How to Create Brand Tone of Voice Guidelines That AI Actually Follows

Most SMEs start using AI with good intentions: 'We’ll finally get consistent content out the door!' 

That’s great! But then things don’t quite go to plan. The blogs feel a bit robotic. The emails feel like they were written by someone who’s never met your customers. And your social posts? Polished, sure… but void of any semblance of personality.

Your instinct might be to blame the AI, but that’s not usually the case. It’s what you’re giving it to work with.

If you want outputs that feel more like you, then you need tone of voice guidelines built for AI, not a vague list of adjectives or a vague branding document that no one opens. Clear, practical guidance is the secret to real AI brand consistency, and SMEs can build this quickly and without paying for a giant agency deck.

Let’s walk through how to create tone of voice guidelines that AI doesn’t just understand, but actually follows.

Why AI struggles with tone of voice (and how to fix it)

AI can write in any style. It could write your blog content like a drunk pirate if you really wanted it to. But it can’t magically infer yours if you don’t give it everything it needs to do that. A drunk pirate is easy to emulate, as it’s a commonly found trope. Your voice isn’t.

When you ask it to just 'sound friendly,' it guesses what that might sound like. When you say 'write this like my brand,' it looks confused (in a robotic way).

AI defaults to:

• Neutral tone

• Polite-but-bland phrasing

• Overly formal or overly casual wording

• Generic sentence structure

• Overused phrases

That’s why most outputs feel technically fine… but emotionally flat.

The fix is simple: give the model specific, repeatable content standards that tell it how to write in your brand’s style.

What proper tone of voice guidelines should include

Most SMEs have something that looks like tone of voice guidance. This is usually a list of buzzwords like 'professional, warm, helpful.'

Unfortunately, these don’t do much for AI.

What you need is structured, concrete, example-driven documentation. Your tone of voice guidelines should answer three key questions:

1. How do we sound when we communicate?

Instead of vague labels, define tone with clarity:

• Are you direct or conversational?

• Do you use short sentences or flowing paragraphs?

• Are you playful, confident, calm, energetic, reassuring?

The clearer the description, the easier the AI can replicate it.

2. How do we phrase things?

Your brand has patterns, even if you’ve never written them down:

• Do you ask rhetorical questions?

• Do you open with a story or get straight to the point?

• Do you use metaphors? (Or avoid them?)

• Do you repeat key ideas to build rhythm?

These are specific signals AI can follow every time.

3. What do we avoid?

This is just as important as what you want:

• No corporate fluff

• No filler like 'leveraging innovation'

• No clichés that scream 'generic AI output'

• No over-promising

• No technical jargon unless absolutely necessary

Boundaries help AI stay in the right lane.

If you need help creating TOV guidelines, view my AI copy consultant services.

Add the missing ingredient: voice examples

If you want to speed up AI learning, examples are worth their weight in gold.

Your guidelines should contain:

• 2-3 samples of 'strong' on-brand copy

• 1-2 examples of what not to do

• Notes explaining the differences

AI learns patterns extremely well, so a few sentences of clean examples can be more powerful than page after page of description.

The 5-part structure for guidelines that AI reliably follows

Here’s a practical format SMEs can adopt, which is simple, repeatable and strong enough to support long-term AI brand consistency.

1. Core voice overview

A short description of your brand personality.

Example:

'Confident, plain English, supportive. We help SMEs feel capable, not overwhelmed.'

2. Communication principles

These are your big-picture rules:

• Keep language simple

• Speak directly to the reader

• Use active voice

• Explain concepts with clarity

• Avoid unnecessary jargon

These principles create consistency across every channel.

3. Tone rules (with examples)

Explain what your tone sounds like and show it in action.

Example:

Tone: Friendly expert, never patronising

Bad: 'It’s very easy! Anyone can do it.'

Good: 'Let’s break this down step by step so it feels manageable.'

4. Sentence style and formatting

This is where most SMEs forget the details. Your content standards should include:

• Typical sentence length

• Preferred structure (e.g., question > answer > action)

• Use of line breaks

• How you handle lists and bullets

• How formal your grammar should be

These details dramatically tighten the output.

5. Signature phrases

Your 'verbal fingerprints.' These become shortcuts for AI to match your brand instantly.

For example:

• 'Your voice. Your way.'

• 'Taking the headache out of copywriting.'

• 'Making sure your words hit the mark.'

AI will use these to anchor the tone and build content that feels familiar.

You don't need huge TOV guidelines, but they do need to include information that AI understands.

How to implement your guidelines inside AI tools

Creating guidelines is only half the job. You also need to make sure AI can use them.

Here’s how:

1. Build a reusable 'Brand Voice System prompt'

This becomes the foundation of every request.

It should contain:

• Your tone rules

• Your sentence style

• Your audience

• Your signature phrases

• Your do/don’t list

• A few strong examples

This will instantly improve your outputs.

2. Load it at the start of each session

AI forgets between sessions. Paste the brand voice system every time to make sure it doesn’t forget what to do or say.

3. Reference it inside your prompts

Try:

'Use our tone of voice guidelines to rewrite this.'

or

'Follow the brand voice standards above when creating this content.'

This keeps the model aligned.

4. Train it with corrections

If something feels wrong, tell the AI why, then ask it to update the guidelines.

This gradually sharpens accuracy.

The SME advantage: once you create your guidelines, everything gets easier

Yes, clear tone of voice guidelines help AI. But they also help you.

Once your guidelines are in place:

• Writing becomes faster

• Editing becomes quicker

• Multiple people can create content without sounding inconsistent

• You maintain the same brand feel across all marketing

• AI stops producing generic copy

• You get a scalable system that grows with you

This is the foundation of a repeatable, streamlined content engine.

What happens when SMEs skip this step?

Skipping tone guidelines leads to:

• Generic posts that don’t connect

• Inconsistent messaging across your channels

• Confusing brand identity

• More time spent editing than writing

• AI outputs that feel robotic or repetitive

• Content that your customers immediately forget

Tone of voice is a direction

AI doesn’t magically know your brand voice. But when you give it clear, structured tone guidelines, suddenly the content sounds like you. It feels consistent. It reflects your identity, not the model’s defaults.

This is how small businesses get big-brand clarity without big-brand budgets, with one set of guidelines and one system.

To create a system that works for you and helps you meet your content goals without the ongoing costs, get in touch with me today.