How to Use AI to Write Your Marketing Without It Making Things Up

AI chat tools can write a first draft of a post, a review reply or a service page in seconds. They can also invent an award, a price, a holiday hour or a customer quote that sounds perfectly believable. When that goes on your website or your Google profile, it is your name on it.

The fix is not to avoid AI. It is to hand it the facts and give it one rule. This guide shows you how. The setup takes about 30 minutes, once.

The one rule

The AI may only use facts you gave it. Anything it needs that you did not give it, it asks you for.

Everything below is a way of making that rule work.

Step 1. Make a facts sheet

A facts sheet is one page that says what is true about your business today. Keep it in a note or document you can copy from. Fill in what you know, and leave blank what you do not.

Business name (exactly as on your sign):

What we do (each service, one line):

Who we serve and where (customers, cities or neighborhoods):

Address or service area:

Phone, website, booking link:

Regular hours:

Holiday or special hours coming up:

Prices we are happy to share (only ones that are current):

How long we have been in business:

What is true about how we work (things you really do, such as "we call before we arrive"):

Questions customers ask us all the time, and our real answers:

Things we never say or promise:

How we sound (for example: friendly, plain, no hype):

Two parts do the most work. "Things we never say" keeps out promises you cannot keep. "Questions customers ask" gives the AI true material to write from.

Step 2. Start every chat with the sheet and the rule

Open a new chat each time you sit down to write, so the AI is not working from an old sheet. Paste this, then paste your facts sheet under it.

You are helping me write marketing for my small business. Use only the facts in my facts sheet below. Do not invent prices, hours, awards, years in business, certifications, guarantees, statistics, customer names or quotes. If you need a fact that is not in the sheet, write [ASK ME] and tell me what you need. Use plain words, short sentences and no exclamation points.

My facts sheet:

[paste it here]

If the tool lets you save instructions or store a document, you can keep the sheet there. Check that it is current before you rely on it.

Step 3. Ask for one thing at a time

Be specific about what you want. Some asks that work well:

Write four Facebook posts for next month, each about a different service in the sheet. Each one should be under 80 words and end with one clear next step.

Here is a review I received: [paste]. Write a reply in three lines: thank them, mention one real detail from their review, and invite them back. Do not mention anything that is not in the review.

Write a short post about our holiday hours using only the dates and times in the sheet.

Write five questions and answers for my website, using only the questions and answers in the sheet.

Read my facts sheet and tell me what is missing that a new customer would want to know.

That last one is useful. It points out gaps for you to fill with true information.

Step 4. Check what it wrote

Never post a draft you have not read. Go through it line by line:

• Names, numbers, dates and times. Compare each one to your sheet.
• Prices and promises. If it is not in your sheet, take it out.
• Claims. Words like "best," "leading," "award winning," "licensed," "guaranteed" and "number one" need proof. If you have no proof, delete them.
• Anything about a person. A customer, a staff member or another business. If you did not provide it, remove it.
• Anything in [ASK ME] brackets. Fill in the fact or remove the line.
• Does it sound like you? If not, tell the AI what to change. "Shorter, plainer, less salesy" works.

If something is wrong, tell the AI which line is wrong and ask for a new version. Do not assume the rest is correct. Check again.

What not to ask AI to do

• Write reviews or testimonials. Fake reviews put your listing at risk, and Google's policy does not allow them. Only real customers write reviews. Ask them. See How to Ask for a Google Review Without Feeling Awkward.
• Make up a quote, statistic or "9 out of 10 customers" line.
• Invent a special, discount or event.
• Say you are licensed, certified or insured unless you gave it that fact.

What not to paste into AI

Do not paste customers' private details, passwords, payment information or anything you promised to keep confidential. When you paste a review to write a reply, a first name and the words of the review are enough.

Make it sound like you

Paste two or three real things you have written, such as a text to a customer or an email, and say "Write in the style of these, using only the facts in the sheet." This helps a lot, since people can tell when a post sounds like nobody.

Keep the sheet current

Update the sheet whenever hours, services, prices or your area change. Then start a fresh chat with the new version. Most mistakes come from old information.

Check your work

• Your facts sheet is on one page and every line is true today.
• Every chat starts with the rule and the sheet.
• You read each draft against the sheet before posting.
• You never used AI to create a review, a quote or a number you could not prove.

Where this fits

Use this method for the steps in other guides that say "use AI for a first draft," such as your Google description, a service page, and your 90 day posting plan.

If you would rather hand this off

This facts-first approach is how we work: we start from what you tell us, and we never post hours, closures or specials you have not told us. See our Do You Write the Content? FAQ, or get started.