Your company may run on Google Workspace while ChatGPT is the assistant you use most. You do not have to choose.
The ChatGPT add-on for Google Sheets reasons across your sheet and answers in plain language, while Sheets stays the system of record. It can explain a model, suggest questions your data can answer, fix formulas and create charts in the sheet.
Where to find ChatGPT in Google Sheets
ChatGPT is an add-on, so you install it once from the Google Workspace Marketplace. At work, your admin may need to approve or install it.
Then open any sheet, go to Extensions, choose ChatGPT and select Open. Sign in with your ChatGPT account.
Pick the add-on published by OpenAI. The Marketplace lists several look-alike apps from other companies.
What your plan includes
- Every plan: ChatGPT for Google Sheets has been generally available since May 2026 on all ChatGPT plans, including Free and Go.
- Business and Enterprise: usage draws on your workspace credits.
- Apps and skills: supported, subject to your admin settings.
- Where it runs: Google Sheets in a web browser.
When ChatGPT for Google Sheets earns its place
- ChatGPT is your main assistant, but your data lives in Google Sheets.
- You do not have a Gemini license that includes Sheets.
- A sheet you inherited needs explaining before you can use it.
- A formula is broken, or you need a new one written in plain language.
How to use ChatGPT in Google Sheets, step by step
The examples below use a public job market dataset with roles, salaries, skills and locations. The same prompts work on any dataset, from a sales export to survey results.
Step 1: Check how ChatGPT reads your data.
List every column and explain what each appears to represent. List five random samples of the data for each column.
Step 2: Ask what the data can answer.
What are the five most interesting questions this dataset is sufficient to answer?
Step 3: Drill into a decision-relevant question.
Which job titles offer the highest salary ranges, after normalizing by required experience?
ChatGPT links its answer to the exact cells it used and asks permission before it makes changes. Check the referenced cells before you share the findings.
Step 4: Create a chart. The chart lands directly in the sheet, so you can adjust labels, formatting and placement:
Create a chart showing the top skills associated with high-paying roles.
Step 5: Keep using it. Ask it to build or fix formulas, or to explain how a tab calculates its totals.
A CODO prompt to start with
Once you trust how the AI reads your data, use this prompt, built with our CODO framework, to turn the analysis into findings your audience needs. Replace the bracketed parts. Your own definitions matter most, because the AI otherwise picks its own.
Character: You are a senior data analyst who specializes in [sales data] and knows how to frame findings for [a leadership team]. Objective: I am the [Head of Sales] at [company] in [industry]. Analyze the [attached / open] dataset, surface the three most important patterns and flag anything concerning, so [my leadership team] can decide [where to focus next quarter]. Do: - Before you analyze, list each column, what it appears to represent and any data quality issues you notice. - Use my definitions: [a high-value customer has annual revenue above $50,000]. - Lead with the "so what", not the method. - Show the calculation or the cells behind every number you report. - Suggest one chart that would make the main finding clear. Don't: - Don't change or delete my original data. Put any new analysis in a separate sheet or file. - Don't present estimates or assumptions as facts. Label them. Output: Three key findings of one paragraph each, followed by a 3 to 5 sentence summary for [my leadership team] that I can paste into an email or slide.
Want to take it further? These how-to articles build on the same skills:
- Turn a spreadsheet into an interactive project dashboard with ChatGPT Sites: show your findings as a page your team can click through.
- Write a custom report from your data using ChatGPT connectors: combine data from several apps into one summary.
What will your IT and legal teams ask?
- Who approves the add-on? Workspace admins can allow, block or install Marketplace add-ons for the organization.
- Is our data used for training? Not on ChatGPT Business and Enterprise plans by default.
- Can it change our sheets without asking? No. ChatGPT asks permission before it edits cells.
- Which apps and skills can it use? Only those your ChatGPT workspace admin allows.
ChatGPT for Google Sheets or another tool?
ChatGPT for Google Sheets fits people who live in ChatGPT but whose data sits in Workspace.
If your company has Gemini licenses, Gemini in Google Sheets is built in and needs no add-on. For Excel, ChatGPT for Excel works the same way. To turn research and data into exportable tables, try Gemini Notebook Data Tables. Our overview of AI for data analysis compares all eight options.
Key takeaways
- Install the OpenAI add-on from the Workspace Marketplace.
- Check how it reads your data before you analyze.
- Use the cell links to verify the answer.
- Approve edits deliberately, because ChatGPT asks first.
- Let the chart land in the sheet, where your team can use it.
