Put a ChatGPT website online: step by step

You put a website from ChatGPT online by saving the code from the conversation as files and placing them with a hosting provider. The chat and Canvas host nothing, so you put the files online yourself. You work in four short steps: make files, test locally, upload and connect your domain. Below you can see how that goes, and what to do if ChatGPT builds something that needs a server.

From chat to files

ChatGPT delivers code in three ways. The result is always text that you still have to put in a file.

• In the chat. You ask for a website and get a code block with <!DOCTYPE html> at the top. You can copy the code from there.
• In Canvas. The code sits next to the conversation in a window of its own. There is a download button at the top right. According to OpenAI, a code canvas is saved with an extension that fits the language. After downloading, check that the file is called .html and is complete.
• Through Codex. This is ChatGPT as a programming helper that works in a project folder or a GitHub repository. You then get a whole project, not loose code blocks.

Ask right at the start for something that is easy to put online. A sentence like “Make one index.html with the css in a separate file style.css, without a server and without a build” saves you the most work later.

Saving the code as files

This is how you turn the chat into a site you can open:

1. Make a new folder on your computer, for example my-site.
2. Open a simple text editor (Notepad, TextEdit in plain text mode or a free editor such as VS Code).
3. Paste the HTML and save it as index.html in that folder.
4. If ChatGPT gave the css separately, paste it into style.css in the same folder. index.html must then contain a line such as <link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css">.
5. Put images in a subfolder, for example images, and the reference in the code becomes images/photo.jpg.

The file must be called exactly index.html, in lower case. That is how a server recognises the home page.

Testing locally by double-clicking

Double-click index.html. Your browser opens the page straight from your computer. Check five things:

• Do you see the images?
• Do the buttons and menu links go somewhere?
• Does it look good on your phone? Make the browser window narrow to see.
• Are there texts that are wrong, such as an invented address or phone number? ChatGPT sometimes fills those in. Remove them or replace them with your own details.
• Is there a key or password somewhere in the code? It does not belong there.

If it works locally, chances are good that it works online too, as long as you upload the files and folders in the same layout.

Building a project with Codex

If you use Codex, you work in a real project folder. Ask explicitly for a static site. A useful instruction:

Build a static website with Vite. No server and no database.
Make sure npm run build creates a dist folder with index.html in the main folder.

Then run this in that folder:

npm install
npm run build

The contents of dist are your website. With Next.js that is the out folder, provided the project is set up with output: 'export'. Upload those contents, not the whole project folder. The details and pitfalls are in hosting a React or Vite website without a Node server.

You can also send us a project you get through GitHub. How that works is explained in exporting an AI website as a zip or GitHub.

If ChatGPT suggests a Node or Next app

ChatGPT sometimes chooses Node with Express by itself, or a Next.js app with server functions. That can happen if you ask for logging in, a database or a form that stores messages. You then have two choices.

Back to static. Ask ChatGPT: “Make a version of this with only HTML, css and javascript. The form may send to a form service or a PHP file.” For a business site with a contact form that is almost always enough. How to make such a form work is explained in a contact form on your AI website.

Carry on with the server. If you really need a server or database, that is not a standard plan. A Node app fits a custom offer. Send us a WhatsApp message with what ChatGPT built and we will look at what is needed and come back with a proposal.

What is ChatGPT Sites?

OpenAI has a service called ChatGPT Sites, with which you can describe a website and have OpenAI host it itself. The documentation says you can connect your own domain to it where the service offers that, and that some frameworks and databases are not supported. At the time of writing it says it is available as a preview for ChatGPT Business and Enterprise workspaces. Whether your account has it, you can check in the official explanation at learn.chatgpt.com.

It is a service from OpenAI, not part of our hosting. Your site then stays within the OpenAI platform. If you want to hold the files yourself, with a Dutch provider at a fixed monthly price, an export and your own hosting is the route.

Putting it online on your own domain

You now have a folder with an index.html, and possibly a stylesheet and images. Two ways to get it online:

Upload it yourself with SFTP. Log in with FileZilla or Cyberduck using the details from your portal under Files and drag the contents of your folder to the main folder of your site.

We do it. Send us the zip or the GitHub link. We put it online as part of the free migration.

After that you connect the domain with two nameservers that you enter once at your registrar. The steps are in connecting a domain name to your AI website. If a site already existed on that domain, it stays online until you change the nameservers.

Your site sits behind Cloudflare, with SSL and a daily backup. The Website plan costs € 9 per month, or € 90 per year. See pricing or order straight away through the order form. More about our approach for ChatGPT sites is on hosting for ChatGPT websites. The full overview of routes is in putting a website from AI online.