Can ChatGPT remind me to follow up?

ChatGPT has scheduled tasks, but users have reported reminders that don't arrive or tasks that don't run, and it can't chase another person and watch for their reply on its own. An assistant with its own inbox and computer can.

Will people know it's an AI writing?

If it writes from its own address, it writes as your assistant. If you connect your own Gmail or Outlook, it can reply as you. You choose which, and you can tell it how to sign off.

Can it follow up by phone?

It can phone a business for you. Tell it, for example, "if there's no reply by Thursday, call them", and it will.

How to get an AI to follow up for you

The hard part of most jobs isn't the first message. It's the second and third, days later, when nobody has answered. Here's how to have an AI do the chasing.

Start free Free to try, no card. Ready in about a minute.

Why most AI assistants struggle with this

Most chat assistants only do something when you open the app and type. Nothing is running in the background to notice that Thursday has come and the plumber still hasn't written back. When you close the chat, it effectively stops existing until you come back.

Some apps have added scheduled tasks, but people report they aren't dependable. In an OpenAI forum thread on ChatGPT Tasks, users describe reminders that never arrived, tasks confirmed in chat that never showed up, and wrong days. A paying user wrote that scheduled tasks in a project didn't run at all, not even a simple test.

Chasing a reply also needs two things most assistants don't have: a place for the reply to land, and a memory of what it was waiting for. And where an assistant can send email for you, each message often waits for your approval one at a time, so the follow-up stalls right where you wanted it to carry on.

What you need

A phone that can text, or an email address. If you want it to follow up from your own email address, you'll also connect your Gmail or Outlook, which takes one button.

Otherwise it can follow up from its own email address. People and companies can write back to it directly, so the replies come to the assistant, not to a pile in your inbox.

Step by step

Sign up and start a text thread
Sign up at the sign-up page with your email and mobile number. Your assistant is ready in about a minute with its own name and email address, and the next screen has one tap to start texting it.
Tell it who to chase, about what, and when
Please chase the plumber about the quote for the bathroom. If he hasn't answered by Thursday, call him.
Give it the person's email or phone number, what you're waiting for, and the day you want it to act. Plain words are fine: "Thursday", "next week", "if I haven't heard by Friday morning".
Decide whose name it writes in
It can write from its own address as your assistant. That works well, because replies go straight to it. Or connect your Gmail or Outlook with one button and it can write as you, from your own address.
Either way, say once how you'd like it to sound: short and friendly, formal, whatever suits you.
Let it wait and check back
You can forget about it. It keeps notes on what it's waiting for, and at the time you set it follows up. If a reply comes in, it reads it and tells you what was said.
Get a short report
Let me know when he's sent the quote. Just the price and the start date is fine.
Say what you want to hear back and when. A short text with the answer is usually all you need.

Tips from doing this a lot

Always give a deadline. "Follow up if no answer by Wednesday" is far better than "follow up sometime".
Say what happens next if there's still no reply: a second email, a phone call, or just tell you.
Give the assistant's own email address to people you deal with often, so they can write to it directly.
Keep one running thread with your assistant. It keeps notes between jobs, but one thread makes it easy for you to scroll back too.

What it can't do yet

It follows up at the time you set, but it can only reach people by the email, phone or website you give it or it can find. It can phone a business for you, though some people simply won't pick up.

Like any AI it can make mistakes, so look over anything important it sends in your name, especially the first few times. It won't spend money without asking you first.

Stop being the one who has to chase

Text it who to follow up with and when, and it does it at that time.