ChatGPT reaches Google Sheets while platform owners watch

If you spend part of your working week in spreadsheets, something changed today. OpenAI has added Google Sheets to ChatGPT's spreadsheet tools. AI now sits inside both Excel and Google Sheets. It builds models, traces errors, and answers questions about your data. You never leave the application.

What professionals can do right now

OpenAI launched ChatGPT for Excel as a native add-in on 5 March 2026. Google Sheets support arrives today through OpenAI's Google Drive integration.

The Excel add-in sits in the application sidebar. You can ask ChatGPT to build a formatted sheet from a description. It explains formulas, finds errors, and runs scenarios by changing assumptions. Google Sheets works through ChatGPT's unified Google Drive connector, which supports read and write actions.

A finance manager can describe a cash flow model in plain English. ChatGPT builds it in the spreadsheet, formulas included. An operations lead can ask questions about data across multiple tabs and get answers with cell-level references.

No uploading files to a separate platform. No downloading results. No switching between windows. The AI sits where the work happens.

How ChatGPT and Claude compare on spreadsheets

Anthropic launched Claude for Excel in late 2025. It reached all Pro subscribers in January 2026. Claude reads multi-tab workbooks, explains calculations with cell-level citations, and updates models while preserving formula dependencies.

In April 2026, Anthropic completed its full Office suite. Claude now has add-ins for Excel, PowerPoint, and Word. All three share context across applications in a single working session.

ChatGPT for Excel does similar work. It builds spreadsheets from descriptions, traces errors, and runs scenario analysis. Both tools ask permission before making changes and track every edit.

The difference right now is coverage. ChatGPT works with both Excel and Google Sheets. Claude works with Excel only. For businesses running on Google Workspace, that gap matters.

Millions of businesses worldwide use Google Workspace. Many UK SMEs chose it because it is cheaper and simpler than Microsoft 365. If you are one of them, Claude's spreadsheet tool is not yet an option.

Neither tool is finished. Both are in beta. Both can produce errors in complex formulas. The sensible approach: check the output before you rely on it.

Why are Microsoft and Google letting this happen

This is the question behind the product news. Microsoft owns Excel. Google owns Sheets. Both companies have their own AI assistants, Copilot and Gemini. Yet both are opening their platforms to direct competitors.

OpenAI now has a native add-in inside Excel, sitting alongside Microsoft's own Copilot. ChatGPT connects to Google Sheets through Google's own Drive API. Google is giving a rival write access to its core productivity tool.

There are three ways to read this.

They are too large to move quickly. Microsoft and Google operate with enterprise sales cycles, compliance frameworks, and legacy integration work. OpenAI and Anthropic are smaller and ship faster. By the time Copilot or Gemini matches a capability, the challenger may already have users settled in the platform.

They are playing a different game. Microsoft sells Microsoft 365 licences. Google sells Workspace subscriptions. If third-party AI tools make those platforms more useful, both companies still collect the platform revenue. It does not matter who provides the intelligence. Every ChatGPT add-in installed in Excel is another reason to keep paying for Microsoft 365.

They may have something planned. Microsoft has invested billions in OpenAI and integrates its models into Copilot. Google has Gemini embedded across Workspace. Both may be betting that native integrations win over time. Once enterprise buyers start consolidating vendors, the platform owner has the structural advantage.

All three factors are probably at work. The pattern is worth watching. The companies that started with strong AI models are racing to build platform presence. The companies that own the platforms are racing to match the AI capability. They are converging from opposite directions.

What this means for your team

For most UK businesses, the practical takeaway is simpler than the strategy.

If your team uses Google Sheets, you now have a capable AI assistant inside the tool. If your team uses Excel, you have two options to compare: ChatGPT and Claude. Both are worth testing on a real task before committing.

OpenAI claims ChatGPT outperformed office workers 83% of the time on its GDPval benchmark. That measures real-world tasks across 44 occupations. It is an OpenAI benchmark scored on OpenAI's terms, so treat the number with appropriate caution. But the direction is clear. These tools are getting better at the work professionals do every day.

The technology is 20% of the picture. The other 80% is whether your people know how to use it well. An AI add-in sitting unused in a spreadsheet ribbon is no different from any feature nobody trained for.

Where gecco fit

gecco works with UK SMEs to make AI adoption practical. That starts with understanding where your team spends time and what tools they already use. From there, we identify where AI saves hours rather than adds complexity. Spreadsheet tools are one piece of a wider picture that includes custom Assistants, Automations, and Agents built around your workflows. If you want a clear read on where your business stands, take the AI readiness assessment.

‍Source

OpenAI, Introducing ChatGPT for Excel, 5 March 2026. Anthropic, Advancing Claude for Financial Services, October 2025. Axios, OpenAI releases new ChatGPT model for working in Excel and Google Sheets, 5 March 2026