The Viral Notes Writer GPT Just Got a Major Upgrade

Substack has changed, so I'm sharpening your best growth tool - the Viral Notes Writer GPT.

Substack is going crazy right now.

If you’ve been watching my latest spotlights, you’ll know that everyone is getting viral Notes lately. Crazy!

Lisa Marie Lawler got her first viral moment while on vacation. Now she gets tons of traction and her subscribers are growing steadily. Here’s one of her recent Notes:

Scott Hughes gets a viral Note every now and then. It’s normal for him now and now he passed 1,000 subscribers and growing. Here’s one of his latest:

Savitree Kaur told the story of her daughter which went crazy and soon after she reached 1,000 subscribers:

Marylee Pangman, Author shared her journey of writing her first novel and it went crazy above 1,000 likes.

And Svyatoslav Biryulin who is also one of our VIP members is crushing it lately - almost every Note is a hit.

As for me? I got 554 new subscribers in the last 30 days! No recent virality, but steady growth.

How?

I optimize for subscriptions, using data (as usual).

How about you?

If you feel left behind this trend, my custom GPT is your solution. Keep reading.

The platform has recovered from the slow summer months, and Notes has (again) turned into one of the fastest organic growth channels.

But Substack has changed.

A new type of note is gaining traction right now: more stories, more personal touch, more emotion. Longer Notes

PLUS: we now have clarity coming from Substack about what the algorithm optimizes for: subscriptions.

So I used these new changes and made a major update to the Viral Notes Writer GPT.

But before that…

The Problem Most Creators Don’t See Yet

Everyone keeps asking me the same thing:

“Why is everyone suddenly going viral on Notes?”

Here’s the thing most people miss.

Virality on Substack isn’t random.

The platform isn’t prioritizing creators with big audiences. It’s prioritizing creators who post consistently, who participate in the community, and who write Notes that trigger engagement.

And the creators who win are the ones who understand three things:

1. Notes is the fastest top-of-funnel growth engine on Substack right now.

2. But Notes is also a quality AND quantity game.

3. And you have to trigger a strong emotion.

Those three points create the real problem:

You can’t win the Notes game manually in 2026.

Not if you’re a nine-to-fiver like me with a tight schedule.

Not if you’re trying to build a business on the side.

Not if you’re trying to publish daily posts AND run a community AND build products AND take care of clients.

And definitely not if you’re trying to figure out virality patterns by hand.

That’s why I built the Viral Notes Writer GPT in the first place.

I wanted creators to write 10x more content with the same (or better) quality, in less time, and without trying to reverse-engineer every viral Note manually.

But the environment has shifted. So the tool has to evolve, too.

What’s Coming in the New Version 4.0

In a nutshell:

1. More data in the training, recent viral Notes with 500+ likes

2. New 5th category - PERSONAL STORY, besides the usual four (INSPIRATION, EDUCATION, ENTERTAINMENT, GROWTH)

3. 2 new data-driven training paths (so now you can write Notes among 3 paths):

   1. in the 5 categories that are going viral (as listed above)

   2. disregard the 5 categories and write based on a data-driven training optimized for subscribers growth (not virality)

   3. disregard the 5 categories and write based on a data-driven training optimized for personal stories - because that’s crushing it lately

4. And three predefined prompts to start with - one for each path. See below:

Ok, so let’s break it down:

1. More data in the training, recent viral Notes with 500+ likes

I added lots of recently viral Notes with more than 500 likes, most of them above 1,000 likes, again, from smaller creators who write outside of the politics topics to remove the false positives.

2. New 5th category - PERSONAL STORY

Besides the usual four categories: INSPIRATION, EDUCATION, ENTERTAINMENT, GROWTH, you now have a fifth one: PERSONAL STORY. It’s because this is going crazy viral right now.

3. New data-driven training path: SUBS GROWTH

I used my Notes (more than 3,000 now) data and multiple AIs to determine which Notes are driving subscribers growth (not necessarily virality) and create a system prompt that writes similar Notes based on the your input for context, topic and audience insights.

This is huge!

The analysis came up with 5 pillars, mixed in this ratio:

• Pillar 1 (30%): Core transformation/wisdom in {{TOPIC}}

• Pillar 2 (25%): Practical systems/tactics for {{AUDIENCE}}

• Pillar 3 (20%): Myth-busting in {{TOPIC}} space

• Pillar 4 (15%): Personal proof/vulnerability from {{CONTEXT}}

• Pillar 5 (10%): Community building around {{SHARED_STRUGGLE}}

This is what you’ll get from this path. It will disregard the original 5 viral categories and write 5 Notes as per the above pillars.

4. New data-driven training path: PERSONAL STORY

I used the Notes that are going viral lately and multiple AIs to create another system prompt that writes similar Notes, again, based on the your input for context, topic and audience insights.

This is priceless!

The analysis came up with 7 patterns:

• Pattern 1: The Unexpected Wisdom Story

• Pattern 2: The Journey List

• Pattern 3: The Contrarian Truth

• Pattern 4: The Behind-the-Scenes Reality

• Pattern 5: The Personal Struggle-to-Victory

• Pattern 6: The Simple Truth Formula

• Pattern 7: The Vulnerable Share

This is what you’ll get from this path. It will disregard the original 5 viral categories and write 7 Notes as per the above patterns.

HOW TO USE THIS NEW UPGRADE

1. Make sure you use the new updated, check the version, it should say 4.0. Refresh if you still see version 3.0.

2. Choose one of the predefined prompts - you’ll see them when you open the custom GPT. You can start three different chats, one for each path.

3. The AI will ask you for your data - context, audience insights and topics. Give as much specifics as possible, be hyper descriptive, don’t skip any detail.

NOTE: The data you give to the AI is EVERYTHING. Low-quality data leads to low-quality Notes.

Hint: Collect and store data about yourself, you can do that in three documents, which you can upload to the GPT when it asks you for data:

• CONTEXT - who you are, what are your achievements, what is your Substack about, how are you unique, what are your stories/experiences)

• AUDIENCE INSIGHTS - fears, desires, problems, pains, aspirations

• TOPICS - the topics you cover in your newsletter

4. Edit, post and watch the magic happens :)

5. Don’t forget to use the Substack Studio PRO GPT Bundle I created with Finn Tropy It will help you:

   1. save predefined prompts with context - you can then use them in my GPT

   2. analyze the best posting times to maximize engagement

   3. use these times to batch schedule your Notes

NOTE: to maximize the effect, make sure you stay active in the community. Interact with others, answer your Notes comments, stay active in chats.

HOW TO GET ACCESS TO THIS GPT

Oh, you haven’t got your hands on it? What are you waiting for?

232 people are already using it, and the most committed are crushing it.

There are 3 ways to get access to it:

1. Get the GPT from the CREATIVETECH HUB Gumroad store. Paid members get it for free - special discount code available on the Unplugged paid member benefits page.

2. Get the Substack Studio PRO GPT Bundle - the Chrome extension that lets you analyze best posting times, bulk-write and batch-schedule Notes using this GPT. Paid members get 50% OFF.

3. Get the Viral Notes Writer System course - a 3-hour training on how to use the GPT and how to grow your first 1,000 subscribers in about 3 months. Paid members get it for free.

I can’t wait to see your Notes crushing it!

Yana

P.S. And remember to stay active in my Notes30 Challenge - it’s working for your growth.

P.S.S. This is what people say about using my GPTs:

Read all testimonials on my Wall of Love

P.S.S.S. Read about the previous updates of the GPT here: