Writing website copy with AI that doesn't sound like AI

Why it sounds like AI

The AI isn't being lazy. It has no facts, no voice and no rules, so it fills the space with words that sound like marketing. Here are the tells.

• Vague claims. "High quality", "tailored", "passionate". No numbers, names or details.
• Inflated words. Delve, elevate, unlock, seamless, leverage, robust, cutting-edge.
• Filler openers. "Moreover", "Furthermore", "When it comes to", "It's important to note that".
• Hedges. "Can help", "may be able to", "in many cases". Say what you do, or say what you don't.
• Em-dash overuse. One every other sentence. Use a full stop instead.
• "Not just X, but Y". "It's not just a bakery, it's a community." Say what the place does.
• Three identical cards. Three boxes, each with an icon, a two-word title and one flat sentence.
• The rule of three everywhere. "Fast, simple and secure." Real lists have two items, or five.
• Empty endings. A closing line that repeats what was just said.

Swapping words fixes the inflated ones. The rest need facts and a voice.

Step 1: let the AI interview you

The AI can't invent what makes you different. It can ask good questions, though. This turns a blank page into a conversation.

I need copy for my website. Before writing anything, interview me. Ask me 10 questions, one at a time, waiting for each answer. Cover: what I do and for whom, what customers say about me (in their words), what I do differently from others nearby, prices or numbers people care about, the most common questions people ask me, and what I want a visitor to do. Push for specifics: if I say "great service", ask for an example.

Answer like you're talking to a friend. Typos and half-sentences are fine. The details are what matter: "we open at 7 so nurses coming off night shift can get breakfast" is worth more than any adjective.

Your inbox is a gold mine too. The questions customers email you, and the words they use when they thank you, are real copy. Paste a few in.

Step 2: give it your voice

Paste something you've written yourself. Real emails and texts to customers work best, because you wrote them without trying to sound clever. 200 to 400 words is enough. Then ask the AI to describe your voice and match it.

Here are samples of how I write:
[paste 200 to 400 words of your own writing: emails, texts or social posts]

Describe my voice in five bullet points (sentence length, formality, humour, words I use, words I'd never use). Use that voice for all the website copy.

Step 3: give it rules

Write the website copy using my answers and my voice. Rules:
- Every claim is specific: a number, a name, a place, a time or an example. If you don't have a fact, ask me instead of inventing one.
- Never invent testimonials, statistics, awards or client names.
- Plain words. Don't use: delve, elevate, unlock, seamless, leverage, robust, cutting-edge, game-changer, empower, journey, tailored, passionate, "in today's world", "look no further".
- No filler openers: Moreover, Furthermore, "When it comes to", "It's important to note". No hedging. Use at most one em dash per page.
- No "not just X, but Y". Don't default to lists of three. Vary sentence length. Some short.
- Write to one reader, using "you". Lead with what they get, not what we do.
- Headlines say what it is or what you get, in under ten words. No puns unless I asked.
- No closing lines that summarise the section.
- Each section under 80 words. Buttons say what happens: "Book a table", not "Submit".

A homepage that reads like a person

Most small-business homepages need the same six things, in this order. Ask the AI to follow it, and give it your facts for each part.

1. A headline that says what it is and who it's for. "Saturday piano lessons for adults in Leeds". Under ten words, no cleverness needed.
2. One proof point above the fold. A real number, a real review in the customer's words, or a real photo. One is enough.
3. What you get. Short cards, but let them differ. One can be a single line. Another can have a price and a time. Cards of different length look like a person wrote them.
4. How it works, in three steps. "Message us. Come for a free trial lesson. Pick a weekly slot."
5. Answers to real objections. Take them from your own emails and DMs: "Do I need my own piano?" "What if I'm a total beginner?"
6. Price, or who this is not for. "Lessons are £35 for 45 minutes." Or "We don't teach under-sevens." Both build trust.

End with one clear button. Not three different ones.

Write my homepage in this order: (1) a headline saying what I do and who for, under ten words; (2) one proof point above the fold, using only a real fact I gave you; (3) what you get, as cards of different lengths, not three matching boxes; (4) how it works in 3 steps; (5) answers to the objections in the emails I pasted; (6) the price, or who this is not for; (7) one clear button. If you lack a fact for any part, ask me.

Three headlines, three styles

Don't take the first headline. Ask for options and pick.

Give me 3 headline options for my homepage, each under ten words, in different styles: one plain and literal, one that leads with the result the customer gets, one that speaks to a worry they have. No puns, no hype words.

The competitor test

Read each line and ask: could a rival paste this on their site unchanged? If yes, rewrite it. "We care about quality" passes that test for everyone. "Every loaf is shaped by hand before 5am" doesn't. You don't need to name anyone. Just imagine the next business down the road.

The word-swap list

Search your copy for these before you publish. Most can simply be deleted.

Before and after

A dentist:

A café:

A tutor:

Buttons matter too:

The café and tutor details above are made-up examples. Use your own real facts, or the AI will invent them for you.

None of the "after" versions has a clever word. They work because every sentence answers a question a real customer has.

Step 4: edit in one pass

1. Read it out loud. Anything you wouldn't say to a customer's face, rewrite.
2. Delete the first sentence of each section. It's often a warm-up. See if the section is better without it.
3. Circle every adjective. Replace it with a fact or delete it.
4. Check every fact. Prices, hours, names, addresses. AI is confident even when it's wrong.
5. Ask a customer. "Does this sound like us?" is the best test there is.

Edit this copy. Remove filler, inflated words and anything that repeats. Replace vague claims with a question to me asking for the specific fact. Keep my voice. Show the edited version, then a list of the questions you need me to answer.

[paste your copy]

One-line prompts for common rewrite jobs

• Cut this by a third without losing any facts.Copy
• Rewrite this headline in under ten words and say who it's for.Copy
• Find every claim in this copy that a competitor could paste unchanged, and ask me for a specific fact for each.Copy
• Replace every adjective with a number, a name or an example, or delete it.Copy
• Remove filler openers, hedges and em dashes. Keep my meaning.Copy
• Rewrite these three matching cards so they differ in length and shape.Copy
• Change every button to say what happens next.Copy

Launch it

Words are the part of a site people actually read, so it's worth the extra hour. When the copy sounds like you, paste Launch my site on PageLemon.com into the chat. Later, when your prices or hours change, ask your AI to update the site; you won't have to start again.