ExcelGPT

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ExcelGPT is a Custom GPT available on the GPT Store that helps users build formulas, write macros, and analyze data inside Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, and Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). The GPT was created by Arthur Guerin and runs on ChatGPT using the GPT-4 family of models.^[3] It sits in the Productivity category of the OpenAI marketplace and is one of the most chatted-with spreadsheet helpers on the platform, with public listings reporting more than 25,000 conversations.^[5]

The assistant focuses on common spreadsheet pain points: writing a working VLOOKUP, converting an old VLOOKUP into XLOOKUP, debugging a circular reference, or translating a stuck workflow into a short VBA macro. It answers in French, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Chinese, and English, and prefers to ask a clarifying question when a prompt is missing context such as the sheet layout or column types.^[4]

Background

OpenAI announced the GPT Store on January 10, 2024, after several months of private beta.^[1] The store opened with categories for Writing, Productivity, Research and Analysis, Programming, Education, Lifestyle, and DALL·E, and was available to ChatGPT Plus, Team, and Enterprise subscribers.^[1] ExcelGPT was already live during the store's launch week and appears in archived listings with a last-updated date of January 23, 2024,^[4] placing it among the early productivity GPTs that benefited from the initial wave of marketplace traffic.

Arthur Guerin, the listed creator, also publishes several other GPTs on the same account, but ExcelGPT is the one that grew the largest audience.^[5] Third-party trackers such as gptstore.ai and gptsapp.io repost its public metadata, conversation starters, and chat counts.^[4][5]

Capabilities

ExcelGPT covers four main areas of spreadsheet work. The list below mirrors how the GPT itself describes its scope in its public instructions and conversation starters.

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The GPT has web browsing, DALL-E image generation, and the Code Interpreter tool turned on.^[3] Code Interpreter is the most useful of the three for spreadsheet work because it lets users upload a .xlsx or .csv file and ask ExcelGPT to inspect the data, run a quick calculation, or test a formula on a real dataset. Web browsing is handy for looking up rarely used function syntax that may have changed between Excel versions, and image generation is rarely needed for spreadsheet help but stays available for things like quick chart mockups.

Instructions and conversation starters

ExcelGPT's system prompt describes the GPT as an expert in Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, and Visual Basic for Applications, drawing on material from both the Microsoft Excel Learning Center and the Google Sheets Learning Center.^[4] The instructions tell the model to provide help in multiple languages, to ask for clarification when queries are vague, to avoid financial or legal advice, and to keep a professional and approachable tone.^[4]

The public listing shows three short conversation starters that the chat surface displays the first time a user opens the GPT:^[3]

• Can you help me with an Excel formula or function?
• I want to do something in Excel but don't know how. Help me with a VLOOKUP!
• Help me convert a VLOOKUP to XLOOKUP.

The wiki page records a slightly longer set used at an earlier point in the GPT's history, including questions about running totals, IF statements in VBA, merging cells in Google Sheets, and converting currency values. Conversation starters in the GPT Store can be edited by the creator, so different snapshots will show different sets.

Example formula explanations

Most of ExcelGPT's traffic is formula questions. The GPT tends to follow a predictable shape: it restates the formula, walks through the arguments, and ends with a short example pasted into a code block. A few common examples illustrate the style.

XLOOKUP. Asked to explain =XLOOKUP(A2, Sheet2!A:A, Sheet2!C:C, "Not found"), ExcelGPT describes XLOOKUP as a flexible replacement for VLOOKUP that searches a lookup array, returns the matching cell from a return array, and uses an optional fourth argument as the value to show when nothing is found. It usually notes that XLOOKUP works in both directions and does not need the lookup column to be on the left.

SUMIFS with multiple criteria. For a prompt like "sum all orders from California placed after January 1," the GPT produces =SUMIFS(Sales, Region, "CA", OrderDate, ">="&DATE(2026,1,1)) and explains that SUMIFS adds values from the sum range only for rows where every criteria pair is satisfied.

INDEX/MATCH. When users ask why their VLOOKUP returns #N/A, ExcelGPT often suggests rebuilding the lookup as =INDEX(ReturnColumn, MATCH(LookupValue, LookupColumn, 0)) and explains that this combination removes the left-to-right restriction of VLOOKUP.

LET and LAMBDA. For Microsoft 365 users the GPT covers newer functions. A LET example such as =LET(rate, 0.08, total, B2*(1+rate), total) is explained as a way to name intermediate values inside a single formula. LAMBDA examples build a custom function stored under a defined name in the Name Manager.

VBA macros. For "loop through every sheet and add a header row," the GPT returns a short Sub with For Each ws In ThisWorkbook.Worksheets, sets values in ws.Rows(1), and reminds the user to save the file as .xlsm.

The explanations are not always perfect. Like other large language models, ExcelGPT can suggest the wrong argument order or invent a function that does not exist in a given Excel version, so users with serious workbooks usually test the formula on a small sample before relying on it.

Common use cases

The assistant is best known for a handful of recurring tasks.

• Generating a formula from a plain-language description such as "return the second-largest value in column C, ignoring blanks."
• Translating between Excel and Google Sheets syntax (most functions match but a few such as ARRAYFORMULA in Sheets or LET in Excel do not have direct equivalents).
• Converting legacy VBA macros into Google Apps Script when a team migrates from Excel to Sheets.
• Debugging errors like #REF!, #VALUE!, #NAME?, or #SPILL!.
• Cleaning messy data with TRIM, CLEAN, SUBSTITUTE, TEXTSPLIT, and Power Query M code suggestions.
• Building a pivot table from a description of the source columns and the rows, columns, and values the user wants.

Most chats logged in third-party trackers are short, single-turn questions where the user pastes a formula and copies the answer back into their workbook. Longer threads tend to be VBA work, where the user iterates over a macro until it runs without errors.

Comparison to Microsoft Copilot for Excel

ExcelGPT and Microsoft Copilot for Excel solve overlapping problems with different shapes.

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The two tools are complementary. Copilot is faster when the goal is to physically change cells on screen. ExcelGPT is faster when the goal is to understand a formula, debug a stuck macro, or move work between Excel and Google Sheets. The lack of a direct workbook connection is the biggest gap for ExcelGPT, but it is also why the GPT is free for users who do not have a Copilot license.

Reception and traffic

Public trackers list ExcelGPT among the more popular productivity GPTs in the OpenAI marketplace. Snapshots from gptsapp.io and yeschat.ai show chat counts that grew from around 8,000 conversations in early 2024 to roughly 25,000 later in the year, with an average rating of about 4 out of 5 across roughly 400 community reviews.^[5][6] The growth pattern matches the broader rise of the GPT Store during 2024, which OpenAI said held more than 3 million user-created GPTs by late 2024, of which around 159,000 were public and listed.^[9]

Reviews on third-party listing sites praise the speed of getting a working formula, the willingness to ask clarifying questions when a prompt is ambiguous, and the multilingual support that lets non-English speakers describe a problem in their own language. Common complaints focus on the limits of the GPT-4 base model: occasional fabricated function names, answers that mix Excel and Google Sheets syntax, and the fact that without Code Interpreter active the GPT cannot run a formula against the user's data. ExcelGPT is not the only spreadsheet GPT on the store, with competitors such as ExcelGPT v2, Excel Pro, and GPT Excel covering similar ground, but its edge appears to be name recognition from being early in the store.

Limitations

ExcelGPT inherits the constraints of the base ChatGPT product. Outputs are generated text and need to be tested before being used in production workbooks. The GPT does not have access to the user's open Excel file unless they upload it through the Code Interpreter tool, and it does not write back into the file.^[10] Each chat is independent, so a long debugging session does not persist between conversations unless the user keeps notes.

The instructions tell the GPT to avoid financial and legal advice, so it will hedge or refuse on questions that mix spreadsheet help with regulated topics such as tax models or compliance reports. Sensitive data should not be pasted into the chat without first checking the relevant retention and training settings for the user's plan.

Version compatibility is another quiet issue. Functions like XLOOKUP, LET, LAMBDA, and the dynamic-array engine are only available in Microsoft 365 and Excel 2021 or later. Users running Excel 2016 or 2019 sometimes receive formulas they cannot use. The GPT does not always ask which version of Excel the user has, so it is worth saying so upfront when accuracy matters.

Position in the GPT Store

ExcelGPT belongs to a small group of single-purpose productivity GPTs that gained traction during the first year of the GPT Store. Other early productivity GPTs include writing assistants such as Consensus, research helpers like Scholar GPT, and code-focused GPTs such as Grimoire. Within the spreadsheet niche, ExcelGPT competes with narrower tools, for example pure formula generators or chart-building assistants. Its system prompt and conversation starters have stayed largely the same since 2024, which means newer Excel features such as Python in Excel and Copilot Agent Mode are only handled to the extent the underlying GPT-4 model knows about them.

See also

• Custom GPT
• GPT Store
• ChatGPT
• GPT-4
• Microsoft Copilot
• Microsoft Excel
• Google Sheets
• Visual Basic for Applications
• Code Interpreter
• Productivity

References

1. OpenAI. "Introducing the GPT Store." January 10, 2024. https://openai.com/index/introducing-the-gpt-store/ ↩
2. TechCrunch. "OpenAI launches a store for custom AI-powered chatbots." January 10, 2024. https://techcrunch.com/2024/01/10/openai-launches-a-store-for-custom-ai-powered-chatbots/
3. ChatGPT. "ExcelGPT (g-755Q51FWA)." https://chatgpt.com/g/g-755Q51FWA-excelgpt ↩
4. GPTStore.ai. "ExcelGPT GPTs features and functions, examples and prompts." https://gptstore.ai/gpts/QQkoUkWwTQ-excelgpt ↩
5. gptsapp.io. "ExcelGPT - GPT Stats, Latest Data and Details (Updated by Arthur Guerin)." https://www.gptsapp.io/gpts/excelgpt-ai/vz14yoi0i ↩
6. YesChat. "ExcelGPT - Free AI-Powered Excel and Sheets Expert." https://www.yeschat.ai/gpts-2OToO42Mdx-ExcelGPT ↩
7. GPT for Work. "GPT for Excel vs. Copilot in Excel: Best AI for bulk tasks in Excel." https://gptforwork.com/blog/gpt-for-excel-vs-copilot-in-excel
8. Microsoft. "Release Notes for Microsoft 365 Copilot." https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/copilot/release-notes
9. SEO.ai. "GPT Store Statistics and Facts: Contains 159,000 of the 3 million created GPTs." https://seo.ai/blog/gpt-store-statistics-facts ↩
10. OpenAI Help Center. "GPTs in ChatGPT." https://help.openai.com/en/articles/8554407-gpts-in-chatgpt ↩

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