Why I Would Choose ChatGPT Over Copilot for My Business

By Thrive · 15 October 2026 · 7 min read

My preference is ChatGPT. For the way I want to work, it feels more intelligent, more versatile and more useful across the different jobs involved in running a business.

I want to explore an idea, question whether it makes sense, develop the offer and then create something I can use. That could be a website, a campaign image, a spreadsheet or an assistant configured for a repeatable task. The breadth is what makes ChatGPT exciting to me.

Microsoft Copilot has a practical appeal for organisations already using Microsoft 365. It works with familiar apps and, with the appropriate licence, can use company information while following existing access permissions. [1] But Microsoft compatibility is worth examining properly before using it as the deciding factor.

If you are considering ChatGPT for your business, here are the capabilities I would explore and some specific ways to try them.

ChatGPT can work with Microsoft tools too

Using Microsoft software does not automatically mean you need Copilot for every AI task. OpenAI documents support for Excel and PowerPoint add-ins within its desktop computer-use setup. ChatGPT can also create and edit Word documents, spreadsheets and presentations as files. Working on a file and working directly inside an app are different routes, so choose the one that fits your task. [2, 3]

For example, you might want a spreadsheet explained in plain English, a presentation built from research notes or a Word document revised. Start with the output you need, then check the integration, access and plan required to produce it.

Build a website around a real business goal

ChatGPT Sites can create and host websites, web apps and games. [4] For a small business, that opens up practical projects such as a landing page for a new service, a booking enquiry page or a simple internal tracker.

The useful starting point is a clear job for the website. A page designed to generate enquiries needs a recognisable audience, a convincing offer and an obvious next step. Asking for a beautiful website gives the AI much less to work with.

Try this prompt

Help me develop a landing page for [service] aimed at [audience]. The goal is [enquiries, bookings or sales]. Ask me about the offer, evidence, pricing and next step before building. Use only facts I provide, and mark missing information clearly. Create a version for me to review before publishing.

Review the page as a customer: can you understand the offer, use it on your phone and complete the intended action? A working enquiry form matters more than a dramatic animation.

Create marketing assets from one clear brief

ChatGPT can generate and edit images, using reference images and instructions about what to change or preserve. [5] That gives you a starting point for campaign concepts, illustrations, social graphics and website imagery.

Give it your audience, the message, the intended format and the brand material it should use. Keep the concept consistent as you develop the website and launch content. This is where an AI conversation can become a useful creative process rather than a pile of unrelated images.

Video production can extend through connected services. Higgsfield, for example, offers a ChatGPT plugin alongside its image and video tools. [6] That is a connection to another service, so its account requirements and generation credits belong in your production budget.

Try this prompt

Using the approved offer and brand references, propose three campaign concepts for [audience]. For each, explain the message, image idea and short video idea. Help me choose one concept, then develop the assets around it. Keep product details and factual claims consistent with my brief.

Turn spreadsheets into decisions you can explain

ChatGPT can work with spreadsheet files and help analyse the information in them. [3] The business value comes from asking a question that leads to a decision, such as which services contribute the most revenue or where enquiries are failing to become bookings.

A useful analysis should show its working. Ask which columns it used, how it calculated each measure and what information is missing. Revenue alone, for example, cannot tell you profitability without relevant cost information.

Try this prompt

Analyse this spreadsheet to help me understand [business question]. First explain the columns and any missing data. Show the calculations behind your findings, distinguish observations from possible explanations, and identify what else we need before making a decision.

That gives you something to check and discuss. It also helps you learn from your own data, rather than accepting a confident paragraph without knowing where the numbers came from.

Create your own GPT for a repeatable job

A custom GPT lets you configure ChatGPT for a particular use by adding instructions, reference material and supported capabilities. [7] You could build one around your brand voice, product information or a recurring briefing task.

A useful example is a content assistant with your approved tone, audience descriptions and examples of good posts. Give it a defined job, such as turning your rough notes into a first draft. Tell it what to ask before drafting and which claims it must never invent.

The value is in reusing a clear brief. Your files provide reference material; they do not automatically train a new model or guarantee that every answer will be correct. Test the GPT with realistic requests and revise its instructions when it misses something important.

A starter brief for your own GPT

Help me design a GPT that turns my rough business notes into content drafts. Ask for my audience, writing preferences, approved examples and factual boundaries. Draft its instructions and suggest five test requests. If information is missing, it should ask rather than invent experience, results or customer details.

Put the capabilities together in one project

Imagine you are launching a new service. Instead of treating every AI request as a separate experiment, build around one approved brief. Include the audience, offer, price, evidence, brand material and action you want customers to take.

1. Develop the offer. Ask ChatGPT to identify unclear benefits and questions a potential customer might have. Decide what you can actually deliver before creating promotional claims.
2. Build the page. Use the agreed brief to create a landing page with a clear enquiry or booking action. Review the wording and test the customer journey.
3. Create the launch material. Develop images and posts from the same message. If you are using a connected video tool, carry that approved concept into the video brief.
4. Make future work easier. Turn the approved guidance into instructions for a custom GPT, and keep the current offer details in its reference material.

Each stage should use the approved facts from the previous one. You still choose the direction and review the outputs, but you have a practical route from an idea to materials you can use.

Why this still makes ChatGPT my preference

My preference for ChatGPT comes down to the experience I want from AI. I want to ask follow-up questions, test an idea from different angles and turn those decisions into something useful. To me, that makes it the stronger thinking and creating partner.

Copilot also offers custom agents and image generation. [8] There is real overlap between the tools, which is why I care about how well the whole workflow suits me. The variety available across ChatGPT and its connections is what I want to explore.

Business controls deserve the same care. ChatGPT Business and Enterprise offer administration features, with business data excluded from model training by default. [9] Compare the actual business plans and approved connections you would use, rather than treating the product name as the whole decision.

Give ChatGPT a useful first test

Choose one project you already need to complete and give it a proper brief. If you want to compare it with Copilot, use the same inputs and judge the finished work against the same requirements.

Record the time spent briefing the tool, waiting for results and correcting the output. Check whether the result is accurate, usable and easy to revise. Include any extra subscriptions or generation credits in the cost. A task that looks quick in a demo may need substantial work before you can use it.

For my business, I would choose ChatGPT because I want to explore that wider range of thinking and creating. If your experience of it ends at rewriting emails, give it a real project: a service to develop, a page to build or a set of numbers you want to understand. Start there, then decide what it earns a place in your working day.