How to Improve AI Copy

If you’ve used AI to write copy and thought, 'Well… that’s pretty rubbish', chances are that the AI system you use isn’t actually doing anything wrong. Most AI copy isn’t bad because the tool is bad; it’s bad because it hasn’t been guided properly.

Thankfully, improving AI copy doesn’t require new software, advanced knowledge of AI, hours of tweaking or hiring expensive editors. All it requires is a better approach, including the use of tone of voice guidelines and detailed prompts.

This article shows you how to improve AI copy so it sounds clearer, more human and more like your brand without turning content creation into a full-time job. I’ll also explain how an AI copy consultant can speed up your content creation process, so you can publish great copy that connects with your audience.

Why AI copy often sounds generic

Before trying to fix your dodgy AI copy, it can help to understand why it’s dodgy.

AI is trained on huge amounts of general content. When you give it vague instructions, it does exactly what it’s designed to do: produce safe, average language that works for everyone.

That’s why AI copy often sounds overly polite, uses generic phrases, lacks personality and feels like anyone could have published it.

This isn’t a failure. It’s just a default setting.

7 steps for improving your AI copy

Step 1: Stop asking AI to 'write copy'

One of the simplest ways to improve AI copy is to stop giving vague commands.

Instead of something like 'Write a blog post for my business', try something like:

'Write a short homepage intro for a small consultancy. The audience is time-poor SME founders. The tone should be clear, confident and friendly.'

Specific input gives AI something to work with. This alone can improve output dramatically. You wouldn’t just tell a human copywriter to get on with it, which is why you can’t do the same with AI.

Step 2: Give AI a tone to follow

AI doesn’t understand your brand voice unless you tell it.

If you don’t have formal tone of voice guidelines, start simple:

• How formal should it sound?

• Should it be friendly or authoritative?

• Can it use humour?

• Should it avoid jargon?

You can even tell AI what not to do:

'Avoid buzzwords, clichés and overly salesy language.'

This creates guardrails, which improve consistency.

Step 3: Use AI as a collaborator, not a one-off tool

You can make AI copy better through conversation.

Most people type one prompt, read the output, and stop. The better way to do it is iterative.

You can ask:

• 'Make this clearer.'

• 'Rewrite this in simpler language.'

• 'Shorten this paragraph.'

• 'Make this sound more confident.'

• 'Remove anything that sounds generic.'

These small follow-ups are where quality improves quickly.

Step 4: Add context that AI can’t guess

AI can’t see your inbox. It doesn’t hear customer objections. It doesn’t know how people describe your product on calls.

But you do. So tell it!

Before generating copy, feed AI:

• Common customer questions

• Objections you hear regularly

• Phrases customers actually use

• Outcomes they care about

Even one or two real insights can turn bland AI copy into something much more convincing.

Step 5: Edit for clarity, not perfection

Improving AI copy doesn’t mean rewriting everything. It means polishing the right bits.

Focus on:

• Removing filler words

• Shortening sentences

• Replacing generic phrases with specific ones

• Tightening the opening and closing

If a sentence sounds awkward when read out loud, it probably needs adjusting.

Step 6: Create prompts you can reuse

If you improve AI copy once, don’t waste that effort.

Save the prompts that worked. Reuse the instructions that produced good results. Over time, this becomes a prompt library and content creation gets faster and more consistent.

This is how AI goes from simply being an interesting tool to a reliable part of your workflow.

Step 7: Know when not to trust AI

AI is great for drafting, structuring and refining. It’s less reliable for:

• Final brand messaging

• Sensitive claims

• Compliance-heavy content

• Anything that must be 100% accurate

It can be tempting to overlook human review, but it’s always recommended to ensure quality.

The biggest mistake that keeps AI copy mediocre

The biggest mistake you can make is expecting AI to think like you.

But, AI copy improves when you give it clear direction, set boundaries, constantly refine and inject some of your human insight.

Do that, and quality jumps fast.

Improve your AI copy now

Improving AI copy is as simple as making sure your prompts and guidelines are solid. Once you do that, you get copy that’s faster to create, cheaper to produce, and far more consistent.

If you’d like help setting this up properly, including tone of voice guidelines, prompt libraries and systems your team can use easily, that’s exactly what I do. Get in touch today and let’s have a chat.