Guide 3 of 6 · 7 min read

ChatGPT Sites: what it can and can't do for a business website

By the ContentMetric team · Checked against OpenAI's documentation on 16 October 2026

What ChatGPT Sites is

OpenAI launched Sites in July 2026 as a beta. You start a chat, include the word "website" in your request (or type @Sites), and ChatGPT builds the site, shows you a preview, and lets you change it by describing what you want. When you are happy, you publish it to a web address.

It is not just a single page. OpenAI says a site can store data, let people sign in, and host small web apps such as trackers, calculators and request forms. Behind the scenes the sites run on Cloudflare.

What it does well

• Fast first version. You go from an idea to a working page in one conversation.
• Hosting is included. There is no separate hosting account to set up.
• Changes by chat. You open the site, press Edit, and describe the change.
• Your own domain. You can point a domain you already own at the site by adding the DNS records it gives you. Sites does not sell domains, and custom domains were not offered to Enterprise workspaces at launch.
• Simple visitor numbers. It counts unique visitors and page views over time, with nothing extra to install.
• Sharing controls. A new site is private until you choose who can see it: just you, people you invite, your workspace, or anyone on the internet.

Four things to check before you use it for your business website

1. Whether your plan includes it, and its limits

Sites needs a paid ChatGPT plan; the free plan does not include it. There is no separate price for Sites. Instead, each plan has usage limits for the number of sites, storage and traffic, shown inside ChatGPT. OpenAI says that at a limit you may not be able to create a new site, add storage, or keep a busy site public. During the beta, those limits can change.

For a hobby page, that is fine. For the site your customers use to find you, ask yourself what happens if a busy month pushes you over the limit.

2. How Google and AI search see it

OpenAI's Sites documentation does not cover search engines. We could not find settings for page titles, descriptions, social images or sitemaps, which are the things that decide how your business looks in Google and in AI answers like ChatGPT and Perplexity. You can ask ChatGPT to add them to the code, but then you have to check they are there after every change.

If most of your new customers find you on Google or Maps, this matters more than anything else on this list. Our free lesson How to get your business on Google explains what Google needs from a small business site.

3. Where enquiries go

Sites has no ready-made contact form. OpenAI's guide says visitor requests and uploaded files "need their own storage", and that you should tell ChatGPT what to save and who can read it. It can be done, but you are designing your own enquiry system, and then testing that a message actually reaches you.

Selling is possible too, but only by connecting a third-party payment provider yourself. OpenAI says you are responsible for that set-up, plus refunds, customer support and tax.

4. What happens later

• No safe practice copy. OpenAI says every published version is the live site. You can save a version without publishing it to look first, but there is no separate test site.
• Deleting is final. OpenAI's guide says a deleted site cannot be restored.
• Your site lives in your ChatGPT account. If you cancel your plan, or the person who built the site leaves your company, check what happens to the site before it happens.
• Team editing needs a workspace. Inviting someone to help edit requires a ChatGPT workspace, and only the owner can do the first publish or change who can see the site.

ChatGPT Sites compared with a website builder

You do not have to choose between them completely. ChatGPT can still be the way you edit: ContentMetric sites can be connected to Claude, and to ChatGPT in beta, so you can ask for changes from the chat app you already use while the website itself keeps its search settings, forms and version history. Our guide Connect Claude to your website walks through it.

Which one should you use?

• Use ChatGPT Sites for a one-off page, an event, a quick test of an idea, or a tool for your own team.
• Use a website builder for the site that brings you customers: the one on your Google profile, on your business cards and in AI search answers.

Common questions