# How to get ChatGPT to remember what you told it

https://smartwebutah.com/how-to-retain-memory-in-chatgpt/

How ChatGPT remembers within a chat and across chats, and a simple habit that keeps long conversations on track whatever the settings.

February 24, 2024 · Seth Shoultes

 

You have spent twenty minutes explaining your business to ChatGPT. The answers were getting good. Then you open a new chat the next day, or the conversation gets long, and it seems to have forgotten half of what you said.

I have run into this a lot, and here is what I have learned about why it happens and how to work with it.

## What ChatGPT remembers on its own

Inside a single conversation, ChatGPT can see what you have said so far, so it can build on it. But there is a limit to how much it can keep in view at once. In a very long conversation the early details can start to slip.

Across conversations, ChatGPT now has memory features: it can save facts you tell it, you can give it standing instructions about who you are and how you want answers, and you can group related chats together. These have changed several times since I first wrote this post and will keep changing, so I will not give you menu names that may be gone next month. Look in ChatGPT’s settings for anything called memory or personalization, and check what it has saved about you. You can usually see, edit and delete it there.

Those features help, but they do not keep every detail of a project. For that, you still need the habit below.

## The habit: carry a short summary forward

The idea is simple: you keep the important points yourself, and hand them back to ChatGPT when you need them.

**1\. Start with a clear first question.** Say what you want and give enough background. For example: “Can you give me tips on improving search rankings for my WordPress site?”

**2\. Pull out the key points.** When the answer comes back, write the main points down in a few lines. Say the advice was about keyword research, good content and links from other sites:

-   Keyword research matters.
-   Quality content matters.
-   Links from other sites matter.

If the answer is long, ask ChatGPT to summarize its last reply in a few bullet points. That saves you the work.

**3\. Put the summary in your next question.** “Based on your earlier advice about keyword research, quality content and links from other sites, how do I measure whether those are helping my traffic?” Now it has the thread, even in a fresh chat.

## Tips that make it work better

-   **Keep the summary short.** A few lines beats pasting everything back in.
-   **Say what you are following up on.** Name the earlier topic so the link is obvious.
-   **Update it as you go.** When the advice changes, change your summary.
-   **Use the same words.** Reusing the key terms from earlier helps it pick up where you left off.
-   **Keep a running note.** For an ongoing project, a plain document with the date, what you asked and what you decided is all you need. Paste the relevant part in when you start a new chat.

## Going further

Once you have the habit, you can use it to go deeper:

-   **Branch into related topics.** “We covered keywords and content. Now explain how site speed affects my rankings.”
-   **Bring back your results.** “I made those changes. Traffic went up but the contact form still gets few messages. What should I look at next?” Real results give it something real to work with.
-   **Include your own numbers.** Actual figures from your site lead to more specific advice than “it went up a bit”.
-   **Ask what to learn next.** “Given what we have covered, what should I read to understand this better?”

## What you get

ChatGPT’s own memory will keep improving, and the menus will keep moving. A short summary you control works with any version, and in any other AI tool too. You decide what it remembers, and you can see exactly what that is.

If you are working out how AI fits into your own website or business, I am happy to talk it through. Call me at 801-688-8590 or email [seth@smartwebutah.com](mailto:seth@smartwebutah.com).

## Want help with this?

Call or email and I'll tell you whether you need it.

[Talk to Seth](https://smartwebutah.com/contact/)