Automate email triage
Direct answer
Email triage for a small inbox means rules or labels first, then a draft you send yourself. Gmail has a ChatGPT guide and a Gemini guide. Outlook has a rules guide that still drafts in ChatGPT. None of them has been run on a live account, and none is allowed to send.
For a sole trader whose inbox is busy but not a shared team mailbox. Labels do the sorting. The agent only drafts.
Most "AI inbox" products want permission to send. That is the wrong default when a single wrong sentence can book a job, quote a price, or annoy a client. Sort with Gmail first. Use an agent only on the pile you have already decided needs a human reply.
If you share a mailbox with staff, or the mail regularly includes health information, children's data, or card numbers, do not paste threads into a consumer chat. The playbook says where to stop.
Outlook is a separate mailbox. The rules guide files with Microsoft's rules and still drafts in ChatGPT. It does not sort a Gmail account.
Playbooks
- Automate email triageGeminiAbout 30 minutes, once the button is visibleAbout £4 and £15 at the planning rate, from those US list prices/mo
AI email assistant in Gmail with Gemini
Help me write inside Gmail is an email assistant only if the account has it. Google lists it as global on eligible paid plans and US-only on unpaid personal Gmail. On 25 October 2026 the US plans page showed Plus at $4.99 a month and Pro at $19.99. You still send. This has not been live-tested.
- Automate email triageChatGPT45–90 minutesabout £0–£15/mo
Email triage for a small Gmail inbox with ChatGPT
Use Gmail labels and filters to sort a small inbox, then a ChatGPT Project to draft replies you still send yourself. It fits a sole trader under about fifty messages a day. Do not give the agent permission to send. This setup has not been timed in a live test.
- Automate email triageChatGPTOne sitting, before you rely on it£0 on the free plan/mo
Outlook inbox triage with rules and a ChatGPT draft
Inbox triage in Outlook means rules that file newsletters and invoices, then a ChatGPT draft you paste and send yourself. On 25 October 2026 the ChatGPT pricing page listed a free plan and did not print a paid price in the text. This is the Outlook path. The Gmail guides are separate. This has not been live-tested.
Questions
Where do I start if the inbox is a mess?
Start with labels, not a new subscription. The Gmail playbook is the first read. Gemini is the alternative if you want the draft inside the message rather than in a separate chat.
Can the agent send the mail?
Not in these setups. Sending is the decision. A wrong promise about price or timing costs more than the minute it takes to read a draft.
Which comparison covers this?
ChatGPT against Gemini is the email comparison. It uses published plan prices, not a timed test of which draft is better.