How-to Updated October 2026

ChatGPT in Google Chat: how to add it

Google Chat ships with Gemini, not ChatGPT. If your team prefers OpenAI's models, or you already pay for an OpenAI account, you can still put ChatGPT into Google Chat. There are three ways to do it. Only one of them answers from your own company documents without a developer.

Add ChatGPT to Google Chat All guides
No built-in ChatGPT in Google ChatGoogle Chat's built-in assistant is Gemini. ChatGPT needs a Chat app.
Three optionsBuild a Chat app, wire a connector, or install a ready bot
Docs are the hard partAnswering from your HR or IT docs needs retrieval, not just an API call
Ready bot: under 30 minutesInstall from the Workspace Marketplace and paste your OpenAI key
The Short Answer

Can you use ChatGPT in Google Chat?

Yes, but not out of the box. Google Chat has no ChatGPT setting. Google's own AI in Chat is Gemini (see Gemini vs ChatGPT for Google Workspace). To get OpenAI's models into Chat, something has to sit between Google Chat and the OpenAI API: a Chat app that receives each message, sends it to OpenAI, and posts the reply.

ChatGPT's own Google Drive connector works the other way round. You open ChatGPT, and it reads Drive files you can access. It does not put a shared bot into your Google Chat spaces where colleagues can @mention it.

Your Options

Three ways to add ChatGPT to Google Chat

All three use the OpenAI API underneath. The difference is how much you build and whether the bot knows your company.

Ready Chat appBuild your ownConnector (Zapier, Make)
Setup timeUnder 30 minutesDays to weeks1 to 3 hours
Developer neededNoYes (Apps Script or a hosted endpoint)Someone technical
Answers from company docsYes, with citationsOnly if you build retrievalRarely, hard to do well
Works in spaces and DMsYesYesDepends on the trigger
Who controls accessAdmin picks users per groupWhatever you codeUsually anyone in the space
Ongoing costSeat fee plus OpenAI usageHosting, OpenAI usage, maintenancePer-task fees plus OpenAI usage
Option 1

Install a ready ChatGPT bot for Google Chat

This is the fastest route and the only one that answers from your documents without code. With ChatGridAI the steps are:

  1. 1

    Install from the Google Workspace Marketplace

    A Workspace admin installs ChatGridAI for the domain or for selected users. It shows up in Google Chat like any other app.

  2. 2

    Connect your OpenAI account

    Paste an OpenAI API key and pick a model (GPT-5 Mini is a good default). Usage is billed by OpenAI directly to your account, usually fractions of a cent per question.

  3. 3

    Add documents

    Upload PDFs and Word files, or pick files from Google Drive, SharePoint, OneDrive, Dropbox or Confluence. Each department (HR, IT) gets its own group with its own documents.

  4. 4

    Choose who can ask

    Add the people allowed to use each group. Everyone else gets no answers from that group's documents.

  5. 5

    Ask in Chat

    Employees DM the bot or @mention it in a space. Answers cite the source document, and the bot says so when the answer is not in your files.

Option 2

Build your own Google Chat app that calls OpenAI

If you have a developer and want full control, you can build a Chat app yourself. The outline:

  • Create a Google Cloud project, enable the Google Chat API and configure the app (name, avatar, Apps Script or HTTP endpoint).
  • Receive message events, call the OpenAI API with the message, and return the reply to Chat.
  • Store the OpenAI key somewhere safe (not in the script itself).
  • Publish the app to your domain from the Google Workspace Marketplace SDK.

A plain "forward the message to OpenAI" bot takes a day. The hard part comes after that: answering from your own documents (chunking, embeddings, a vector store, citations), keeping HR files away from people who should not see them, handling threads, and maintaining it. Most of that work is invisible in a demo. See buy vs build for the full list.

Option 3

Use an automation connector

Zapier, Make and n8n can listen for Google Chat messages and send them to OpenAI. This works for simple prompts like "summarize this" or "translate this". It struggles with company knowledge: every question needs your documents attached, every message is a billed task, and access control is whatever the space allows.

Connectors are a good fit for one-way automations, such as posting an AI summary to a space every morning. They are a weak fit for a bot that employees ask policy questions.

What Good Looks Like

Checklist for a ChatGPT bot in Google Chat

  • Answers come from your documents, and every answer names the source file.
  • When the answer is not in your documents, the bot says so instead of guessing.
  • HR documents are only searchable by the people you choose.
  • It works in DMs and in spaces, with an @mention.
  • Usage costs go to your own OpenAI account, so you can see and cap them.
  • Admins can see which questions get asked, to find gaps in the docs.
FAQ

Common questions

OpenAI does not offer a Google Chat bot that answers your colleagues in spaces. ChatGPT has a Google Drive connector, but that works inside ChatGPT, for one person at a time. To get ChatGPT into Google Chat itself you need a Chat app such as ChatGridAI, or one you build.
No. Google Chat is Google Workspace's messaging app, like Slack or Teams. ChatGPT is OpenAI's AI assistant. The names are similar, but they are different products from different companies. A Chat app can connect the two.
Yes. Gemini is built into Google Chat on paid Workspace plans, but you can add a separate Chat app that uses OpenAI models. Many teams keep both: Gemini as each person's assistant, and a shared ChatGPT-based bot for HR and IT questions from company documents.
With ChatGridAI you pay $5 per seat per month (20 seats minimum after a 14-day trial) plus OpenAI usage, which OpenAI bills to your own account. A typical question costs a fraction of a cent with GPT-5 Mini.
No. ChatGridAI only uses the files you add to a group. It does not crawl your whole Drive. Files are not synced continuously, so when a policy changes you re-add the new version.

Put ChatGPT in Google Chat today

Install from the Workspace Marketplace, connect your OpenAI key, and add your first policy document.

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