What Is a GPT?
Before we dive into what’s changed, let’s start with the basics—because if you’re not in the AI space every day, you might not know what “GPT” even stands for.
GPT means Generative Pre-trained Transformer. It’s the machine learning model that powers tools like ChatGPT.
In simple terms, it’s a predictive engine trained on massive volumes of text—books, websites, emails, transcripts—that can generate human-like responses to prompts.
ChatGPT is powered by a general-purpose GPT. It’s smart, fast, and flexible—but it doesn’t know your business, your brand, or how you do things.
That’s where Custom GPTs come in.
So, What Is a Custom GPT?
A Custom GPT is a specialized version of ChatGPT that you can configure with:
- Your brand tone and terminology
- Your internal documents or FAQs
- Your team’s workflows
- Even your own data sources, tools, or APIs
Think of it as creating a smart, on-brand assistant that can help your team work faster—without constantly double-checking or editing generic outputs.Until recently, this was a feature that felt clunky and developer-only.
But in 2024, OpenAI updated the process—and it’s a total game-changer for businesses.
What’s New with Custom GPTs in 2024?
Here’s a breakdown of what changed—and why this matters for business owners:
1. You No Longer Need to Code
The new interface is built for everyday users. You walk through a simple Q&A flow that asks what you want your GPT to do, how it should respond, and what documents or examples it should learn from.
2. You Can Upload Files and Links
Custom GPTs now accept training documents—like SOPs, tone guides, brand voice documents, and more. This means you can feed it your actual process instead of just typing long prompts over and over.
3. You Can Add Actions and Connect Tools
Custom GPTs now support actions like searching, connecting to APIs, and interacting with third-party tools like email or CRMs. That means your GPT can do things, not just say things.
4. You Control Who Can Use It
You can keep your GPT private, share it with your team, or publish it for the world. You can also keep multiple GPTs for different departments or functions.
Why This Matters for Business Leaders
Let’s be honest: your team is probably already using AI.
But without a custom experience, they’re relying on generic tools that don’t understand your business—or worse, might return inconsistent, off-brand responses.
That’s a problem.
Custom GPTs give you control.
They allow you to scale your brand, your systems, and your thinking without losing quality.
This is about:
- Getting better answers, faster
- Automating routine work without compromising tone or accuracy
- Equipping your team with tools they can trust
- Reducing back-and-forth, edits, and second-guessing
In short: it’s about staying on-brand at scale.
Real-World Examples of Custom GPTs in Action
These aren’t hypotheticals—here are some ways we’ve seen businesses use Custom GPTs:
A real estate brokerage
They created a GPT trained on their buyer scripts, listing language, and FAQs. New agents use it to prepare for calls, write listing descriptions, and stay aligned with company messaging.
A SaaS company
They built a support assistant GPT trained on their actual help docs and onboarding flows. It supports both staff and customers with consistent, accurate guidance.
A marketing agency
They uploaded their tone guide, copy samples, and SOPs into a GPT that assists with content creation. It helps junior staff deliver higher quality work with fewer revisions.
The Sandbox Media Approach: AI That Reflects Your Brand
At Sandbox Media, we specialize in building Custom GPTs that reflect your company’s values, tone, and operations.
We start with something we call the AI Brand Blueprint—a strategic foundation that teaches the AI how to think and communicate like your team. From there, we build and train your GPT to support marketing, sales, support, onboarding, and more.
This isn’t a plug-and-play chatbot.
This is a real extension of your team—powered by AI and tailored to your business.
Why This Isn’t Optional Anymore
Custom GPTs aren’t just a nice-to-have.
In the next 6–12 months, having a branded AI assistant will be as expected as having a website or email signature. Customers will expect smarter service.
Teams will expect smarter tools.
And companies that lead the shift will have a real, lasting edge.
Watch the Episode
Want to see it all explained in under 5 minutes?
We’ll show you what changed, why it matters, and how to use it to stay ahead of your competitors.
While you’re there, be sure to subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes as we release them.
Ready to Build Yours?
Whether you want to empower your sales team, streamline your marketing, or upgrade your internal knowledge base—Custom GPTs can help you do more, faster, with fewer resources.
Let’s build one that sounds like you.
Related Links
- What Are Sandbots?
- Watch all episodes of Brains, Bots n’ Business
- Book your AI policy consult
- Next Episode: LLM, Agent, or Algorithm?
