Skip to content
Memory & Knowledge

How to set up ChatGPT Projects for client work

3 min read

One project per client, project-only memory, the right files and instructions: a setup that keeps clients apart in ChatGPT.

Short answer: create a project for each client, choose project-only memory when you create it, add the client's key files, and write project instructions. Chats in that project can draw on each other but not on chats outside it, and the instructions override your global custom instructions inside the project.

Steps follow OpenAI's help article Projects in ChatGPT and the OpenAI Academy guide as of October 2026.

What you need

  • A ChatGPT account. Projects are included with every qualifying plan.
  • File limits per project depend on plan: Free 5, Go and Plus 25, Edu, Pro, Business and Enterprise 40.

Step 1: Create one project per client

  1. Select New project in the sidebar (or open Projects first).
  2. Name it after the client and pick an icon and color you will recognize.
  3. Choose project-only memory if offered. OpenAI says projects can use default memory or project-only memory, and you can change it later in the project's settings.

Why project-only: with it, chats can reference other conversations in the same project but not conversations outside it. With default memory, your general ChatGPT memory can carry into the project, which is how one client's details end up in another's draft.

Step 2: Add the files that matter

Upload PDFs, spreadsheets, docs or images, or paste text. Files work best for stable reference material; for why decisions that change need something different, read how RAG differs from agentic memory. With 25 or 40 files, choose carefully:

  • A one-page client brief: goals, audience, offer, who is who.
  • The brand voice guide.
  • The current plan or strategy deck.
  • A running "Decisions" doc, newest first, with dates.

Replace a file when it changes instead of uploading a second version. Two versions of a plan in one project make answers less reliable.

Step 3: Write project instructions

Open the project's ••• menu, select Project settings and add instructions. An example for client work:

You are helping me, a fractional CMO, with Harbor Dental Group.
- Use the files in this project as the source of truth.
- When the Decisions doc and an older file disagree, the Decisions doc wins.
- Write in the client's voice from the brand guide.
- Ask before assuming anything about pricing or offers.

Step 4: Work inside the project

  • Start every chat for that client from inside its project.
  • Move stray chats into the right project. OpenAI notes that to stop the project using a chat, you delete it or move it to another project.
  • After each call, paste the key decisions into the Decisions doc and re-upload it.

Step 5: Share with your team (where available)

On plans with sharing, select Share and invite teammates. Shared projects automatically use project-only memory and cannot see a member's memories from outside the project.

Know the limits

OpenAI's help says project memory does not show a list of memories like personal memory does, so you cannot see exactly what the project has picked up from past chats. Keep the important facts in files you control.

Sources

Checked October 9, 2026.

Related: Armbrain vs ChatGPT Projects · Armbrain vs ChatGPT memory · Best agentic memory setups, compared · All comparisons