How to Build a Website with ChatGPT and Mondovo

You've probably tried it. You ask ChatGPT to "make me a website for my bike shop" and it hands you a wall of HTML. Then you're left wondering how to get it online, and who fixes the contact form when it breaks.

Code in a chat window is just code. What you want is a live site on a real address, with forms that work and someone else handling the hosting. Connect Mondovo to ChatGPT and you can plan, design, edit and publish that site from the conversation, while you approve every step that matters. Here's how, step by step.

What you need before you start

• A Mondovo account and the business facts you want on the site: name, location, services, who you serve, contact details and the one thing you want visitors to do (book, call, request a quote).
• ChatGPT on the web, with permission to use apps or custom connectors in your account or workspace.
• A short list of things only you can decide, like the right phone number, prices, booking rules, the domain and any legal wording.

The connector works on any Mondovo plan, including Free. What ChatGPT can do with it depends on your ChatGPT plan, your workspace's rules and the permissions you grant.

On costs: building and refining are free, and the Free plan lets you share previews with anyone (going live needs Pro). Its 50 Creative Studio credits are a one-off in your first month, not monthly. In the US, Pro is $20 a month for your first live site, and each extra live site is another $20 a month. Registering a domain is a separate cost. Your billing country sets the currency, term, tax and plan limits, so check the pricing page for the account that'll pay. You don't need the Agency add-on; that's for API access and white-label agency work.

Step 1: Connect Mondovo in ChatGPT

Mondovo's listing in ChatGPT on 21 October 2026. This is where you install it; the building comes next.

The easy route: start from Mondovo's assistant connector guide, or open the Mondovo listing in ChatGPT directly. Choose Install plugin, sign in to your Mondovo account, pick the workspaces you want ChatGPT to see, and review the access it asks for. You don't need developer mode for this.

Your menus may look a little different: OpenAI's connected-app help page puts this under Settings → Plugins, but some accounts show Settings → Connectors or an Apps directory instead. Contacts, Creative Studio and the posting calendar can be separate permissions, so grant only what your first task needs.

If Mondovo isn't in your directory, or your workspace supports custom MCP servers, there's an advanced route. OpenAI's developer instructions say to open Plugins, click the plus button, choose Add custom MCP server, enter a name and the public HTTPS address, set up sign-in, accept the risk warning and create the plugin. The ChatGPT address for Mondovo is https://app.mondovo.com/api/mcp/chatgpt. Follow OpenAI's custom MCP server instructions as you go, because the menus change.

OpenAI's documentation says ChatGPT supports reading and writing through a trusted custom MCP server, subject to web access, workspace permissions and security rules. So a Mondovo plan alone doesn't guarantee ChatGPT can create, edit or publish in your workspace. If the app is missing, a tool is hidden, or ChatGPT can only read, use the Mondovo app or ask your workspace admin what's allowed.

Which part does which job?

Step 2: Give ChatGPT a brief it can check

"Make me a nice website" gets you a nice-looking guess. Start with facts and tell ChatGPT where to stop. Something like:

Use Mondovo to plan a website for North Loop Bicycle Repair in Minneapolis. We repair commuter and cargo bikes, serve riders within 10 miles, and want appointment requests. Use only these facts: [paste facts]. First show me the page plan, audience assumptions, service names and missing information. Don't make up prices, addresses or opening hours. Wait for my approval before creating designs.

The connector gathers whatever's missing, writes a page-by-page content plan and, once you approve it, builds three complete designs from it. Before that, check the business name, services, locations, contact details and main button. If you don't give an AI a fact, it can fill the gap with something that looks right and isn't.

Step 3: Compare, refine and publish

1. Approve the plan. Ask ChatGPT to list its assumptions and open questions. Fix the plan before you ask for designs.
2. Compare the three designs. Look at the previews and pick on layout, readability and fit for the business, not on some made-up "conversion score".
3. Make one clear edit at a time. For example: On the chosen design, change the hero button to “Request an appointment,” keep the existing services and do not add a phone number. Mondovo saves every edit in version history, so you can always restore an earlier version.
4. Test it like a customer would. Click through the menu, the contact form, the booking details, the phone layout, and check every fact. Ask ChatGPT to show what it changed.
5. Ask to publish only once you're happy. Try: The design and contact details are approved. Publish this site to the confirmed Mondovo address. Do not connect a custom domain yet. Going live needs Pro; a custom domain and its DNS record are separate steps.

Some things never happen behind your back. Per Mondovo's connector guide, publishing needs an explicit request, and campaign sending and some account settings stay in the Mondovo app. Social posts can be drafted and follow-ups saved switched off, so a draft is not a send. Creative Studio shows the credit cost before it creates anything. Builder voice has its own allowance, separate from the Free plan's first-month Creative Studio credits.

Useful prompts once you're live

• List the pages and their SEO titles for my site. Suggest improvements, but do not change anything until I approve the exact list.
• Read the latest form submissions and summarize them without contacting anyone. Ask before tagging or changing a contact.
• Draft four social posts about the new service page. Put them in the calendar as drafts only; do not queue or publish them.
• Compare the current homepage with the approved brief. List factual mismatches and propose copy patches without redesigning the page.

Each one keeps reading, drafting and changing separate. ChatGPT only sees the workspaces and permissions you approved. Ask for an explicit "yes" before anything that publishes, sends, bills or spends credits. Small copy edits can go ahead from a plain request; check the result in the preview.

Why do it this way instead of pasting code

You could keep copying HTML out of ChatGPT. But then you own the hosting, the domain, the contact form, the security and every fix after that. With Mondovo connected, the conversation drives a real site:

• Three complete designs with your own content. Keep up to ten on a site and switch the live one with a click.
• Built in: forms with an enquiry inbox, bookings, an online store, email and social posts.
• No plugins, no updates, no backups to manage. Pages publish as static files from a global network, and security is our job.
• Already have a site? Paste the address and Mondovo reads your pages, text, images, logo and colours, and redirects your old page addresses to the new ones.
• Building and editing are free, and previews are free to share. Pro, at $20 a month, puts a site live on your own domain or a mondovo.co address.

Create a free Mondovo account, then connect it in ChatGPT and paste the brief above with your own details.

Common errors and what they mean

"Mondovo is unavailable"

Check you're in the right ChatGPT workspace, the app is enabled for your plan and region, and the Mondovo sign-in finished. In a managed workspace, an admin may need to allow the app. If ChatGPT picked the wrong Mondovo account, reconnect the right one.

"I can read sites but can't edit or publish"

That's usually a ChatGPT or workspace permission, not a Mondovo billing problem. OpenAI's custom MCP documentation treats reading and fetching separately from writing and changing. Ask your admin to review which connector actions are allowed, or finish the edit and publish in Mondovo.

"The answer contains code but no live site"

Ask ChatGPT whether it used the Mondovo connector or just wrote sample code. Raw HTML or React still needs hosting, a domain and someone to look after the forms. If you want Mondovo to host it, ask ChatGPT to use the connector, show you the plan and wait for your approval before creating and publishing.

Related reading

See the Mondovo platform overview, pricing and plan limits, the affordable website builder comparison, how to do this with Claude, the wider AI website builder guide and what a website costs.

Steps, menus and prices checked on 21 October 2026. ChatGPT's menus, plan availability, taxes and permissions change, so check the current screens before you rely on them.

Frequently asked questions

Can ChatGPT build and publish a website on its own?

On its own, ChatGPT writes code you'd still need to host. With Mondovo connected, it can plan, design, edit and publish a live site, if your workspace permissions allow it.

Do I need a paid ChatGPT or Mondovo plan?

The connector works on any Mondovo plan, including Free, which lets you build and preview; going live needs Pro. What ChatGPT can do depends on your ChatGPT plan and workspace settings.

How much does it cost to publish on my own domain?

In the US, Pro is $20 a month for your first live site, and each extra live site is $20 a month. The domain registration itself is separate, and your billing country sets the exact currency and tax.

Will ChatGPT publish or send emails without asking me?

Publishing is an explicit request, and campaign sending stays in the Mondovo app. Drafting a post is never the same as sending it.