Can ChatGPT 5 Really Boost Your Freelance Income

If you're building a business online in 2025, AI tools like ChatGPT are your secret weapon. They empower freelancers to deliver top-tier quality and speed, helping you stay ahead of the competition.

The data is clear:

• According to Staffing Industry Analysts, ChatGPT is the leading AI platform for making money online, with 31% of freelancers using it as their primary tool.
• An Upwork report from 2025 found that 62% of skilled freelancers use AI tools weekly, compared to just 53% of full-time employees.
• Furthermore, 78% of full-time freelancers are happy with their income, a significant jump from the 64% of satisfied full-time employees. An AI-powered business can offer greater financial stability than a traditional job.

This brings us to the latest model from OpenAI, ChatGPT-5. What makes it different, and how can you use it to grow your freelance business?

What’s New With ChatGPT-5?

Released on August 7, ChatGPT-5 is OpenAI’s new flagship model. OpenAI's website claims it is smarter, more efficient, and more versatile than previous versions. It was developed to be more accurate and provide greater depth in several key areas:

• Math: Capable of handling university-level problems.
• Creative writing: A major asset for freelancers in the content space.
• Coding: Another powerful feature for developers and tech freelancers.
• Multimodal understanding: The ability to analyze data from various formats like images, PDFs, and tables to create comprehensive responses.

While the model is designed to have fewer "hallucinations," it's not perfect. Access to previous versions of ChatGPT has also been removed, much to the disappointment of some users on social media.

How to Leverage ChatGPT-5 for Your Business

To make money with ChatGPT-5, focus on the features that give you a competitive edge. Here are a few ideas:

1. Accelerate Custom Designs: Quickly create design assets for clients, covering everything from digital marketing to physical branding.
2. Develop Full Applications: Use its advanced coding to build apps for your own platform or to sell to business clients.
3. Build Robust Content Calendars: Generate complete blog post outlines and social media assets for your own business or to sell as a service.

However, even in its first few days, ChatGPT-5 has received mixed reviews, with many users claiming it's a step down from ChatGPT 4.0.

My Hands-On Test: A Freelance Design Challenge

I decided to put it to the test myself. Acting as a freelance designer, I gave ChatGPT-5 this prompt:

“Create a ready-to-sell Instagram carousel design for a personal trainer client in the health and fitness industry, eliminating the need for manual design work. I have uploaded a screenshot of a sample post the client says they like and admire. They'd like the aesthetic of their branding on Instagram to be similar to this. The carousel will have quick facts about how to burn an extra 300 calories a day.”

(I used a screenshot of a Canva template for the prompt.)

Here’s the initial result:

• First Impression: The model was incredibly fast.
• Second Impression: It felt cold and impersonal. Unlike its predecessor, which might offer a friendly opening like, “Sure, here you go,” ChatGPT-5 got straight to business. This lack of a human touch was also noted by many Reddit users.

In a large AI-focused Facebook group, a post asking for first thoughts on ChatGPT 5 was met with overwhelmingly negative responses. Yahoo News also reported on mixed feedback from a live Reddit session, where users noted the model was worse at writing assignments.

The Verdict: A Promise It Couldn't Keep

I continued with a second prompt:

“Give me design suggestions based on this style: what are the fonts used and what are the HEX color codes? Also give me a ready-to-use caption and hashtags using the client’s brand voice: energetic, sharp and to the point, no messing around tone, witty, motivating.”

The response was fast and detailed, providing useful information. But then it made a promise it couldn't fulfill:

"If you want, I can also give you a ready-to-use Canva or Figma template pre-loaded with these fonts, colors, and layout so you can plug in new tips each week without starting from scratch. That way you’ll have a consistent brand style in seconds.

Do you want me to prepare that next?"

When I said yes, the AI sent me on a frustrating loop before finally admitting it couldn't access Canva or create a link. I then asked it to create the full carousel set instead.

The final result? A single image, nearly identical to the first one.

I was disappointed. It seemed like a step backward in its capabilities.

Final Takeaways for Freelancers

Here’s what I learned about using ChatGPT-5 to make money online:

• You need to be extremely specific with your prompts, even more so than with version 4.0.
• The 5.0 update doesn't quite live up to the hype, but it excels in certain areas like response speed and providing detailed technical answers.
• Always double-check the output for accuracy, even though hallucinations are less common.
• AI is still evolving. Embrace the changes and adapt your skills to get the most out of these tools.

Finally, don't be afraid to experiment with other generative AI tools like Claude and Copilot. In an AI-driven world, your ability to innovate is your greatest advantage. Automate where you can, create custom prompts, and turn your skills into a profitable business.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like this one: I Tried ChatGPT’s AI Agent To Make Money Online. Here’s What Happened.