# Custom Instructions Interview (Works With Any AI Assistant)

*You just uploaded this into a chat. Here's what happens next: the assistant is going
to have a ten-step conversation with you, one question at a time, to write a short
profile of you and how you like to work. At the end you'll paste that profile into
your assistant's settings so it applies to every new chat. It takes about 15 minutes.*

*Answer the way you'd answer a new coworker on their first day. Plain sentences, not a
resume. "Not sure" is a fine answer, you can edit the profile later.*

*Privacy: whatever you save in these settings gets read at the start of every chat,
and it's stored by the company that makes the assistant. Leave out passwords, account
numbers, health or financial details, and private information about other people.*

*Which assistant should you upload this into? Any of them. The first question asks
which assistant you plan to use most, and the profile gets pasted into that one, even
if it isn't the one you're talking to right now.*

---

## Instructions for the AI

Read this whole section before saying anything to the person.

You are going to run a conversation of exactly 10 turns. A turn is one message from
you followed by the person's reply. Turn 10 is your last message.

### Rules for running it

- **One turn at a time.** Send only that turn's message, then stop and wait. Don't
  preview later questions, and don't bundle two turns into one message.
- **Say it in your own words.** The turn descriptions below give the goal and the
  gist, not a script to read out. Match the way the person writes.
- **Show progress.** Start each message with a small marker like "(3 of 10)" so they
  know how far along they are.
- **Short or vague answers are fine.** Don't push. Acknowledge, and move on.
- **If an answer already covers a later turn**, don't ask it again. When you reach
  that turn, confirm in one line what they told you and ask only if something is
  missing. It still counts as a turn.
- **Use only what they tell you here.** If you have memory or personalization from
  earlier chats, don't pull from it to fill in the profile.
- **Keep private details out of the profile.** If they offer a password, account
  number, health or financial detail, or private information about someone else,
  leave it out of the block and tell them why in one sentence.
- **Plain language.** Explain any term you have to use. Assume they're new to this.
- **Menus change.** The settings table in this doc was checked on 2026-10-05. If what
  they see on screen doesn't match, trust the screen, and help them look for the
  closest match.

### The 10 turns

**Turn 1: Platform and ground rules.**
Briefly say what's about to happen: ten short questions, then a block of text they
paste into their assistant's settings. Give the privacy line from the top of this doc
in your own words. Then ask three things: which AI assistant they plan to use most
(ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Copilot, something else), whether that account is free or
paid, and whether it's a personal account or one from work or school. Note the
answers, because they decide the paste steps in turn 8.
- If they're not sure which assistant they'll use, suggest the one they already have
  an account with, and carry on. It's easy to paste the profile somewhere else later.
- If it's a work or school account, mention that some settings may be missing or
  controlled by their organization, and that you'll check in turn 8.

**Turn 2: Who they are.**
Ask what they do (job, school, retired, whatever applies) and anything else that
would help an assistant give better answers: where they're based if it matters for the
kind of help they'll ask for, life stage, what they're into.

**Turn 3: What they'll mainly use it for.**
Ask what they expect to use the assistant for: work tasks, a hobby, writing,
learning something, household stuff, some mix. Don't force a single answer.

**Turn 4: How they want it to talk to them.**
Ask how they like answers delivered. Give a few examples so it's easy to answer:
short and to the point or walked through in detail, casual or more formal, plain
language or technical, explain the reasoning or just give the answer. Also ask
whether it should check with them before doing something bigger, or just go and tell
them afterward.

**Turn 5: Things it should always know.**
Ask what they'd hate to re-explain every time. Common examples: terms from their
field, a recurring project, people they mention a lot, and how they'd describe their
own comfort with technology (so you know how much to explain).

**Turn 6: Boundaries and pet peeves.**
Ask two things: is there anything the assistant should never do without asking
first, and is there anything AI answers do that annoys them (too long, too many
bullet points, too much flattery, too many caveats, whatever it is). "Nothing yet"
is fine.

**Turn 7: Draft the profile.**
Write the profile from their answers, in their own words where you can, not a generic
paraphrase. Use first person ("I"). Keep it short: aim for under 1,500 characters
(about 250 words), because some free plans cap this box at that size, and shorter
profiles get followed more reliably anyway. Use this shape and drop any section they
had nothing for:

```
About me: [1-2 sentences from turn 2]

What I use AI for: [from turn 3]

How I like to work: [from turns 4 and 6: length, tone, ask-first or go-first, pet peeves]

Things to know: [from turn 5]

Boundaries: [from turn 6]
```

Show it in a code block and ask what's off: too long, too formal, something missing,
something that isn't true. Don't give paste steps yet.

**Turn 8: Final version and paste steps.**
Apply their edits and show the final block in a code block they can copy. Check the
length against the limit for their platform in the table below, and trim if needed.
Then walk them to the right settings page using the table, **one step at a time**,
checking in after each. If their platform isn't in the table, don't guess a menu path.
Say you're not sure where it is, and help them look for a setting named something
like Personalization, Custom instructions, Instructions, Profile, or Memory. Push them
toward a computer if they're on a phone and can't find it.

**Turn 9: Confirm it saved, then set up the test.**
Ask them to confirm it saved. Then tell them to open a **new** chat (the current one
may not pick up the change) and ask the assistant something they'd really ask in a
normal week, not a test question. Ask them to come back to this chat afterward and
tell you how it went. If their platform has an on/off switch for the instructions,
remind them to check that it's on.

**Turn 10: Test drive debrief and wrap-up.**
When they return, ask two things: did the answer sound like it was written for them,
and was anything off (too long, too formal, missing context, assuming something that
isn't true)? If something was off, work out which line of the profile caused it,
suggest one specific edit, and have them update it in settings. One round is enough.
If the answer ignored the instructions entirely, have them check that the setting is
switched on and that they started a fresh chat. Then wrap up in a few sentences: the
profile now applies to every new chat on that assistant, they can edit it any time
their situation changes, and it only works on the assistant where they saved it. If
they want it on a second assistant, they can paste the same block there.

### Where the profile goes

*Checked against each company's help pages on 2026-10-05. These menus move around, so
treat the table as a starting point.*

| Assistant | Where to paste it | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | **Web or desktop:** Settings, then Personalization, then Custom Instructions. Turn on "Enable customization" and enter the text. **Phone app:** Settings, then Customize ChatGPT, turn on customization, enter the text. | Limit is 1,500 characters on Free and Go, 5,000 on Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Education. Applies to new chats only. |
| Gemini | **Web (gemini.google.com):** Menu, then Settings and help, then Personal Intelligence, then Instructions for Gemini, then Add +. **Phone app:** Menu, then your profile picture, then Personal Intelligence, then Instructions for Gemini, then Add +. | Personal Google accounts only, not work, school, or supervised accounts. Each instruction is a separate entry, so split the profile into several short entries (one per section) instead of one long one. Not available inside Gems. Google says rollout varies, so some people won't see it yet. |
| Claude | Click your initials in the lower left corner, then Settings, then Instructions for Claude. Paste and save. | Available on free and paid plans. Applies to all conversations. |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat (work or school account) | Open Copilot Chat, select "... Settings and more" (top right), then the settings icon, then Chat settings, then Personalization. Find the Custom instructions tile, select Edit instructions, paste, and select Save instructions. | There's an on/off toggle for custom instructions. Your organization may control whether this is available. |
| Microsoft Copilot (free personal app) | Not confirmed. This version has a Personalization and Memory setting, but a custom instructions box was not verified. | Tell the person this is uncertain. Have them look in Settings for Personalization or Memory. If there's no instructions box, a weaker fallback is to paste the profile at the start of a chat and ask Copilot to remember it, and tell them honestly that this may not carry over to future chats. |
| Anything else (Perplexity, Grok, others) | Not checked. | Don't guess. Help them look in Settings for Personalization, Custom instructions, Profile, or Memory. If you can't find it together, say so and suggest checking the company's help pages. |