ChatGPT Prompts for Small Business: 15 Ready-to-Use Prompts and How to Write Your Own

Copy-and-paste prompts for customer emails, marketing, operations and planning, plus a simple formula for writing better ones.

The short answer: Good ChatGPT prompts for small business work share four parts: who you are, what you need, the details that matter, and how you want the answer to look. Set up your business background once in custom instructions so you do not retype it. Then start from the prompts below, fill in the brackets, and refine the answer with a follow-up instead of starting over.

New to ChatGPT? Read our guide on how to use ChatGPT for small business first. This guide is the practical companion: the prompts themselves.

1. Tell ChatGPT about your business once

Custom instructions are standing notes ChatGPT considers in every chat. On the web or desktop, open Settings, then Personalization, turn on Enable customization, and fill in the Custom Instructions field. Free and Go plans allow up to 1,500 characters; Plus and higher allow up to 5,000.

Try this prompt

Interview me with 8 short questions about my business: what we sell, who our customers are, where we are located, our tone of voice, and words we never use. Then write a custom instructions paragraph under 1,200 characters I can paste into ChatGPT settings.

2. Use a simple prompt formula

OpenAI's own advice boils down to three habits: be clear and specific, refine in rounds, and name the tone you want. Turn that into a fill-in-the-blank formula:

• Role and goal: "You are helping a [type of business] [do what]."

• Context: paste the email, notes or numbers it needs.

• Specifics: length, audience, must-include points, what to avoid.

• Format and tone: bullet list, table or email; friendly, formal or plain.

When an answer misses, do not start over. Reply with what to change: "Shorter, warmer, and drop the second paragraph." Every prompt below follows this pattern.

3. Prompts for customers

You are helping a [type of business] reply to a customer. Here is their message: [paste]. Write a friendly reply under 120 words that answers their question, apologizes once if we got something wrong, and ends with one clear next step. Do not promise refunds or dates I have not mentioned.

Here are 10 questions customers ask us often: [paste]. Write a short FAQ with a plain-English answer to each, under 60 words per answer, in the tone from my custom instructions. Mark any answer where you need facts from me with [CHECK].

Write a reply to this online review: [paste]. Thank them by name, address the specific point they raised, and keep it under 80 words. If the review is negative, stay calm and invite them to contact us at [email].

Draft a polite but firm reminder for an invoice that is [number] days overdue. Include the invoice number [number] and amount [amount], and keep it under 100 words.

4. Prompts for marketing

Write 5 social media posts for [platform] promoting [product or offer] to [audience]. Each under 50 words, each with a different hook, no hashtags in the first line, and one clear call to action.

Turn these product details into a 120-word product description for our website: [paste specs]. Lead with the benefit for [customer type], use short sentences, and avoid these words: [list].

Here is our last newsletter: [paste]. Suggest 5 subject lines under 45 characters and explain in one sentence why each might get opened.

I am writing a blog post about [topic] for [audience]. Give me an outline with 5 sections, the one question each section answers, and a plain-English title under 60 characters.

5. Prompts for operations

Here are my rough notes on how we [do a task]: [paste]. Turn them into a step-by-step standard operating procedure with numbered steps, who does each step, and a short checklist at the end.

Create a 30-minute agenda for our weekly team meeting. Topics: [list]. Give each item a time box and an owner, and add 5 minutes at the end for open questions.

Write a short job posting for a part-time [role] at a [type of business] in [city]. Include responsibilities, must-have skills, hours and how to apply. Keep it under 250 words and avoid jargon.

Draft a friendly first-week welcome email for a new employee named [name] starting [date]. Include what to bring, who to ask for, and the first three things they will do.

6. Prompts for numbers and planning

I have a spreadsheet with these columns: [list]. Write a formula for [Google Sheets or Excel] that [what you want calculated], and explain in one sentence how it works.

Help me think through pricing for [product or service]. My cost is [amount], competitors charge [range], and my goal is [goal]. Show three price options in a table with the trade-offs of each. Do not give tax or legal advice.

Here is our sales data for the last 6 months: [paste, with customer names removed]. Summarize the three biggest trends and suggest two questions I should look into next.

Check numbers and facts before you use them. ChatGPT can be confidently wrong, especially with figures, laws and dates.

7. Save your best prompts in a project

When a prompt works, keep it. Projects in ChatGPT hold chats, files and their own instructions in one place, and those project instructions take priority over your global custom instructions. Plus subscribers can add up to 25 files to each project. Make a project per area, such as Customer replies or Marketing, add your price list or style guide as files, and paste your favorite prompts into the project instructions.

A note on privacy: OpenAI's plans page says content on personal plans such as Plus may be used to train its models, with an opt-out available. Leave out customer names, account numbers and anything confidential unless your plan and settings cover it.

Wondering whether another assistant would suit you better? See Gemini vs. ChatGPT for the two most popular paid plans, and our list of the best AI browsers if you want AI help right inside the web pages you work in.

Common questions about ChatGPT prompts for small business

Do I need a paid plan to use these prompts?

No. Every prompt here works on the free plan. Paid plans such as Plus, at $20 a month, give you higher limits, more advanced models and longer custom instructions.

Why does ChatGPT ignore part of my prompt?

Long prompts with many rules can lose details. Put the most important instruction first, use a short list for requirements, and ask it to check its answer against your list.

Should I tell ChatGPT to act as an expert?

It can help set the tone, but specifics help more. Real context, like the customer email or your actual numbers, does more for quality than any title.

Can I reuse prompts with my team?

Yes. Share a document of your best prompts, or set up shared projects. OpenAI says project sharing is available across its plans, including Free, Plus and Business.