You already know spreadsheets. Now add AI to them.
You use Google Sheets every day. You track inventory, plan content, manage leads, and crunch data. But what happens when you need to write 200 product descriptions? Or translate a column into French? Or classify a pile of customer reviews?
You probably open ChatGPT in another tab. Then you copy, paste, wait, copy, paste, wait. Over and over. For 200 rows, that's about an hour of your life gone.
There's a better way.
SheetMagic adds AI formulas right inside Google Sheets. You type =AITEXT("your prompt", A2) just like you'd type =SUM(A2:A10). The AI reads your prompt, looks at the data you pointed it to, and puts the answer in your cell. One formula. One cell. One result. Drag it down and every row runs on its own.
This guide will walk you through installing SheetMagic, writing your first formula, and learning every function available to you. By the end, you'll have a working AI-powered spreadsheet.
Install SheetMagic in under 60 seconds
Open the Google Workspace Marketplace
Go to the Google Workspace Marketplace and search for SheetMagic. You can also get there from inside any Google Sheet: click Extensions > Add-ons > Get add-ons and search for "SheetMagic" in the marketplace search bar.
Click Install and grant permissions
Click the Install button. Google will ask you to pick your account and approve permissions. SheetMagic needs access to your spreadsheet data (to read cell values and write results) and external network access (to call AI providers and scrape websites). These are standard permissions for any add-on that works with data.
Open a spreadsheet and find the SheetMagic menu
After installation, open any Google Sheet. Click Extensions in the top menu bar. You should see SheetMagic in the dropdown. This is your control center for switching AI models, managing API keys, and accessing settings.
Run your first formula
Click on any empty cell. Type this formula and press Enter:
=AITEXT("Write a one-sentence summary of what Google Sheets is")
In a few seconds, the cell will fill with an AI-generated response. That's your first AI formula. You did it!
That's it. No API keys to set up on the free tier. No developer console. No environment variables. The AI formulas work right away in every spreadsheet on your Google account.
The free tier gives you 3,000 AI tokens and 10 integration credits (one-time trial) to get started. No credit card needed. That's enough to test the key formulas in this guide and see real results. Check the pricing page for paid plan details.
The core formulas
SheetMagic adds three types of formulas to Google Sheets: AI generation, web scraping, and page data extraction. Here's every formula you should know.
AI formulas: generate, transform, and analyze text
=AITEXT() is the one you'll use most. Give it a prompt and an optional cell reference, and it gives you text back.
=AITEXT("Translate the following to French:", B2)Sends the content of B2 to the AI model with your translation instruction. The result appears in the formula cell.
=AITEXT("Classify the sentiment of this review as Positive, Neutral, or Negative. Return only the label.", A2)Returns a single word. Great for filtering and sorting an entire column of reviews.
=AILIST() gives you a vertical list from a prompt. Instead of one block of text, it spreads results down a column, one per cell.
=AILIST("List 10 blog post ideas about remote work productivity")Returns 10 results, one per cell, spreading downward from the formula cell.
=AILISTH() does the same thing but sideways. Results spread across columns in a single row.
=AIIMAGE() creates images from text descriptions, right inside your sheet.
=AIIMAGE("A minimalist logo for a coffee shop called Brew and Bean, white background, flat design")Generates an image using DALL-E and displays it in the cell. Powered by OpenAI.
=AISPEECH() turns text into audio with 11 voice options.
=AISPEECH(A2, "nova")Converts the text in A2 to audio using the Nova voice. Returns a playable audio link.
=AIVIDEO() creates short videos from text descriptions.
=GPTV() looks at images for you. Give it an image URL and a prompt, and the AI describes, sorts, or pulls information from the image.
=GPTV(A2, "Describe this product image in one sentence for an e-commerce listing")Analyzes the image at the URL in A2 and returns a text description.
You can chain formulas together. Use =AITEXT() to write a product description, then feed that description to =AIIMAGE() to create a matching visual. Use =AITEXT() to write a script, then pass it to =AISPEECH() to make a voiceover. All without leaving your spreadsheet.
Web scraping formulas: pull data from any website
=SERP() gives you search engine results for any keyword, in a nice structured format.
=SERP("best crm software for startups")Returns up to 20 search results with titles, URLs, snippets, and positions.
=BULKSERP() returns the same data in a horizontal layout. One row per keyword, results spread across columns.
=VISIT() grabs the full text content of any webpage, up to 50,000 characters.
=VISIT(A2)Pulls the full page content from the URL in A2. Supports JavaScript-rendered pages.
=PAGEDATA() pulls metadata from one or more URLs in a single call.
=PAGEDATA(A2)Returns structured metadata for the URL in A2: Title, Description, H1, and HTTP Status.
=GETSELECTOR() scrapes content using CSS selectors for precise extraction.
=GETIMG() pulls image URLs from any page.
=DOMAINCHECK() tells you if a domain name is available.
Page metadata formulas: extract SEO data fast
These formulas grab specific metadata from any URL. They're built for SEO work:
| Formula | What it extracts |
|---|---|
=GETMETATITLE(A2) | The page's title tag |
=GETMETADESCRIPTION(A2) | The meta description |
=GETH1(A2) | The H1 heading |
=GETH2(A2) | All H2 headings |
=GETHEADINGS(A2) | All headings (H1-H6) |
=GETP(A2) | All paragraph text |
For a full walkthrough of scraping workflows, read the web scraping guide. For SEO uses, see 5 ways to use AI for SEO.
Choosing the right AI model
SheetMagic connects to multiple AI providers. You switch between them in the SheetMagic settings (Extensions > SheetMagic > Settings). Your formulas stay exactly the same. The model change applies to all of them.
| Provider | Models | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| OpenAI | GPT-5, GPT-4o | General purpose, creative writing, image generation (DALL-E 3), video (Sora 2) |
| Anthropic Claude | Opus, Sonnet, Haiku | Analytical tasks, detailed formatting, long-form content |
| Google Gemini | 2.5 Pro, 2.5 Flash | Fast processing, multilingual tasks, image generation (Imagen 4), video (Veo 3) |
| OpenRouter | 100+ models | Access to specialized and open-source models |
| Straico | 60+ models | Wide model selection, alternative pricing |
| Mistral | Mistral Large, Medium | European languages, cost-efficient processing |
| Perplexity | Online models | Research tasks, fact-based answers with citations |
How API keys work: Subscribers (Solo, Team, Business) use SheetMagic's platform API keys. You don't need to set up anything. Lifetime deal (LTD) users bring their own API keys (BYOK) and get unlimited usage at their provider's rates. You can manage BYOK keys under Extensions > SheetMagic > Manage AI API Keys. For more on plans, visit pricing.
Five things to build right now
Now that you're set up, here are real workflows with the exact formulas you need.
1. Product catalog enrichment
Put product names in column A and specs in column B. Then generate everything else:
=AITEXT("Write a 2-sentence product description for an e-commerce listing. Be specific and highlight the main benefit.", A2&" -- "&B2)Generates a unique description for each product using its name and specs as context.
You can keep going. Add columns for SEO titles (=AITEXT("Write an SEO title under 60 characters for:", A2)), meta descriptions, and even product images (=AIIMAGE("Product photo of "&A2&", white background, studio lighting")).
2. Lead research from company websites
Put prospect URLs in column A. Then pull out everything you need for outreach:
=AITEXT("Extract: company name, what they do in one sentence, industry, headquarters city, approximate company size. Format as pipe-separated values.", VISIT(A2))Scrapes each company website with =VISIT() and uses AI to extract structured prospect data.
Then write a personalized email opener:
=AITEXT("Write a 2-sentence cold email opener for a prospect at "&B2&" in the "&D2&" industry. Reference something specific about their business.", C2)Uses the scraped company description (C2) to generate a personalized outreach message.
3. Content calendar generation
=AILIST("Generate 10 blog post ideas for a SaaS company that sells project management software. Focus on bottom-of-funnel topics that address specific pain points.")Returns 10 ideas in separate cells. Each one can feed into a content brief formula.
4. Multilingual content at scale
=AITEXT("Translate to Spanish. Return only the translation, no commentary.", A2)Clean translation output that is ready to use without editing.
Copy the column and change "Spanish" to "French," "German," or "Japanese" for instant multilingual content.
5. Survey and review analysis
=AITEXT("Analyze this customer review. Return three fields separated by pipes: Sentiment (Positive/Neutral/Negative) | Main Topic | One-sentence summary. No other text.", A2)Structured output that you can split into columns with =SPLIT(B2, "|").
Run this across hundreds of reviews. Then use Google Sheets' built-in =COUNTIF() to tally up the sentiment. No fancy survey tool needed.
Tips for getting the best results
Test one cell, then scale. Always run your formula on a single row first. Check the output. Tweak your prompt. Then drag down.
Be clear about what you want back. Adding "Return only the label" or "Respond in under 20 words" stops the AI from writing too much. In a spreadsheet, short answers are almost always better.
Use cell references, not hardcoded data. =AITEXT("Summarize:", A2) works for every row. =AITEXT("Summarize: The quick brown fox...") only works once. Point your formulas at cells and your sheet stays flexible.
Mix AI and scraping together. The best workflows use =SERP(), =VISIT(), or =PAGEDATA() to gather data, then =AITEXT() to make sense of it. Check out the SEO guide and web scraping guide for detailed examples.
Try different models for different jobs. Claude tends to follow formatting rules very closely. GPT-4o is great at creative writing. Gemini is fast and handles big context well. Play around under Extensions > SheetMagic > Settings.
What comes next
You've got SheetMagic installed. You know the formulas. And you have five workflows ready to go. You can try all of this on the free tier. No credit card needed. You get 3,000 AI tokens and 10 integration credits (one-time trial), which is enough to test these workflows and see real results.
When you're ready for more, paid plans start at $19/month with 3 million AI tokens and 1,000 integration credits. Visit the pricing page for the full breakdown.
For deeper guides on specific use cases:
- How to use AI formulas in Google Sheets, covering prompt techniques and advanced examples
- 5 ways to use AI for SEO in Google Sheets, a complete SEO workflow
- The complete guide to web scraping in Google Sheets, every scraping formula explained
- March 2026 product update, AI Chat sidebar and Apify integrations
Install SheetMagic free from the Google Workspace Marketplace and run your first formula in the next two minutes.
Have questions? Visit the FAQ for answers about AI formulas, web scraping, providers, and billing.