Table of Contents
- Key takeaways
- Can you use ChatGPT for customer service?
- How the three setup routes compare
- Route 1: Set up a customer service chatbot with SiteGPT
- Steps
- Cost
- Limits
- Who it fits
- Route 2: Build a customer service chatbot on the OpenAI API
- Steps
- Cost
- Limits
- Who it fits
- Route 3: Make a custom GPT for customer service
- Steps
- Cost
- Limits
- Who it fits
- How to use ChatGPT to help customer service agents
- How much does a ChatGPT customer service chatbot cost?
- How to choose a ChatGPT setup for customer service
- Common mistakes when using ChatGPT for customer service
- Frequently asked questions
- Basics
- Can ChatGPT be used for customer service?
- Can you put ChatGPT on your website?
- Is a custom GPT a customer service chatbot?
- Setup
- How long does it take to set up a ChatGPT customer service chatbot?
- Can a ChatGPT chatbot hand a chat to a person?
- Can the chatbot answer only from your own content?
- Cost
- How much does ChatGPT for customer service cost?
- Is there a free way to use ChatGPT for customer service?
- Data and privacy
- Does OpenAI train on customer service conversations?
- Where should the OpenAI API key go?
- Sources
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Created time
Oct 29, 2023 01:21 AM
You can use ChatGPT for customer service in three ways: a no-code chatbot tool built on OpenAI models, a chatbot your developer builds on the OpenAI API, or a custom GPT inside ChatGPT, and only the first two can sit on your website.
TL;DR
- The ChatGPT app cannot run as a chat widget on your website. A custom GPT also lives inside ChatGPT, and OpenAI plans to retire custom GPTs.
- A no-code tool such as SiteGPT is the fastest route for a customer-facing chatbot. It trains on your site, installs with one script, and starts at $59 a month billed monthly, or $39 a month billed yearly.
- The OpenAI API is the cheapest per answer. Model and file search fees come to about $29.50 for 10,000 answers a month on gpt-6-luna, before developer time and hosting.
- ChatGPT Business seats help your agents draft replies. A Standard seat costs $25 a user a month billed monthly, or $20 billed annually.
- Whatever route you pick, give customers a way to reach a person.
Key takeaways
Route | Best for | On your website | Price to start | Handoff to a person |
1. No-code tool on OpenAI models (SiteGPT) | A customer-facing chatbot with no developer | Yes, one script tag | $59 a month billed monthly, or $39 a month billed yearly | Built in, on every plan |
2. OpenAI API built in-house | Developers who want full control | Yes, you build the chat window | Usage-based, about $2.95 per 1,000 answers in model and file search fees | You build it |
3. Custom GPT in ChatGPT | Internal team use inside ChatGPT | No | A ChatGPT Business seat, $25 a user a month billed monthly or $20 billed annually | No |
ChatGPT for agents | Drafting and summarizing replies | No, agents use it | Same Business seat price | Not needed, a person sends every reply |
Can you use ChatGPT for customer service?
You can use ChatGPT for customer service, but not by putting the ChatGPT app on your website. ChatGPT is OpenAI's own chat app. Customers would have to leave your site and sign in to ChatGPT to use it.
Businesses use ChatGPT models in customer service for two different jobs:
- A customer-facing chatbot. Customers ask questions on your website and get answers from your own help content. Routes 1 and 2 below do this job.
- An assistant for your agents. Your team uses ChatGPT to draft replies, summarize long threads, and translate messages. A person reviews and sends every reply. ChatGPT Business and custom GPTs do this job.
This guide covers both jobs and the setup steps for each. The technical detail of putting a chat window on a page has its own guide on how to embed ChatGPT in a website.
How the three setup routes compare
The three setup routes for a ChatGPT customer service chatbot differ on four criteria:
- Who builds it. Anyone who can paste a script, or a developer.
- Where answers come from. Your own content, or the model's general knowledge.
- Handoff to a person. Built in, or something you build.
- Cost. A flat monthly plan, or usage fees plus developer time.
No route is best overall. Each one has a "best for" label. SiteGPT is listed first because the main job in this guide is a customer-facing chatbot on your website, and a no-code tool does that job with the least work.
Criterion | 1. SiteGPT (no-code) | 2. OpenAI API | 3. Custom GPT |
Who builds it | Anyone who can paste a script | A developer | Anyone in a Business, Enterprise, or Edu workspace |
Where answers come from | Your website, files, and connected sources | Files you upload to a vector store | Up to 20 uploaded files |
Chat on your website | Yes | Yes | No |
Handoff to a person | Built in, on every plan | You build it | No |
OpenAI models | GPT-4.1-mini and GPT-4.1 | Your choice, including GPT-6 Luna | The models in your ChatGPT plan |
Cost model | Flat monthly plan with a message quota | Per token and per tool call, plus developer time | Per ChatGPT seat |
Route 1: Set up a customer service chatbot with SiteGPT
Best for: a customer-facing chatbot on your website with no developer.
Setting up a customer service chatbot with SiteGPT means training a chatbot on your website and pasting one script into your pages. SiteGPT runs on OpenAI models: its pricing page counts messages on GPT-4.1-mini and GPT-4.1.
Steps
- Sign in at the SiteGPT login page with your email address. There is no password. You need an active plan to train a chatbot. The 7-day free trial requires a credit card.
- On the Chatbots page, select Create New Chatbot and give it a name.
- Select Website Links, then Scrape Website. Enter your home page address. The quickstart suggests a recursion depth of 2 and up to 50 pages to start. A sitemap works too.
- Wait for training. The Links List shows how many pages are trained, pending, and failed.
- Open Chat with your chatbot and ask three or four questions your customers often ask. Each answer comes from your website. For a question your site does not cover, the chatbot usually replies that it does not have enough information.
- Turn on human handoff. In Leads, then Human Support, turn on Enable Human Support and save. By default the AI hands the chat to your team when the visitor asks for a person, when the situation is urgent, or when the visitor is frustrated after an answer that did not help.
- Select Installation, copy the JavaScript embed code, and paste it into the head section of every page. WordPress, Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, and Webflow have their own steps in the SiteGPT docs.
Cost
SiteGPT has four plans and no free plan. Each self-serve plan has a monthly rate and a lower annual rate.
Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly | Messages a month | Chatbots | Content refresh |
Starter | $59 a month | $39 a month ($468 a year) | 4,000 GPT-4.1-mini or 400 GPT-4.1 | 1 | Manual |
Growth | $129 a month | $79 a month ($948 a year) | 10,000 GPT-4.1-mini or 1,000 GPT-4.1 | 2 | Monthly auto refresh |
Scale | $429 a month | $259 a month ($3,108 a year) | 40,000 GPT-4.1-mini or 4,000 GPT-4.1 | 3 | Weekly auto refresh |
Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom | Custom | Daily auto refresh |
Paying yearly saves $240 a year on Starter ($708 billed monthly against $468), $600 on Growth ($1,548 against $948), and $2,040 on Scale ($5,148 against $3,108). Extra packs of 5,000 messages cost $59 a month.
Limits
- There is no free plan. The trial needs a credit card.
- Starter has no chat integrations. Slack, Messenger, Crisp, Freshdesk Messaging, Google Chat, and Zoho SalesIQ start on Growth. Zendesk starts on Scale.
- There is no Intercom or HubSpot integration today.
- The plan cards list GPT-4.1-mini and GPT-4.1 only. Newer OpenAI models such as GPT-6 Luna are not on them.
- Starter refreshes content by hand. Auto refresh starts on Growth.
Who it fits
SiteGPT fits a customer service team that wants a chatbot on its website this week, trained on its own pages, with a person one click away. Teams comparing it with other platforms can read the list of customer service AI chatbot platforms.
Route 2: Build a customer service chatbot on the OpenAI API
Best for: developers who want full control.
Building a customer service chatbot on the OpenAI API means your developer writes the chat window, the server code, and the handoff, and sends each question to an OpenAI model. OpenAI recommends GPT-6 Luna for cost-sensitive, high-volume workloads, and a customer service chatbot is one.
Steps
- Create an API key in the OpenAI dashboard and keep it on your server. OpenAI's key safety guide says never to deploy a key in browsers or mobile apps.
- Upload your help articles and policies to a vector store, so the file search tool can find them before the model answers.
- Write a server endpoint that receives each customer question and calls the Responses API with file search.
- Write instructions that tell the model to answer only from your files and to say when it does not know.
- Build the chat window for your site.
- Build what the API does not include: chat history, rate limits, analytics, and a way to pass the chat to a person.
The code for steps 3 and 5 is in the guide on how to embed ChatGPT in a website.
Cost
The API bills by usage. gpt-6-luna costs $0.10 per 1M input tokens and $0.50 per 1M output tokens. File search costs $2.50 per 1,000 tool calls. File storage costs $0.10 per GB per day, and the first GB is free.
Worked example. Assume each answer uses 3,000 input tokens, 300 output tokens, and one file search call, and storage stays under 1 GB. One answer then costs $0.0003 for input, $0.00015 for output, and $0.0025 for file search. That is $0.00295 an answer, or $2.95 per 1,000 answers. File search is 85% of the bill.
These totals leave out the largest cost, which is building and running the app. The token counts above are assumptions. Your real counts depend on answer length and how much content each search returns.
Limits
- It needs a developer and a server. Calling OpenAI straight from the browser exposes your key.
- There is no chat widget, dashboard, or handoff until you build them.
- Keeping the files in the vector store current is your job.
- Data sent to the OpenAI API is not used to train OpenAI models unless you opt in. OpenAI may still keep abuse monitoring logs.
Who it fits
The API fits a team with developers that wants the chat inside its own app or design system, or that needs a model a no-code tool does not offer. The broader build-or-buy question has its own guide on how to train ChatGPT on your own data.
Route 3: Make a custom GPT for customer service
Best for: internal team use inside ChatGPT.
A custom GPT for customer service is a version of ChatGPT with your instructions and files built in. Your agents can open it to look up policies or draft replies. Your customers cannot use it on your website.
Steps
- Use a ChatGPT Business, Enterprise, or Edu workspace. Personal accounts on Free, Go, Plus, and Pro cannot create or publish new GPTs.
- Open Explore GPTs in the ChatGPT sidebar and select Create.
- Write the instructions: the role, the tone, and the rule to answer only from the uploaded files.
- Upload your help articles and policies under Knowledge.
- Test the GPT in Preview, then select Create.
- Share it with your team. The sharing options depend on your workspace settings.
Cost
A custom GPT needs a ChatGPT Business seat or higher. A Standard Business seat costs $25 a user a month billed monthly, or $20 a user a month billed annually. For a team of 5 agents, that is $125 a month billed monthly, or $1,200 a year billed annually.
Limits
- A GPT cannot run as a chat widget on your website.
- A GPT holds up to 20 files, each up to 512 MB.
- OpenAI plans to retire custom GPTs. Retirement for affected Enterprise workspaces is planned for December 11, 2026, and OpenAI expects other plans to follow the same timeline. OpenAI recommends moving GPT workflows to Plugins.
- A GPT has no handoff, no analytics on customer questions, and no lead capture.
Who it fits
A custom GPT fits a team that already works in ChatGPT and wants a shared reference for agents. Plan the move to Plugins before you build one.
How to use ChatGPT to help customer service agents
Using ChatGPT to help customer service agents means giving them a ChatGPT workspace for writing and research, while a person still sends every reply. This job needs no chatbot at all.
Common agent tasks:
- Draft a first reply from the customer's message and the relevant policy.
- Summarize a long email thread before a handover.
- Translate a reply into the customer's language.
- Rewrite a reply in a calmer tone after a complaint.
Use a business workspace for this work. OpenAI states that it will not train on a ChatGPT Business workspace's data. Personal accounts have their own data settings, so check them before an agent pastes customer messages into one.
How much does a ChatGPT customer service chatbot cost?
A ChatGPT customer service chatbot costs $39 to $429 a month on a no-code plan, or a few dollars to about $118 a month in OpenAI API fees at 1,000 to 40,000 answers, plus the cost to build the app. The table puts the two side by side at each SiteGPT plan's quota. SiteGPT quotas are in messages, as its pricing page publishes them.
Questions a month | OpenAI API fees (gpt-6-luna with file search) | SiteGPT plan with that quota | SiteGPT price |
4,000 | About $11.80 | Starter, 4,000 GPT-4.1-mini messages | $59 a month billed monthly, or $39 billed yearly |
10,000 | About $29.50 | Growth, 10,000 GPT-4.1-mini messages | $129 a month billed monthly, or $79 billed yearly |
40,000 | About $118 | Scale, 40,000 GPT-4.1-mini messages | $429 a month billed monthly, or $259 billed yearly |
The API fees are lower at every volume. The build cost changes the answer. Assume a developer spends 40 hours on the chat window, retrieval, history, and handoff at $75 an hour. That is $3,000 before the first customer question. $3,000 pays for 6.4 years of SiteGPT Starter billed yearly ($468 a year), or 3.2 years of Growth billed yearly ($948 a year). Upkeep, hosting, and fixes come on top of the build.
At 40,000 answers a month the API saves about $141 a month against Scale billed yearly ($259 minus $118). At that rate the $3,000 build pays back in about 21 months, if upkeep costs nothing. The hourly rate and hours here are assumptions. Use your own. The guide on how much a chatbot costs covers other platforms.
How to choose a ChatGPT setup for customer service
Choose a ChatGPT setup for customer service by who will use it and who will build it. Customers on your website need route 1 or route 2. Agents inside ChatGPT need route 3 or Business seats.
If you need | Pick | Why |
A chatbot on your website this week, with no developer | Trains on your site and installs with one script | |
Customers to reach a person from the chat | SiteGPT, or the API with handoff you build | SiteGPT includes handoff on every plan. The API includes none |
The chat inside your own app or design system | OpenAI API | You control the window, the model, and the data flow |
The lowest usage fee at high volume, with developers on staff | OpenAI API | About $118 a month at 40,000 answers before build and upkeep |
A shared policy assistant for agents | Custom GPT or ChatGPT Business seats | Agents already work in ChatGPT. Plan for the GPT retirement |
Help drafting and translating replies | ChatGPT Business seats | A person checks each reply, and OpenAI will not train on workspace data |
Common mistakes when using ChatGPT for customer service
- Expecting the ChatGPT app to work as a website widget. It does not. Customers would leave your site.
- Letting the bot answer from general knowledge. Tell it to answer from your content and to say when it does not know. The guide on chatbot hallucinations covers the fixes.
- Leaving out a route to a person. Every customer-facing chatbot needs one. The list of AI chatbots with human handoff compares how tools handle it.
- Putting the API key in the browser. Route every call through your server.
- Building a new customer service workflow on a custom GPT. OpenAI plans to retire them.
- Training once and never refreshing. Re-train after every price, policy, or product change. The chatbot best practices guide lists the checks to run.
If you want a customer-facing chatbot without a build, start a 7-day SiteGPT trial. Plans start at $59 a month billed monthly, or $39 a month billed yearly, and the trial requires a credit card.
Frequently asked questions
Basics
Can ChatGPT be used for customer service?
ChatGPT can be used for customer service in two ways. OpenAI models can power a customer-facing chatbot on your website through a no-code tool or the OpenAI API. Agents can also use ChatGPT to draft and translate replies.
Can you put ChatGPT on your website?
You cannot put the ChatGPT app on your website. You can put a chatbot that runs on OpenAI models on your website, through a no-code tool such as SiteGPT or your own build on the OpenAI API.
Is a custom GPT a customer service chatbot?
A custom GPT is not a website chatbot. It runs inside ChatGPT, needs a Business, Enterprise, or Edu workspace to create, and OpenAI plans to retire custom GPTs.
Setup
How long does it take to set up a ChatGPT customer service chatbot?
A no-code tool takes as long as training on your pages plus pasting one script. An API build takes as long as your developer needs to build the chat window, retrieval, history, and handoff.
Can a ChatGPT chatbot hand a chat to a person?
A ChatGPT chatbot can hand a chat to a person if the tool includes handoff. SiteGPT includes it on every plan. On the OpenAI API you build it yourself. A custom GPT has no handoff.
Can the chatbot answer only from your own content?
The chatbot can answer from your own content if it retrieves from your pages or files first. SiteGPT answers from the content you trained it on. On the API, the file search tool does this job.
Cost
How much does ChatGPT for customer service cost?
A no-code SiteGPT plan costs $59 to $429 a month billed monthly, or $39 to $259 a month billed yearly. The OpenAI API costs about $2.95 per 1,000 answers on gpt-6-luna with file search, before build and hosting. ChatGPT Business seats cost $25 a user a month billed monthly, or $20 billed annually.
Is there a free way to use ChatGPT for customer service?
There is no free way to run a ChatGPT chatbot on your website. The API bills per use, and SiteGPT has no free plan. Agents can draft replies in a free ChatGPT account, but personal accounts need a training opt-out, while OpenAI does not train on ChatGPT Business workspace data.
Data and privacy
Does OpenAI train on customer service conversations?
OpenAI does not train on data sent to the OpenAI API unless you opt in. OpenAI also states that it will not train on ChatGPT Business workspace data. Personal ChatGPT accounts have their own data settings.
Where should the OpenAI API key go?
The OpenAI API key goes on your server. OpenAI's key safety guide says never to deploy a key in browsers or mobile apps.
Sources
All sources were checked on October 23, 2026.
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