How to Create SOPs with ChatGPT (Step by Step)

To create an SOP with ChatGPT, describe one repeated task in your own words and ask it to organise your walkthrough into clear instructions. Then check the draft against your real process and test it with the person who will use it.

If you run a small business, some tasks may be so familiar that you barely think about the steps. Explaining them to an assistant can reveal how much you still carry in your head. Even if you work alone, a short written process gives you something to refer to when you return to a task.

This guide pairs with my full “SOP with ChatGPT” video walkthrough. It uses the same recruitment example: arranging first interviews after the hiring manager has selected the candidates to invite. The demonstration uses a general process, with no real candidate details or hiring decisions entered into ChatGPT.

What is an SOP?

An SOP, or standard operating procedure, is a guide to completing a task someone may need to repeat. It explains what starts the task, what to do and how to check the result.

For this tutorial, the aim is one short, useful procedure. You do not have to document your entire business before you can begin. Start with a task you know well, such as preparing a client handover, saving a weekly report or arranging an interview.

ChatGPT helps organise the information you give it. You still supply the experience, make the decisions and check whether the instructions are correct.

1. Choose one repeated task with a clear beginning and end

A manageable task is easier to explain and test than a broad instruction such as “handle recruitment”.

For the recruitment example, draw a line around the task: the hiring manager has already decided whom to invite. The SOP begins when those selected candidates are passed to the recruiter and ends when the interview arrangements are complete. Selecting candidates and conducting interviews need their own instructions.

The intended result is also specific: the interview is confirmed, the calendar booking is in place and the master list contains the details.

For your own process, think about:

• What happens that tells you to start?
• What do you actually do next?
• What should be true when the task is complete?

You can explain those answers naturally in your walkthrough. There is no need to fill in a formal template first.

2. Talk through what you actually do

Describe the task as if you were explaining it to someone helping you for the first time. Include the tools you use, who handles each action and what you do when the normal sequence changes.

The useful details often hide between the obvious actions. “Book an interview” names the task, but leaves a new assistant to work out whose availability to check, who agrees the time and who sends the confirmation. Those small choices are part of the process too.

When you explain your task, pause at each action and ask yourself:

• What must I check first? Think about the information or availability you need before proceeding.
• Who actually completes this action? Preparing something and committing to it may belong to different people.
• What could change the next step? Include the situations where you follow up, go back or ask for a decision.

You do not need polished sentences. You need the details another person would otherwise have to interrupt you to ask for.

Dictate or use checked notes

This tutorial's setup uses voice dictation in the ChatGPT desktop app on Windows. Dictate into the message box, check the transcribed words and then send them. OpenAI documents Ctrl+Shift+D as a desktop dictation shortcut that puts the words into the message box for checking before sending. See its voice dictation guidance.

You can use voice dictation, type your process in your own words, or paste a transcript you've checked for mistakes. Any of these gives ChatGPT the information to draft your SOP.

Before sending, correct anything the transcription misheard and remove private details. For a recruitment practice example, describe roles and actions without candidate names, contact details or CV contents. Keep client records, payment information and passwords out of the prompt too.

3. Use a prompt that asks for a draft and flags gaps

This prompt helps ChatGPT turn your explanation into clear, ordered steps, identify who does what and flag missing details for you to confirm. You'll also find it in the free AI SOP Starter Pack, alongside the template and review checklist.

Turn the spoken walkthrough below into a draft standard operating procedure (SOP).

Use the walkthrough to identify the task, purpose, trigger and intended outcome.
Use only what I explain. If something is missing or unclear, ask me rather than guessing.
I do not need to organise my walkthrough into SOP sections first.

Put a clear SOP title at the top to name the task. The title sits above these seven sections:
1. Purpose — why we do this task
2. Trigger — what starts it
3. Outcome — what "done" looks like
4. Numbered steps — what to do, in order, with one clear action per step
5. Decision points — what to do in different situations, written as "if this, then that"
6. Quality check — how to check the result
7. Owner and last-reviewed date — who maintains it and when it was last checked

After the SOP, add "Questions to confirm" for anything missing or unclear. This is a separate drafting note, not an eighth SOP section. If a missing detail prevents a useful draft, ask me about it before drafting.

Do not invent policies, prices, timings, tools, decisions, owners or review dates. Leave the owner unconfirmed unless I supply it. Use "not yet reviewed" unless I confirm a completed walkthrough and its actual review date. Keep judgement calls visible and flag decisions that need human confirmation.

Keep the wording clear enough for another person to follow. Aim for one page without leaving out necessary steps.

My spoken walkthrough:
[Paste your checked transcript here, or dictate your walkthrough here before sending.]

“Aim for one page” is a preference for a manageable first SOP. If the task needs more space to be understandable, keep the necessary steps.

The instruction to avoid guessing gives ChatGPT a clear boundary. It does not remove the need to review its answer.

4. Check the seven SOP sections

These are the seven sections used in the tutorial. They are a practical starting format, rather than a claim that every business procedure must use the same headings.

Section	What it explains	Interview-arranging example
Purpose	Why the task exists	Arrange first interviews for the candidates the hiring manager has selected.
Trigger	What starts the task	The hiring manager provides the candidates to invite.
Outcome	What “done” looks like	A confirmed interview, calendar booking and updated master list.
Numbered steps	The actions, in order	Contact the candidate, agree a time, book it, confirm it and update the list.
Decision points	What happens if the usual plan changes	Clarify who follows up when there is no response and what happens if a time is no longer available.
Quality check	What to verify before completion	Check that the people, time, booking, confirmation and list entry match.
Owner and last-reviewed date	Who maintains the instructions and when they were checked	Leave the owner unconfirmed and the procedure “not yet reviewed” until those details are established.

An SOP title names the task above these sections. “Questions to confirm” belongs after the draft as a working note, so missing information remains visible.

5. Review the draft, especially who does each action

A tidy layout can make instructions look more reliable than they are. Read the numbered steps carefully and compare them with the process you described.

Two questions from the recruitment demonstration show where a draft needs human input:

• After a candidate selects a slot, who creates the calendar booking and sends the final confirmation?
• What happens if a candidate does not reply or a slot changes?

The confirmed responsibility in this example sits with the recruiter: candidate calls, invitations, calendar bookings and final confirmation. An assistant may prepare the details, find open times, draft the email and prepare the master-list update. The recruiter also handles follow-up or changed availability.

That gives you a useful editing test: does the instruction tell someone to prepare, decide or complete? If the verb blurs those responsibilities, rewrite it before handing the task over.

Turn vague wording into a useful instruction

The examples below are written illustrations for this guide, not quotations from ChatGPT's output. They use the same confirmed division of responsibilities.

Vague wording	Clearer wording	What the change fixes
Arrange the interview.	The recruiter agrees the time with the candidate, creates the calendar booking and sends the final confirmation.	Names the person and separates the actions.
The assistant handles the invitation.	The assistant drafts the invitation; the recruiter sends it.	Distinguishes preparation from sending.
Check everything is done.	Check that the agreed time, calendar booking, confirmation and master-list entry match.	Gives the reader something specific to verify.

You can use this test on a client handover, a weekly report or another repeated task. Look for words such as “handle”, “sort out” and “check”. Replace them with the action you mean and the result the person should verify. Supply your own process details; do not let ChatGPT fill the gaps with a plausible policy.

A practical review checklist

Before treating your draft as working instructions, check:

• Sequence: Are the actions in the order you really follow?
• Responsibility: Does each action name the right person or role?
• Preparation and action: Is it clear what an assistant may prepare and what the responsible person must complete?
• Exceptions: Does the procedure explain what happens when the usual plan changes?
• Assumptions: Has ChatGPT added a policy, deadline, tool or approval step you never supplied?
• Completion: Would the quality check catch an incorrect or incomplete result?

Correct the process yourself where necessary. You can ask ChatGPT to tidy the wording afterwards, while keeping your actual way of working as the source.

6. Test the SOP before relying on it

A neat document is still a draft until someone checks whether they can follow it. Keep the owner unconfirmed and the status “not yet reviewed” until the appropriate person and an actual review are established.

Walk through the task with the person who will use the SOP. Notice where they hesitate, ask a question or need information that the instructions leave out. If you work alone, follow the written steps yourself instead of filling the gaps from memory.

For the interview-arranging example, the check is whether the right people, agreed time, calendar booking, confirmation and master-list entry all match. The demonstration does not establish that a real interview was booked or that the draft passed this test.

Update any unclear steps. Confirm who maintains the SOP, and record the actual review date after the walkthrough has happened. Revisit it when the process changes.

Try a five-minute handover exercise

Choose one step from your draft and write three short answers beside it:

1. Who does it? Name a person or role.
2. What do they do? Use a specific action, such as draft, send, book or update.
3. How will they know it is complete? Name the result they can check.

For example, “The recruiter sends the final confirmation” answers the first two questions. The third asks you to spell out what must agree with that confirmation, such as the calendar booking and master-list entry.

If you cannot answer one of the questions, leave it on your “Questions to confirm” list. This short exercise can help you spot a gap; it does not replace walking through the whole procedure.

Optional: save the format for your next SOP

Once the format is useful to you, Custom Instructions offer a way to save it as a reusable preference. Keep each task's process details in its own conversation.

OpenAI's Custom Instructions guidance describes opening Settings, choosing Personalization, enabling customisation and entering your instructions. These preferences apply across chats, so make the SOP instruction conditional and retain any existing preferences you still want.

The following block is the complete reusable format from the Starter Pack:

When I ask you to create or update an SOP, use the walkthrough or notes I give you. For other requests, answer normally.

Give the SOP a title, then use these seven sections:
1. Purpose: why we do it.
2. Trigger: what starts it.
3. Outcome: what done looks like.
4. Numbered steps: one clear action per step.
5. Decision points: if this happens, do that.
6. Quality check: what to verify.
7. Owner and last-reviewed date.

Use only the process details I provide. Ask about anything missing or unclear rather than guessing. Do not invent prices, policies, timings, tools, decisions or owners. Leave the owner unconfirmed unless supplied, and use "not yet reviewed" unless I confirm a completed walkthrough and its date.

After the SOP, list "Questions to confirm" as a separate note. If a missing detail prevents a useful draft, ask before drafting. Keep the writing plain and concise without leaving out necessary steps.

If your settings look different or you prefer to leave them as they are, keep the full prompt in a note and paste it when you need it. Saving a format helps with reuse; each new SOP still needs your review.

Get the free AI SOP Starter Pack

Ready to try this with one task you repeat? The AI SOP Starter Pack brings together the reusable prompt, a one-page SOP template and a review checklist, with the optional saved-format instructions.

Get the free AI SOP Starter Pack.

Choose a familiar task, describe it in your own words and check the result against the way your business actually works.