge to perform particular tasks consistently and effectively.

While OpenAI popularized the term "custom GPTs" in ChatGPT, the concept extends across platforms:

  • ChatGPT calls them "Custom GPTs"

  • Claude calls them "Projects"

  • Google Gemini calls them "Gems"

  • Other platforms may call them "agents," "assistants," or "bots"

Regardless of the name, they all work on the same principle: you're taking a general-purpose AI model and specializing it for your specific needs by giving it custom instructions and training materials.

Think of it like the difference between hiring a general contractor versus hiring a specialist who only does the exact type of work you need. Both are skilled, but the specialist knows your requirements inside and out.

Common Use Cases: What Can You Actually Build?

The applications are virtually limitless, but here are some of the most powerful custom GPTs I've built and used:

Writing Assistants: Custom GPTs trained on your voice, style, and brand guidelines that can create blogs, emails, and social media posts that actually sound like you. This is where I saw that breakthrough with my mom's emotional reaction—the AI wasn't just mimicking generic business writing; it was capturing my authentic voice.

Avatar Creation: Build virtual versions of your ideal customers, influential writers in your field, or even competitors. You can "interview" these avatars to understand perspectives, test messaging, or explore strategic decisions.

Implementation Guidance Tools: Create custom GPTs that guide your team through your specific processes—onboarding sequences, quality assurance checklists, or strategic frameworks unique to your business.

Online Profile Optimizers: Tools that analyze and improve your LinkedIn profile, website copy, or social media presence based on your industry's best practices and your personal brand.

Strategic Advisors: Custom GPTs loaded with your business data, market research, and strategic frameworks that can help you think through decisions, spot opportunities, and challenge your assumptions.

The key insight here is that these aren't generic tools doing generic work. They're specialized instruments calibrated precisely to your needs.

The Two Critical Components: Instructions and Knowledge

Every effective custom GPT is built on two foundational elements:

1. Custom Instructions

These are the "operating manual" for your AI tool. They tell the AI:

  • What role it's playing

  • How it should communicate

  • What its goals and priorities are

  • How it should structure its outputs

  • What it should never do

Think of custom instructions as the personality and process guidelines for your AI assistant.

2. Knowledge Files

This is where the real magic happens. Knowledge files are the training materials that teach your AI tool about your specific domain. They can include:

  • Examples of your writing

  • Brand guidelines and style guides

  • Process documentation

  • Research reports and frameworks

  • Case studies and best practices

  • Product information and specifications

Knowledge files are what transform a general AI into a specialized expert in your particular domain. They're critically important to your custom GPT's function—and in my process, I actually start here rather than with the instructions.

My 5-Step Process for Building High-Performing Custom GPTs

Over time, I've refined a systematic approach to building custom GPTs that consistently deliver exceptional results. Here's how it works:

Step 1: Design

I don't start by jumping into the custom GPT builder. Instead, I initiate a design conversation with the AI itself.

I'll open a standard chat and say something like: "I want to build a custom GPT that will help me write blogs for my coaching business. I want you to help me design the tool. Please ask me questions to start the design process."

The AI will then interview you about your needs, goals, audience, and desired outcomes. This collaborative design process ensures you're building something truly useful rather than just something technically impressive.

Step 2: Create the Knowledge Files

Here's where my process differs from most: I build the knowledge files first, before writing custom instructions.

Why? Because the knowledge files are the foundation. They contain the actual expertise, examples, and context your GPT needs. Once you have solid knowledge files, the AI can help you craft custom instructions that leverage those materials effectively.

For a writing assistant, your knowledge files might include:

  • 10-20 examples of your best writing

  • Your brand voice guidelines

  • Your content frameworks

  • Research on your target audience

The more comprehensive and high-quality your knowledge files, the more powerful your custom GPT will be.

Step 3: Design the Custom Instructions

Once I have my knowledge files ready, I feed them back to the AI model to assess their quality and fit. Then I ask it to generate the custom instructions.

I'll say something like: "I've created these knowledge files [describe or attach them]. Please review them and then write comprehensive custom instructions for a GPT that will use these materials to write blogs in my voice and style."

The AI will create instructions that are specifically tailored to leverage your knowledge base, ensuring everything works together seamlessly.

Step 4: Build

Now it's time to actually create the tool. I go to ChatGPT's custom GPT builder (or Claude Projects, or whichever platform I'm using) and:

  • Load the knowledge files

  • Add the custom instructions

  • Create conversation starters (I love adding a "Start" button that explains what the GPT does and how to use it)

  • Set the appropriate permissions and sharing settings

This is the technical construction phase, but because you've done the design work upfront, it's straightforward.

Step 5: Test and Refine

This is where good custom GPTs become great ones. I run test scenarios, give the GPT real tasks, and carefully evaluate the outputs.

The key is to be systematic:

  • Test edge cases, not just ideal scenarios

  • Document what works and what doesn't

  • Feed your findings back to the AI and ask it to suggest improvements

  • Iterate on both the instructions and knowledge files

  • Keep refining until the outputs consistently meet your standards

Remember: your first version won't be perfect, and that's okay. The testing and refinement process is where you'll discover the subtle adjustments that make your custom GPT truly exceptional.

The Bottom Line: Specialization Is Power

Here's what I've learned building dozens of custom GPTs: the power isn't in the technology itself—it's in the specialization.

A general-purpose AI is like a Swiss Army knife. It can do a lot of things reasonably well. A custom GPT is like a surgeon's scalpel—it's designed for precision in one specific domain, and it excels there.

When you take the time to properly design your custom GPT, load it with high-quality knowledge, and refine it through testing, you create an AI tool that doesn't just assist you—it amplifies your expertise and extends your capabilities.

That's the difference between using AI and truly leveraging AI to transform how you work.

Ready to build your first high-performing custom GPT? I'm hosting a free Facebook Live class where I'll walk you through my complete process for designing and building effective custom GPTs. You'll see exactly how I approach design, create knowledge files, craft instructions, and test for quality.

The class is Thursday, November 6th at 11 AM Eastern, and it's completely free for members of my Unstuck AI community.

Join the Unstuck AI Facebook group and get access to the class: https://www.facebook.com/groups/unstuckai

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