How to build a website with ChatGPT (and get it onto your own domain)

A year ago the honest answer to "can ChatGPT build me a website?" was "it can write the code, then you're on your own." In October 2026 ChatGPT previews pages in the chat, hosts sites on its own platform and works through a project folder like a developer. Those routes don't all lead to the same place.

This guide sorts them out: what each route gives you, which plan it needs, the steps from first prompt to your own domain, and what a ChatGPT site usually still lacks when it looks finished.

Key takeaways

• Chat is enough for a one-page site. Ask for a single self-contained index.html and preview it in the conversation.
• Codex is the right tool for a site with several pages. It writes real files into a folder, and you keep them.
• ChatGPT Sites hosts and publishes for you, but OpenAI built it mainly for dashboards, portals and prototypes. Check what you need before you build a business site on it.
• Whatever route you take, the same gaps remain: forms, SEO basics, legal pages, consent and image rights.
• Plan the first change after launch before you launch. That's where most DIY sites stall.

What ChatGPT can actually do today

ChatGPT now has three modes in its app: Chat for conversation, Work (an agent for longer tasks that produce finished documents, presentations or Sites) and Codex for software work. All three can produce a website, in very different shapes.

• Code blocks in chat. Since February 2026 they're interactive: you edit code in line and preview mini apps right in the chat. That's where a one-page website lives now.
• Canvas is gone from current models. In May 2026 OpenAI removed canvas from the GPT-5.5 models and moved its job into writing blocks and code blocks. If an older tutorial says "open canvas and press Preview", that's why you can't find it.
• Sites. In public beta since July 2026. You describe a website in Work or Codex, review a private preview, and publish it to a ChatGPT-hosted address. It can include a database, file storage and "Sign in with ChatGPT".
• Codex. OpenAI's coding agent, in the desktop app, as Codex CLI in the terminal, in editors and as Codex Cloud. It works on real files and runs commands, which is what a multi-page site needs.
• Custom GPTs are being retired on 11 December 2026 and migrated to plugins. Don't build a workflow around one now.

OpenAI swaps the underlying models every few months. For a website, the route you pick matters far more than which model is behind it.

Which plan you need

• Free and Go: chat with code blocks, plus limited Codex. No Sites, no Codex Cloud.
• Plus ($20 a month): Sites, Codex Cloud, Work on web and mobile, and more Codex usage. Building or editing a Site counts toward your Codex usage.
• Pro (from $100 a month): more usage, nothing you strictly need for a small website.

Four ways to build a website with ChatGPT

The fourth route is underrated. If you already pay for a builder, ChatGPT is very good at the hardest part: clear words for the homepage, services and about page. Builders have their own AI too, which we compared in AI in Wix, Squarespace and Webflow.

Should you use ChatGPT Sites for a business website?

Sites is the shortest path from prompt to a live link. You can save a version and review it before deploying, share it with selected people or make it public, rename the address (the old one redirects), see visitor numbers without an analytics script, and connect a domain you own by copying the DNS records Sites gives you. OpenAI's help article on creating and using ChatGPT Sites covers the details.

Before you put your business on it, check five things:

• It's built for a different job. OpenAI's own examples are dashboards, trackers, request forms and resource hubs. A brochure site works, but it isn't the main use case.
• Region. At launch, public publishing wasn't available in the EEA, Switzerland or the UK. If you're in the EU, check in your own account that "Anyone on the internet" is offered before you build.
• Every deployment is live. Each deploy goes to the production address. Ask ChatGPT to save a version first, review it, then deploy.
• The files. We found no documented way to download a Site's code. If owning the files matters, build in Codex as a local project. Codex can still deploy it to Sites, and the source stays with you.
• You're the data controller. If the site collects names or emails, OpenAI's Sites terms make you responsible for the privacy policy and consent.

Step by step: from prompt to files

Step 1: Collect the facts before you open ChatGPT

The difference between a generic AI site and a good one is input. Write down what the business does, who visits, what they should do (call, book, send a request), real opening hours, prices and address, plus a few sentences in your own voice. Gather your logo and real photos. ChatGPT fills every gap you leave with something plausible and invented.

Step 2: Write one brief and reuse it

Put the brief in a ChatGPT Project (so every chat in it shares the context) or, for Codex, in a file. A brief that works looks like this:

Build a one-page website for Lindner Tischlerei, a carpentry
    workshop in Freiburg with four people. We build fitted kitchens
    and built-in wardrobes. Most visitors come from Google Maps on
    a phone and want to know: do you do my kind of job, and how do
    I get a quote.
    
    Goal: visitors send a quote request or call.
    
    Sections: hero with one clear sentence and a call button,
    three services, how a project works (visit, drawing, build),
    photos (I'll add them), a short about section, contact.
    
    Rules:
    - One self-contained index.html, plain HTML and CSS, a little
      vanilla JavaScript at most. No React, no build step.
    - No external fonts or scripts. Use a system font stack.
    - Mobile first. Check that nothing scrolls sideways at 375px.
    - One h1, semantic sections, alt text on every image.
    - Never invent facts. Where you need a fact I didn't give you,
      write TODO instead.

"Never invent facts" and the TODO rule do the most work here. They stop the five-star review from a customer who doesn't exist.

Step 3: One page? Stay in the chat

Paste the brief into a chat and preview the code block it returns. Ask for specific changes ("make the call button sticky on mobile", "shorten the services"). Two or three rounds is usually enough; after that, changes mostly move things around. Then ask: "Check this page at 375px and 1280px width, list every layout problem and fix them all." And open the file on a real phone yourself.

Step 4: Several pages? Move to Codex

Pages built one chat at a time drift apart: a different button here, a missing menu item there. Codex works on a folder, so it keeps the header and footer consistent. Install it with the official Codex CLI guide, or use Codex in the ChatGPT desktop app if you'd rather not touch a terminal:

mkdir lindner-site && cd lindner-site
    git init
    codex

Codex reads an AGENTS.md file in the project for standing instructions. Put the brief from step 2 there, add the page list, and pick the stack: plain HTML for three to five pages, Astro if you want shared layouts or a blog. Then ask for a plan before any code: "Read AGENTS.md. Propose the pages, the sections of the homepage and the shared components. Don't write code yet." Build the homepage first, get it right, and only then the other pages. Our Claude Code guide walks through the same workflow in more depth; the steps carry over almost one to one.

Step 5: Get the files out

• From a chat: copy the code into a plain text editor, save it as index.html (UTF-8) and put your images in the same folder.
• From Codex: the folder is the site. For Astro, run npm run build and upload dist, or let your host build from Git.
• If ChatGPT gave you React: it won't run on a host without a build step. Ask: "Convert this into plain HTML and CSS with no framework and no build step."

Host it and connect your domain

ChatGPT and Codex produce a static website: plain files any host can serve, usually for free.

• Cloudflare Pages: drag and drop the folder, or connect a Git repository.
• Netlify: drag and drop or Git, and it has built-in form handling, handy for a simple contact form.
• GitHub Pages: push the folder to a repository. Free for public repositories.

Then add example.com and www.example.com in the host's settings, set the DNS records it shows you at your registrar and wait for SSL. Leave your MX records alone, or email stops working (see changing DNS without breaking email). The full walkthrough is in our guide to publishing an AI-made website on your own domain. It's written for Claude, but the hosting steps are the same for ChatGPT files.

What a ChatGPT website usually still lacks

This list separates a nice page from a working website. Have ChatGPT or Codex work through it, then check each point yourself.

1. Responsive checks on real devices. Long words in headings, big hero images and tiny tap targets are the usual failures. Look at every page on a phone.
2. A form that delivers. A static page has no server, and ChatGPT will happily write a form that submits to nowhere. Connect a form service or your host's form feature, and send a test before launch.
3. SEO basics. A unique title and meta description on every page, one h1, share images, a favicon and a 404 page.
4. A sitemap and robots.txt, then submit the sitemap in Google Search Console. More on this in static website SEO.
5. Legal pages. In Germany or Austria a business site needs an Impressum and a privacy policy. ChatGPT can draft them, but have them checked or use a generator built for your country.
6. Consent. With EU visitors: no analytics, maps or video embeds before they agree, and self-hosted fonts instead of Google Fonts.
7. Images and rights. OpenAI's terms assign you its rights in what ChatGPT generates, but photos it "finds" or links to belong to someone else. Use your own photos, licensed stock or generated images, never let a generated photo pose as your real team, and compress everything.
8. Facts. Read every sentence. Opening hours, prices and years in business are what language models get confidently wrong.

If you're planning bookings, a shop or a customer login, read what a static website can and can't do before you start.

The shortcut: let ShiftPress host it and keep editing by chat

If you'd rather not handle hosting, DNS and forms yourself, that's what ShiftPress does. Zip the HTML pages ChatGPT or Codex made (up to 30 per ZIP) and upload the file: each becomes a real, editable page with a shared header and footer. Or describe your business in a few sentences; the AI writes and builds the pages with real copy.

After that the site runs on your own domain with SSL, forms send leads to you, and SEO and structured data are handled (how we help you get found). You change it by chat, by voice or by clicking text on the page, and you see every change before it goes live. You can download the whole site as code at any time.

After launch: how you keep changing it

The first change request comes within weeks: a new price, a holiday notice, a photo. How painful it is depends on your route.

• A single file from chat: paste the current file back in, ask for the change, upload the result. Always paste the latest version, or your last fix disappears.
• A Codex project: open the folder, describe the change, review the diff, push. The most reliable option, and Git gives you an undo.
• A Site: reopen it in ChatGPT, or use Edit site on the published page, then review and publish.

Whichever you choose, decide who does it. If the only person who can update the site is the one who knows the prompts, you've rebuilt the dependency you wanted to escape. We compared the realistic options in how to edit a static HTML website.

Frequently asked questions

The bottom line

ChatGPT can build a website today, and for a one-pager it takes an evening. Use the chat for a single page, Codex for anything with several pages, and Sites if you want ChatGPT to host it and its limits fit your case. Then do the unglamorous part: a form that arrives, titles and a sitemap, legal pages, consent and real photos.

If you'd rather spend that time on your business, upload the files to ShiftPress or describe the site there, and keep changing it by chat.