1. ChatGPT’s memory of you
When memory is on, ChatGPT saves details you mention (your job, your kids’ names, that you are vegetarian) and can also draw on your past chats. It uses them to tailor answers in your account only. Other people asking about you never see your memory.
How to see it
- Ask it directly: “What do you remember about me?” It lists what it has saved.
- Open Settings → Personalization → Memory and choose Manage to read every saved memory. Menus move between versions; look for “Memory” under personalization.
How to delete it
- Delete single memories in the same Manage screen, or clear them all.
- Turn memory off, or use a Temporary Chat, which neither reads nor writes memory.
- Deleting a chat does not always delete a memory saved from it; remove the memory too.
Claude and Gemini work the same way: both can remember past chats, and both let you view, delete or switch that off in their settings.
2. What ChatGPT tells strangers about you
This is the part that matters for your reputation. A recruiter, client or date who types your name gets an answer built from what the model learned in training and, often, a quick web search. If the public web describes you clearly and consistently, it knows you. If not, it says it doesn’t know, or it describes someone else with your name, sometimes confidently.
You can’t open a settings page for this. You have to ask, ideally the way a stranger would, logged out or in a Temporary Chat, so your memory doesn’t help it. Or ask four assistants at once with our free check, which grades each answer against a line you write about yourself.
3. Can I make ChatGPT forget or correct something?
- For memory: yes, delete it as above.
- For a wrong answer about you: flag it with the thumbs-down button. If it is personal data and wrong, OpenAI and other providers have privacy request forms, and in the EU and UK data protection law gives you the right to ask for correction or deletion.
- For the long run: give the web one clear, consistent story about you. Our guide on how to change what AI says about you has the steps.