Teach AI your brand voice

AI can write your posts, emails, and web pages, but out of the box it sounds like everyone else. This guide shows you how to turn your own writing into a one-page voice guide, test it, and save it so any AI tool writes like you from the first draft.

Before you start

• Five to ten things you wrote yourself: customer emails, social posts, your About page, a newsletter, even a long text to a client.
• The AI tool you write with (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or similar).
• A notes app or document where you can keep the finished guide.
• About 30 minutes.

Want to do it yourself?

Difficulty

4 out of 10

Estimated completion time

45–90 minutes

Skills you’ll need: Choose representative writing, describe your tone, and test the resulting voice guide on real drafts.

I’ll do it myselfI’d rather get help

How this helps your brand

A shared voice guide helps your website, posts, and customer emails sound like the same business. Using real writing samples keeps consistency grounded in how you actually communicate.

1. 1

   Step 1: Gather writing that already sounds like you

   Real examples teach AI far more than words like “friendly” or “professional”. Everyone says they are friendly. Your examples show what friendly means for you.

   Pick pieces you wrote yourself, without a copywriter or AI. Go for variety, so the AI sees how you sound in different moments:

   • A reply to a happy customer.
   • A reply to an unhappy one, or a polite “no”.
   • A post or email that got a good response.
   • Something that explains what you do, like your About page.

   Tip: Paste them all into one document, with a short label above each one, such as “Email to a customer” or “Facebook post”.

2. 2

   Step 2: Take out anything private

   Before you paste anything into an AI tool, remove customer names, phone numbers, email addresses, and prices or details you wouldn’t post publicly. Replace them with [customer] or [price].

   The AI only needs to see how you write, not who you wrote to.

3. 3

   Step 3: Ask the AI to describe your voice

   Paste your examples into a new chat along with the prompt at the end of this guide. It asks the AI to study your writing and turn it into a one-page voice guide.

   The prompt tells the AI to base everything only on your examples. Without that, it tends to fill gaps with generic advice that doesn’t sound like you at all.

   Illustrated exampleTurn real phrases into specific voice rules

   Example business: a local repair shop

   Your own writingRule supported by the example

   Happy customer replyThanks for the kind words! Glad we could help.

   →

   Warm, without fuss

   Thank people in plain words. Keep it short.

   Polite noWe can’t fit that in today. Shall we look at next week?

   →

   Direct and helpful

   Say what we can’t do, then offer a next step.

   About pageWe fix what’s broken. We explain what it needs.

   →

   Short and conversational

   Use “we”, everyday words and contractions.

   ↳ No example to support a rule? Ask instead of guessing.

4. 4

   Step 4: Edit the guide until it sounds right

   Read the voice guide out loud. If a line makes you think “that’s not me”, change it or delete it. You know your voice better than any AI does.

   Then add the things only you know:

   • Words you never want used, like “synergy” or “game-changer”.
   • How you refer to your business: “we” or “I”, your full name or a nickname.
   • Facts the AI should never make up, such as prices, guarantees, or opening hours.
5. 5

   Step 5: Test it on a real task

   Start a fresh chat, paste in your voice guide, and ask for something you actually need, like a short post about your next offer or a reply to a common customer question.

   If the draft still sounds generic, point to the exact line that’s off and explain why. Then add that lesson to your voice guide, so you only have to say it once.

   Tip: Two or three test rounds is usually enough. The guide should fit on one page; if it grows longer, the AI starts skipping parts of it.

   Illustrated exampleFix a line, then save what you learned

   Fresh-chat test · reply to a repair enquiry

   01 · First draft

   We would be delighted to assist you with your repair requirements.

   Your feedback

   “Delighted to assist” sounds too formal. We’d say “happy to help”.

   02 · Revised draft

   Happy to help. What needs fixing?

   ↓

   03 · Add the lesson to your voice guide

   Use “happy to help” instead of “delighted to assist”. Ask one simple follow-up question.

   Use the updated guide in the next fresh-chat test.

6. 6

   Step 6: Save it where your AI tool will use it

   Keep the finished guide in your notes so you can paste it at the start of any writing request, in any tool.

   To save pasting it every time, most AI tools have a place for standing instructions or a dedicated workspace. ChatGPT and Claude call these Projects, and Gemini calls them Gems. Each lets you add instructions that apply to every chat inside them. Menu names change often, so check the tool’s official help pages for the current steps.

   Update the guide whenever your business, your offer, or your customers change.

I want you to learn how I write, so drafts you make for my business sound like me.

My business: [what you do and who you serve]
Where I mostly write: [for example, emails, Instagram, my website]

Here are examples of my own writing:
[paste 5 to 10 samples, each with a short label]

Study only these examples and write a one-page voice guide that covers:
1. How I sound, in three words, with a short example of each from my writing.
2. Typical sentence length and how formal I am.
3. Words and phrases I use often.
4. Words and phrases I never use.
5. How I open and close messages.
6. Two short examples of generic AI writing rewritten in my voice.

Base everything on my examples, not on general writing advice. If something isn’t clear from my examples, ask me instead of guessing. Keep it in plain English and short enough to paste at the start of any chat.