How to brief your AI team so the output is actually usable

The single biggest difference between AI output you can send and AI output you delete is the brief. Most people give three sentences and judge the result. Here is what to give it instead — it takes twenty minutes, once.

Last updated 2026-07-22

1. Who you are for, specifically

“Small businesses” is not a customer profile. “Independent HVAC contractors in the U.S. doing $1–5M who bid on commercial jobs” is. The narrower the definition, the better every list, email and page gets — and the easier it is to spot a bad lead.

2. The problem in your customer’s words

Write down how customers describe the problem when they call you, not how you describe it in marketing. Those exact phrases are what make a cold email sound like it came from someone who understands the business.

3. Proof you can actually stand behind

Whatever is true and verifiable: years in business, what you specialise in, a guarantee you honour. Do not supply claims you cannot back — they will be repeated at scale, which is the fastest way to damage trust and, in the U.S., to attract regulatory attention.

4. What you will never say

Just as useful as the brief itself. Off-limits claims, competitors you will not name, discounting you will not do, tone you hate. A short “never” list prevents most of the output you would otherwise reject.

5. What a good outcome looks like

Define the action you want: a reply, a booked call, a quote request. Content written toward a specific next step performs differently from content written to “raise awareness”.

A template you can paste in

We help [specific customer] who struggle with [problem in their words]. Unlike [alternative], we [what is actually different]. We can prove it because [verifiable fact]. We never [off-limits]. A good result is [specific action].

Fill that in once. Review the first batch of output closely, correct the two or three things that are off, and the rest compounds.

← All guides · Home · Pricing