The short answer
To make AI sound like you, give it three to five samples of your own writing, ask it to write a style guide from them, correct that guide, and save it where it loads automatically, such as Instructions or a skill in Claude, a project in ChatGPT or a skill in Gemini. Anthropic, OpenAI and Google all say in their prompting guides that examples are among the most reliable ways to steer tone. Then draft from your own notes and feed your edits back.
Why AI writing sounds like AI, and what fixes it
Ask any assistant to "write a LinkedIn post" and you get the average of the internet: tidy, upbeat and nothing like you. The model is not bad at style; it simply has no information about yours. All three makers say the same thing in their prompting guides: examples are one of the most reliable ways to steer tone and structure. Anthropic suggests 3 to 5 relevant, varied examples, OpenAI calls the technique few-shot learning, and Google says to include examples with a consistent format. Do that once, save it, and every draft starts closer to your voice.
What you need first
- Three to five samples of your own writing for the same kind of job: emails if you want emails, posts if you want posts. Pick pieces you are proud of, not your fastest replies.
- A few honest notes about your style: sentence length, words you use and avoid, how you open and close, how formal you are with whom.
- An assistant that can save instructions, so you do not paste them every time. Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini all can, in different ways.
How to make AI sound like you in 7 steps
- Collect your samples. Put three to five pieces in one document and label each one, for example <example> and </example>, so the model can tell them apart from instructions, as Anthropic's guide recommends.
- Ask the AI to describe your style. Paste the samples and ask for a style guide: sentence length, vocabulary, structure, tone, habits. Correct anything it gets wrong. Your corrections are the most valuable part.
- Turn the guide into rules with reasons. "Short sentences, because my readers read on their phones" works better than "short sentences". Anthropic's guide shows that explaining why helps the model generalise.
- Add a banned list. Write down the phrases you never use. Every writer has them, and the AI reaches for them by default.
- Save it where it loads automatically. In Claude, open Settings, then Your Claude, and add it under Instructions, which apply to all your conversations; or put it in a project's instructions for one kind of work. You can also turn it into a skill under Customize, then Skills, and Anthropic's own examples of custom skills include generating communications that follow company templates and applying brand style guidelines. In Gemini, Google says it can help you build custom skills from your chats, which then run automatically on matching prompts or when you type / and the skill's name. In ChatGPT, keep the guide and samples in a project.
- Draft from your material, not from nothing. Give the AI your notes, bullet points or voice memo transcript, and ask it to write in your style. Your ideas plus your style is what sounds like you.
- Edit the first ten drafts and feed the edits back. Paste your edited version and ask: "What did I change, and how should the style guide change?" After a few rounds the drafts need very little work.
A worked example: a founder's LinkedIn voice
A founder writes plain, slightly dry posts that open with a specific number and never use exclamation marks. AI drafts kept coming back cheerful and full of rhetorical questions.
- She pasted five of her best posts into Claude and asked for a style guide. It noticed her habit of ending with one short sentence; it wrongly said she used humour often, which she corrected.
- She added rules with reasons ("No rhetorical questions, because they read as marketing to my audience of engineers") and a banned list of twelve phrases.
- She saved the guide and samples as a skill, so any chat about posts loads it.
- Now she pastes three bullet points from a customer call and asks for a post. The first draft needs two edits instead of a rewrite.
Common mistakes and how to fix them
- Describing your style instead of showing it. "Warm but professional" means nothing on its own. Fix: always include samples.
- Using samples from the wrong genre. Your emails will not teach it your posts. Fix: one guide per kind of writing.
- Asking for a post with no ideas in the prompt. Fix: bring the substance; let the AI handle structure and polish.
- Accepting the style guide uncorrected. Fix: read it like an editor and change what is wrong.
- Relying on a feature that is being retired. Google's Gems become read-only on 17 November 2026 and are removed on 17 December 2026 for personal accounts, converted to skills automatically. OpenAI retires custom GPTs on 11 December 2026 and moves them to plugins. Fix: keep your style guide as a plain document you own, and paste it into whatever replaces the old feature.
- Passing off AI writing as fully your own where that matters. Fix: follow your employer's, school's or platform's rules.
Which AI tool is best at sounding like you
- Claude from Anthropic is our pick for matching a voice. It is known for careful writing and editing, and account-wide Instructions, project instructions and skills (skills are on every plan, including Free, with code execution switched on) give you three places to save your style. See how to use Claude and Claude prompts for writing.
- ChatGPT works well if you keep your style guide in a project; projects are listed from the Plus plan. See how to use ChatGPT.
- Gemini suits people who write mostly in Gmail and Docs; save your style as a skill. See how to use Gemini.
More help: best AI for copywriting, Grammarly vs Claude, prompts for LinkedIn posts and prompts for copywriting. Saved instructions work like a personal system prompt.
4 prompts to make AI write like you
Prompts to copy
Build your style guide
Below are [five] pieces of my writing, each in <example> tags. Write a style guide someone could follow to write like me: sentence length, vocabulary, structure, how I open and close, tone with different readers, and habits. Quote my examples to support each point. Then list ten phrases I never use that AI writing often does. <example>[paste]</example>
You get: A style guide based on evidence from your own writing
Draft in your voice from notes
Using my style guide and examples, write a [type of piece] for [reader] from these notes: [paste notes]. Keep every fact from the notes and add none. Keep it under [length]. Then list any sentence you are least sure sounds like me.
You get: A first draft in your voice, with weak spots flagged
Learn from my edits
Here is your draft and my edited version. List every kind of change I made, such as cutting words, changing openings or removing phrases, and suggest specific updates to my style guide so the next draft needs fewer edits. Draft: [paste] My version: [paste]
You get: A sharper style guide after every round
De-AI an existing draft
Rewrite this draft in my voice using my style guide. Remove generic phrases, rhetorical questions and filler. Keep the meaning and every fact. Show the rewrite, then a short list of the phrases you removed. [paste]
You get: A draft that sounds like a person, with the changes shown