How to Define Your Brand Voice (So AI Doesn’t Make You Sound Like a Robot)
Let’s face it—AI is here, and it’s not going anywhere. But just because you’re using ChatGPT, Jasper, or any other tool to help you generate content doesn’t mean your brand has to lose its personality in the process.
One of the biggest challenges brands face in the age of AI is maintaining a distinct, human-sounding voice across everything they publish—from social captions to blog posts to email sequences. And here's the truth: AI is only as good as the input it’s given. If it doesn’t know your brand’s tone, quirks, or boundaries, it will default to sounding like… well, everyone else.
That’s where brand voice discovery comes in.
Whether you're DIY-ing your copy with a little AI assistance or scaling your content production through automation, taking the time to clarify your brand voice is the key to showing up consistently, confidently, and authentically online.
So how do you do it? Use the same prompt we give our brand strategy clients.
The Brand Voice Discovery Prompt (AI-Friendly Edition)
You can answer these yourself, send them to your team, or even use them as training materials for your AI tools. Ready?
1. If your brand were a person…
What kind of personality would they have?
What 3 adjectives describe them best?
How would they introduce themselves at a networking event—or in a DM?
This helps you envision your brand not as a faceless company, but as a character with a recognizable energy.
2. What’s off-limits?
You can’t define your voice without also defining what it’s not. Think about:
Words, phrases, or tones that don’t fit your brand
Common AI-generated language that makes you cringe
Any clichés or "industry speak" that feels stiff, robotic, or just not you
This is especially helpful when training AI tools to avoid cringey filler and repetitive jargon.
3. What emotions should your brand evoke?
AI will often default to “informative” or “motivational.” But your brand has more depth than that. Ask:
What do you want people to feel when they interact with your brand?
What feelings or reactions are you actively trying to avoid?
Maybe you want to leave people feeling bold and ready to take action—not overwhelmed by jargon or empty hype.
4. Define your tone on a spectrum
Where does your brand live on the following tone scales?
Professional ▫▫▫▫▫ Playful
Educational ▫▫▫▫▫ Conversational
Bold ▫▫▫▫▫ Grounded
Sassy ▫▫▫▫▫ Supportive
Visionary ▫▫▫▫▫ Relatable
You can even screenshot this and mark it up. The more nuance, the better.
5. Train your AI with real brand language
Pretend you’re creating a user manual for ChatGPT to be your brand voice. Try finishing these:
“We always greet people like this: ___________”
“We sound like a mix between ___________ and ___________”
“We write like we’re talking to ___________ (a best friend, a client, a curious student…)”
“We avoid sounding ___________”
“Our favorite words or phrases to use are ___________”
This section is gold for feeding into AI tools as a custom tone guideline or template.
6. Create a Voice Sample Vault
AI needs reference points. Pull together:
Past content that feels the most like you
Phrases or word choices that show off your tone
AI-generated samples you like (and why they work)
This vault can evolve over time—and it becomes the foundation of your brand’s consistency, no matter how your team or tech stack grows.
Wrapping It Up
Whether you’re running a solo brand or managing a team, your voice is one of your most valuable brand assets—and one of the easiest to lose in a copy-paste world.
So take the time to define it. Better yet? Document it. Train for it. Revisit it.
And if you're already using AI to create content, treat your voice like code: clear input = accurate output.
