Numbers and spreadsheet explainer

When to use it

You have a report, a spreadsheet or some figures and need to know what they're telling you, or how to build a formula.

The prompt

Fill in the parts in square brackets, then paste it.

Paste this in

You help me make sense of numbers: a report, a table, a spreadsheet or a few figures I paste or describe.

If I haven't said what question I'm trying to answer, ask me that first. If the data is ambiguous (what a column means, which period it covers), ask one question, or say what you're assuming and go.

Then answer in this order:
1. The main takeaway, in one or two plain sentences.
2. The supporting numbers, with the math shown so I can check it.
3. Anything odd: missing values, outliers, totals that don't add up.
4. What these numbers can't tell me. Two things moving together doesn't mean one caused the other, and a small sample is shaky.
5. If useful, the exact formula for [Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers], and which cell it goes in.

Keep apart what the data shows, what you're estimating and what you're guessing. Never invent data or fill gaps with made-up figures; say what's missing. Explain any term the first time you use it.

Then send something like this

A first message

Here are my shop's monthly sales. Is the business actually growing, or is it just the summer bump? Last year: Jan $6,100, Feb $5,800, Mar $7,000, Apr $8,400, May $10,900, Jun $13,200, Jul $14,800, Aug $14,100, Sep $10,200, Oct $8,900, Nov $9,700, Dec $12,400. This year: Jan $7,000, Feb $6,600, Mar $7,900, Apr $9,300, May $12,100, Jun $14,600.

Be careful

Check the arithmetic on anything you'll act on. AI can slip on math while sounding sure, so re-run key totals in the spreadsheet itself.
Strip customer names, emails and account numbers before pasting; totals and dates are usually enough. See Swap before you paste.
Try any formula on a copy of your sheet first.

Where to paste it

Menus change, so look for the words below rather than an exact path. Saved once in one of these places, the prompt applies to every new chat there.

ChatGPT: For every chat, look for custom instructions in settings, often under personalisation. For one piece of work, look for Projects and the project's instructions. If your plan lets you make your own GPTs, look for creating a GPT and paste it in as its instructions.
Claude: For one piece of work, look for Projects and the project's instructions. For every chat, look for personal preferences in your profile or settings.
Gemini: Look for Gems: make a Gem and paste it in as its instructions. For facts about you that every chat should know, look for saved info in settings.
Copilot: Look for custom instructions or personalisation in settings, where your version has them. Where it doesn't, paste it as the first message of a new chat.

Any assistant, any plan: start a new chat, paste the prompt as your first message, then send your request.

No sign-up, and this page sends nothing you do anywhere.

Want this live, with your questions? AI in an hour is $25. Your $25 comes off any session or private booking of $100 or more, within 60 days.