Staying on top of industry insights is a critical part of being a leader. From competitor news to salacious exposés, a daily read or watch of the latest headlines is a staple for many CEOs and senior leaders.
But it can be overwhelming to go through endless sites and check competitor press pages every day. ChatGPT can make this process a lot easier. The “Tasks” feature in the popular AI tool allows for recurring activities and reminders to be scheduled through the platform, including searching the web for the latest headlines.
This was the first recurring task I set up as soon as the feature was launched in February. Having ChatGPT comb through the websites I trust has made it easier to keep up with the news I needed to know. It’s simple to set up and highly rewarding. Here’s how to do it:
Step 1: Enable the o4-mini model of ChatGPT
The recurring tasks feature is only available on the o3 and o4-mini models, but I find o4 to be more accurate. It’s capable of fast advanced reasoning and consistently delivers correctly.
Step 2: Start a new chat for your recurring task
Start a new chat for each task and let ChatGPT know you want to set up a recurring task. Give the task the frequency—daily—and the time for ChatGPT to scour the news.
Step 3: Redirect the model towards a web search
By default, the tasks feature will ask what the user wants a reminder for, as if the user is the one who will carry out the task. Let ChatGPT know it will be doing a daily web search instead.
Step 4: Give it clear instructions
This is the most important step in the process, because ChatGPT needs clear criteria of what it should be searching for. Use the prompt below as a model:
I’m a [position title] in [industry]. Every day, I need you to search these websites to pull up relevant news headlines: [all the publications and niche blogs and competitor press rooms regularly consulted]. Please restrict yourself to headlines only from the last 24 hours as I will use these headlines to help guide my decision making, using explicit date filters (for example after:2025-05-15) or a freshness=daily parameter. Hyperlink the websites in the titles of each article.
Split the results into three sections:
- Priorities
My current priorities are [enter your key priorities]. Check for any articles tying into those priorities. For each, provide a four-line summary, two sentences on how it should influence my immediate priorities and a letter grade for its priority impact. If there’s nothing relevant, say so. - Competitors
Keep a special watch for any news in the last 24 hours on [competitor names]. If there’s news, give a two-line summary for each item. If there’s no news, note that. - Industry & Function News
Find relevant headlines from the last 24 hours in [industry, function, key area of interest]. Provide a three-line summary for each and order them by priority.
Use the prompt as a baseline and modify it according to specific objectives.
Step 5: Troubleshoot and provide feedback
It may take a few days to get the prompt exactly right. Give additional instructions on the quality of the articles, the timeframe, the ranking based on industry. This helps the task better understand specific needs and goals.
As with all AI use, filter the results through a careful lens. It’s important to do a due diligence check twice a week, but this prompt can save significant time pouring through the front page of publications to find relevant headlines every day.
Photo courtesy of Ju Jae-young/Shutterstock
