Ask anyone for one key to advancing your career, business or life, and you’ll hear the same answer every time: networking.
Using generative AI tools such as ChatGPT to help with networking may seem counterintuitive. Networking, first and foremost, is about interacting with humans — so much so that, while experimenting with ways to use the technology during an event, ChatGPT itself initially urged us to only ask it questions while hiding in the bathroom.
With a bit of prompting, an AI chatbot can hone in on events that suit your individual needs. It can schedule, remind and keep looking for new events while you’re not paying attention. It can even coach you to have effective interactions when you’re face-to-face with someone you want to make a connection with. And, after the fact, it can help you organize contacts and remind you of people who might help you with projects in the future.
Here are some tips and tricks to get the most out of networking with ChatGPT or another bot like Gemini, Copilot or DeepSeek.
Before you start
If you don’t already use an AI tool as an assistant, you may be starting with a blank slate of a program that needs customization to get the most out of it. As we learned at the Technical.ly Builders Conference’s “AI Tools Basics” workshop with Jason Michael Perry and Jeremy Gatens, ChatGPT works best when it’s customized to you.
Click your avatar in the upper right and click on “Customize ChatGPT,” and you can tell it what to call you, what you do, and how you want it to behave; you can ask it to be professional, witty, skeptical or anything else you can think of.
“Give it lots and lots and lots of context on whatever it is that you’re doing,” Perry said.
Preparing to network
While you can type or speak to the bot conversationally, remember that everything you’re telling it is a prompt and should contain enough detail to help it give you a useful response.
If you’re looking for events for networking, here’s an effective prompt:
“Find 10-12 tech networking events in Greater Philadelphia in the month of August, focusing on events that are part of the tech ecosystem, geared toward developers, startup founders and/or STEM professionals in Southeastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey and Northern Delaware. Events may be in person or virtual. Provide as a list of bullet points, including the date, times, location and a link to register.”
Once you have a list, check the event pages directly to see if they fit your criteria (more than likely, not every suggestion will be what you’re looking for). You may need to nudge the bot to include multiple areas — for example, it will likely hit a dozen events before moving on from Philly to New Jersey and Delaware.
Once you’ve picked an event, let the bot know which one you want to focus on, and it will help you plan for it.
“I want to attend the Tech Summit on August 20 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. What is the fastest and most economical way to get there from Wilmington, Delaware?”
“Help me plan 3 goals for the event.”
“I plan to attend the AI and early education panel at 1:00 in room 122-B. How do I get there from the entrance?”
“Summarize Joe Startup’s LinkedIn profile in one sentence, and suggest a question I can ask them based on it.”
“Where should I park for the event at the Pennsylvania Convention Center?”
“Where should I go for a casual dinner after the event at the Pennsylvania Convention Center?”
From now on, this thread, which you can access on the left sidebar, will be your networking hub.
Practicing conversations
Say you want to meet a specific panelist at an event. You can prompt the bot to offer suggestions for icebreakers, questions and topics of conversation geared toward the person.
If you feel extra intimidated, it will role-play a networking conversation with you that aims to end with something actionable, like an exchange of information and/or plans to follow up.
“Act as Joe Startup, the CEO of a startup that helps small businesses use AI tools. We’re meeting at a tech event, and I want to make a strong first impression as a journalist who covers equity and innovation. Let’s role-play a 2-minute conversation. You start. After the convo, give me feedback on how I came across.”
Obviously, the bot can’t predict what the CEO will say, but role-playing allows you to stop and think about what you want to say and how to say it, so your in-person interactions are less cold. Even if you don’t know who you’re going to talk to, practicing your introduction and segue into the reason you’re networking can help, even if you’ve done it many times.
The bot can also generate a list of potential questions for specific panels, summaries of speakers’ LinkedIn profiles and a list of things you have in common with speakers based on their LinkedIn — and how you can use all of that to break the ice.
At the event
When you’re there, actually networking, your focus should be on people, not your screens. But AI can assist in some scenarios, including:
- Explaining terms a speaker uses in a simplified way (if a term makes you feel especially out of your depth, use the “ELI5,” or “explain like I’m 5,” prompt modifier)
- Summarizing a person’s job description to help you understand how to network more effectively
- Help draft a quick “live” social media post by helping you find the correct name and job title of a speaker in real time
“I’m working on a project about AI and early childhood education. Do I have any contacts who work in that space?”
“I remember meeting someone at a fintech event in April 2025 who knew a lot about the law. What is their name?”
After the event
The event was a success, and you have a stack of physical and digital business cards, some with notes like “Startup profile?” scrawled on the back. You can photograph or screencap the cards with your phone and upload them — including your notes — to ChatGPT. Be sure to include the date and event for each (or each batch) of cards.
“Here are five business cards from people I met at a tech event in South Jersey. Summarize each person’s name, title, company, and industry. Then suggest a possible follow-up note I could send to each.”
The more context you give with each card, the better. Mention if they were a speaker at the event, what you chatted about, their interests and/or projects. Keep all of this information in one thread, and use the memory feature:
“Remember that I’m maintaining a networking tracker to surface sources and collaborators. It includes contacts from events I attend in Delaware, Philly, and South Jersey. I’ll be updating it regularly with business card uploads or summaries.”
“Build and maintain a simple contact log.”
If you are consistent with uploading contact information with context, you’ll have an interactive network of contacts where ChatGPT can suggest people who might be helpful based on your needs.
“I’m working on a project about AI and early childhood education. Do I have any contacts who work in that space?”
“I remember meeting someone at a fintech event in April 2025 who knew a lot about the law. What is their name?”
“What was the name of the event where Joe Startup spoke around December of last year?”
“Who from my contact list might be a strong voice on ethical tech or algorithmic bias?”
“Suggest someone I’ve met who could speak on youth robotics or community AI education.”
This is a long game — not everything ChatGPT does is instant or devoid of legwork on your part. You’re training the bot to be an assistant that knows your network and remembers everyone in it better than you ever could.
Final thoughts
Generative AI isn’t a replacement for networking by any means. You still have to show up, be curious, listen well and follow through. Do all that, and it still may take six months to a year to get the most out of it. But as an assistant, it can help you prepare, navigate the event and organize your contacts in a next-level way.
