ChatGPT
Direct answer
ChatGPT drafts email, scheduling notes, FAQ replies, trade quotes, and Google review replies in these playbooks. Plus was listed at $20 a month before tax in October 2026. The free plan can carry a light workload until you hit the cap. You paste the draft out. The product does not send, book, or publish for you here.
Drafting replies and pulling the facts out of a messy enquiry, when your rules fit on one page.
Watch out. A consumer plan is a poor place for client files, card numbers, health data, or anything about children. Do not turn on auto-send.
ChatGPT Plus was publicly listed at $20 a month before tax in an earlier October 2026 read. A fetch of the pricing page on 25 October 2026 listed Free, Go, Plus, and Pro and did not include a dollar amount in the text. Open the page before you pay. The free plan can run a light inbox until you hit the cap.
Later guides use that free plan for an Outlook draft, a receipt filename, a lead brief, a FAQ page, a folder name, and a social caption. They do not repeat the $20 figure.
These playbooks use a Project: a standing brief, a few examples of your tone, and a rule that missing facts are flagged rather than invented. They do not use an action that sends email or creates calendar events.
Playbooks using ChatGPT
- File organisationChatGPTOne sitting for the tree, then files as they arrive£0 on the free plan/mo
A client folder layout in Google Drive
Organise client files by creating a short folder tree in Google Drive and moving files yourself. ChatGPT can propose names from a list you type. Google's own help says names should be short and meaningful, and that you need permission to move a file. The free ChatGPT plan was listed on 25 October 2026. This has not been live-tested.
- Social post repurposingGoogle SheetsOne sitting to make the sheet, then a note when the work is done£0 on the free plan/mo
A month of social posts planned in a sheet
Plan social posts on a private Google Sheet: one row for the date, the network, and a caption taken from work you actually did. ChatGPT can draft the caption from that note. You publish it yourself. Buffer is the separate queue. The free ChatGPT plan was listed on 25 October 2026. This has not been live-tested.
- Research for quotes and suppliersChatGPTOne sitting per company, with the sites open£0 on the free plan/mo
A one-page lead brief from pages you opened
A lead brief is a short note on a company you are about to contact, built only from pages you opened. Companies House lists some company details for free. ChatGPT may arrange those notes and must mark anything without a page. It does not replace the supplier-quote guide. This has not been live-tested.
- Meeting and job schedulingChatGPT30–45 minutesabout £0–£15/mo
A scheduling agent that does not touch the calendar
Set up a free Google Calendar appointment page so people book a real gap in your diary, then use ChatGPT only to draft the reply that sends the link. Do not let an agent create events from incoming email without you. This has not been live-tested.
- Customer FAQ repliesChatGPT1–2 hours, mostly writing the policyabout £0–£15/mo
Customer replies from a written FAQ, drafted in ChatGPT
Put your real refund, price, and booking rules into a ChatGPT Project and let it draft customer replies from that page only. You send the email. If the answer is not in the page, the draft should say you will check, not invent a policy. Not live-tested yet.
- Customer FAQ repliesChatGPTOne sitting with the questions written down first£0 on the free plan/mo
Draft the public FAQ page from questions you already answer
Write a public FAQ by listing questions customers have already asked and drafting answers only from rules you supply. ChatGPT can arrange that page. You publish it. The email-reply guide and the website chat come after the page exists. The free plan was listed on 25 October 2026. 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.
- Receipts into bookkeepingChatGPTOne sitting for the folders, then one photo at a time£0 on the free plan/mo
File receipt photos in Drive, without posting the books
File a receipt by putting the photo in a dated Drive folder and one checked line in a sheet. ChatGPT may propose the filename from the supplier, date, and total you type. Do not upload the photo. The free ChatGPT plan was listed on 25 October 2026 with no paid price in the text. This has not been live-tested.
- Google review repliesChatGPTAbout 30 minutes to write the rules, then a few minutes a review£0 to try, or about £15 if you pay for Plus/mo
Google review replies drafted in ChatGPT
A reply to a Google review should use the customer's words and your own policy, then be posted by you. ChatGPT can shorten the tone. It must not invent a visit, a refund, or a discount. Google's help page is how replies are managed. Nothing here posts overnight. This guide has not been live-tested.
- 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.
- Quote and estimate draftsChatGPTAbout an hour to make the template, then minutes a quote£0 to try, or about £15 if you pay for Plus/mo
Trade quote drafts with ChatGPT
A trade quote should start from notes you took and from supplier pages you opened, not from a model's memory of prices. ChatGPT can lay the lines into your template. It must leave a blank where you have no figure. You check VAT, the day, and the total, then you send it. This has not been live-tested.
Comparisons
Questions
Do I need Plus?
Not to try a guide. Plus is the paid plan when the free cap gets in the way. Open the pricing page on the day, because plan names move.
What must I not paste in?
Card numbers, passwords, health details, and anything about children. Client files only if you have a reason and a plan that allows it. The playbooks stay on ordinary business text.
How is this different from Gemini?
Gemini drafts inside Gmail if your Google plan includes it. ChatGPT is a separate Project you copy from. The email comparison sets out the choice.