So, you want to beef up ChatGPT with a few plugins. Smart move. But if you’ve been searching around, you might have noticed things look a little different. That’s because OpenAI completely changed the game, moving from the old "Plugin Store" to a new, integrated "GPT Store." What we used to call plugins are now part of custom GPTs, which are basically specialized versions of ChatGPT built for specific jobs.
Don’t worry, you’re in the right place. This guide will walk you through the new, correct way to find and use these powerful tools. We’ll cover the simple steps to get you started and also get real about why, for serious business tasks, you’ll eventually need to look beyond public GPTs to get true, seamless automation.
What you’ll need to get started
Getting set up is pretty simple, but there’s one main requirement. You’ll need a subscription to a paid OpenAI plan, which means either ChatGPT Plus, Team, or Enterprise. Unfortunately, if you’re on the free plan, you won’t have access to the GPT Store just yet.
The good news? You don’t need any special software, browser extensions, or coding skills. Everything happens right inside the ChatGPT website, making it easy for anyone to jump in.
How to install ChatGPT plugins (now called GPTs): a step-by-step guide
Ready to dive in? The process is actually even simpler than the old plugin system. Let’s walk through it.
Step 1: Log in and find the GPT store
First up, sign in to your ChatGPT account. Once you’re on the main dashboard, glance over to the left-hand sidebar. You should see an option that says "Explore GPTs." Go ahead and click that. This is your new home for all custom GPTs, replacing what was once the plugin store.
Step 2: Browse or search for a GPT
Welcome to the GPT Store. It’s laid out with featured GPTs at the top, followed by trending categories like Writing, Productivity, Research & Analysis, and more. If you already have something in mind, the search bar at the top is your best friend.
Just like you would have searched for a plugin, you can type in a function you need, like "PDF reader," "Canva," or "travel planner." The store will show you all the public GPTs built for that purpose. It’s worth taking a minute to browse the categories; you might stumble upon a tool you didn’t even know you needed.
Step 3: Pick a GPT and start chatting
Here’s the biggest change from the old system: there’s no "install" button anymore. You don’t have to manage a list of installed plugins or remember to activate them.
To use a GPT, you just click on it. That’s it. This will open a new, dedicated chat window for that specific GPT. It’s already active and ready to go. You can start typing your prompt right away, and it will automatically use its unique skills to help you. For example, if you open the Canva GPT, you can just ask it to create a social media post, and it’ll get to work.
Step 4: Keep track of your recent GPTs
One of the best parts of this new setup is how easy it is to switch between your favorite tools. Any GPT you’ve used will automatically pop up in your sidebar, right below the "Explore GPTs" button.
There’s no need to enable or disable them, and you’re no longer stuck with a limit of using just three at a time. To use a GPT again, just find it in your recent list and click on it to start a new conversation. It’s a much smoother way to work.
The catch: the limits of public GPTs for business
Okay, so you’ve seen how easy it is to find and use GPTs for one-off tasks. They’re great for drafting a quick email, summarizing an article, or creating an image. But when you try to plug them into a critical business process like customer support, you’ll start seeing the cracks pretty quickly.
Public GPTs have some real limitations for professional use:
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They don’t talk to your other tools. A public GPT can’t connect to your core business systems. It can’t log into your Zendesk or Freshdesk account to tag a ticket, update a customer field, or close a conversation. Every single action is manual. You get stuck in a frustrating loop of copying from your helpdesk, pasting into ChatGPT, getting a generic answer, and then pasting that back. It’s a dead end, not a solution.
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They don’t know your business. These tools are not trained on your company’s most valuable asset: your history of past support conversations. They have no idea about your specific product quirks, your brand’s tone of voice, or the clever troubleshooting steps your top agents have figured out. Their answers come from public web data, which means they’ll be generic at best and flat-out unhelpful at worst.
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You’re not in the driver’s seat. With a public GPT, you get what you get. You can’t set up complex workflows, create rules for when the AI should hand a ticket over to a human, or customize its personality to perfectly match your brand. You’re essentially handing a customer interaction over to a black box with no real control over what happens next.
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You can’t test drive them. How do you know if a GPT is actually ready to handle real customer questions? You don’t. There’s no way to safely test it on your past tickets to see how it performs. And once it’s live, there are no analytics to track its resolution rate, see where it’s struggling, or find gaps in its knowledge.
Why a dedicated AI platform is what you really need for support automation
For one-off creative tasks, GPTs are fun and useful. But for real, dependable automation that plugs directly into your business, you need something built for the job.
This is where a solution like eesel AI comes into the picture. It’s an AI platform designed from the ground up to handle the messy reality of support automation by connecting deeply with the tools you already use. Instead of creating more manual work, it gets rid of it.
Here’s how a dedicated platform blows past the limits of public GPTs:
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Go live in minutes, not months. eesel AI has one-click integrations with helpdesks like Zendesk, Intercom, and Gorgias. You can get started for free in minutes without ever talking to a salesperson. It slots right into your existing workflows instead of forcing you to build new ones around a disconnected chat window.
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Bring all your knowledge together. This is the big one. eesel AI securely learns from all of your company’s knowledge, not just a few documents you feed it. It analyzes your past tickets, help center articles, internal wikis in Confluence, and even shared Google Docs to give answers that are hyper-relevant, contextual, and perfectly in your brand’s voice.
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Take action with a fully customizable workflow engine. An AI agent from eesel can do way more than just answer a question. It can perform real actions in your other tools. Need to check on an order status? It can ping Shopify. Does a ticket need to be marked as "urgent" and sent to the engineering team? It can do that. You set the rules, triggers, and actions, giving you total control.
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Test with confidence. Before you let the AI talk to a single customer, eesel AI’s simulation mode lets you run it against thousands of your historical support tickets. You can see exactly how it would have responded, what actions it would have taken, and get a precise forecast of its performance, resolution rate, and what kind of return you can expect.
The difference in how work gets done is night and day. Here’s a quick look:
Common mistakes to avoid when you start using AI
As you dip your toes into AI, it’s easy to fall into a few common traps. Here’s what to watch out for:
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Trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. Forcing a public GPT to act like a fully integrated support agent will always feel clumsy. It just leads to inconsistent results, frustrated agents, and more manual work, not less.
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Forgetting to look before you leap. Going live with any AI without testing its performance first is a recipe for a bad customer experience. You need to know how it will perform in the real world before it ever talks to a customer.
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Ignoring your best source of knowledge. The quality of an AI’s answer is completely dependent on the knowledge it’s trained on. Relying on a few manually uploaded files misses the rich, contextual goldmine sitting in your thousands of past support tickets.
Move beyond plugins to true automation
The world of ChatGPT "plugins" has officially grown up. The new GPT Store offers an amazing collection of tools that can supercharge individual tasks and make you more productive. It’s a fantastic change that makes powerful AI more accessible than ever.
But for businesses trying to automate core functions like customer service, the goal isn’t just to find a better tool, it’s to build a better system. That means you need an integrated, secure, and customizable solution that works with your existing tools and knowledge. Public GPTs are a great starting point, but a dedicated platform is what makes real, scalable automation possible.
Ready to see what integrated AI can do for your support team? Sign up for a free trial of eesel AI and deploy your first AI agent in minutes, or book a demo with our team to see it in action.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, that’s correct. OpenAI has replaced the old Plugin Store with the new GPT Store. The process is no longer about "installing" plugins but about selecting and using specialized GPTs directly from the store.
Access to the GPT Store and all custom GPTs is currently only available for users with a paid subscription. This includes ChatGPT Plus, Team, or Enterprise plans.
The change was made to create a more integrated and streamlined experience. Instead of managing separate installations, you can now instantly use a specialized GPT for a specific task simply by selecting it, which is a much smoother workflow.
Yes, any guides referring to the old "Plugin Store" are now outdated. The correct and current method is to find and use tools through the "Explore GPTs" section, as outlined in this guide.
While GPTs are great for individual tasks, they have limitations for serious business automation. They can’t connect to your business systems like a helpdesk or learn from your private company knowledge, which is why a dedicated platform is recommended for those use cases.
