How to make ChatGPT not sound like AI. The 15 tells, the 60-second rewrite pass, and the two prompts that do most of it for you.
Coaches on r/personaltraining describe it exactly: every post contains "it's not X, it's Y", every visual stacks four benefits, every reply opens with "great insight". One client wrote that his coach started using it in the weekly check-in comments, which were the only time they talked, and he quit. This page is the general rule set every AI guide on this site points back to: what gives generated text away, the one-minute pass that removes it, a prompt that rewrites any draft in your voice, and a prompt that scores a draft before you post it.
By Markus Evers · Updated September 2026
the short version
To make ChatGPT not sound like AI, give it three things you wrote, ban the tells inside the prompt (contrast framing, groups of three, elevate and unlock and journey, question stacks, a summary or offer at the end, emoji walls), keep one real detail, and do a 60-second read-aloud pass. The 15 tells, the pass and two prompts are below.
Why does ChatGPT text sound like AI?
ChatGPT sounds like AI because it optimises for the average of everything it has read: balanced sentences, contrast framing, a benefit for every claim, a summary at the end and no lived detail, because lived detail is the one thing the average does not contain. A coach's writing works for the opposite reason: one specific person, one specific moment, one uneven sentence. Every fix on this page is a way of putting the specific back in. The same rules apply to Claude and Gemini, which is why the best AI writing tool for a coach is whichever one carries your ban list and your samples.
01
It averages
The most likely next sentence is the one most fitness writers would write. That is why the output feels familiar before you have finished reading it.
02
It balances
Two clauses of equal weight, three items in every list, a claim and its softener. People talking do not balance; they lean.
03
It has no Tuesday
It does not know that Sara hit 60 kg on Tuesday after three months at 55. Until you tell it, every draft is about nobody.
What are the 15 tells that give AI writing away?
Fifteen patterns account for almost every sentence a reader clocks as generated: contrast framing, groups of three, the elevate-unlock-journey vocabulary, the closing offer line, rhetorical question stacks, emoji walls, the summary at the end, hedging, parallel bullets, generic praise, "in today's fast-paced world", exclamation stacking, the colon headline, adjectives in pairs, and uniform sentence length. Each has a plain fix, shown as a coach sentence pair.
| # | The tell | Sounds like AI | The fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Contrast framing | "It's not about the weight. It's about the habit." | "Her deadlift went from 60 to 80 kg in eleven weeks. The habit was Tuesdays." |
| 2 | Groups of three | "Stronger, leaner, more confident." | "Stronger. That was the goal." |
| 3 | Elevate, unlock, journey | "Unlock your potential and elevate your journey." | "Add one set this week." |
| 4 | The closing offer line | "If you'd like, I can put together a plan for you." | Delete it. End on the detail or the ask you already made. |
| 5 | Rhetorical question stacks | "Tired of plateaus? Frustrated with slow progress? Ready for change?" | "Three flat weeks with good adherence is a signal. Here is what I changed." |
| 6 | Emoji walls | "New week, new goals 🔥💪🙌" | "Monday. Same plan as last week, on purpose." |
| 7 | The summary sentence at the end | "In short, consistency and patience are the keys to success." | Cut it. Last line is the client's words or your one ask. |
| 8 | Hedging | "It's important to note that results may vary." | "Two of the three are down a kilo since. One is not, and we are looking at her sleep." |
| 9 | Perfectly parallel bullets | "Train smart. Eat well. Rest fully." | Uneven bullets, or no bullets: "Train three times. Eat breakfast. The rest we sort out at the check-in." |
| 10 | Generic praise openers | "Great question! I love your dedication." | "Fair question. The answer was yes." |
| 11 | "In today's fast-paced world" | "In today's fast-paced world, finding time to train is harder than ever." | "You have 20 minutes on Tuesday. Here is the session." |
| 12 | Exclamation stacking | "Let's go! You've got this! Amazing work!" | None, or one, and only if you use them in speech. |
| 13 | The colon headline | "Protein: The Ultimate Guide to Fueling Your Gains" | "Protein per meal, in food not grams." |
| 14 | Adjectives in pairs | "A simple yet effective, sustainable and realistic plan." | "A plan with two sessions a week." |
| 15 | Uniform sentence length | Every sentence 14 to 18 words, all the way down. | One long sentence, then a three-word one. Read it aloud and keep the rhythm you hear yourself use. |
The caption-specific application of these tells, with ten full before-and-after rewrites and eight sub-prompts, is in Instagram captions that don't sound like AI. This page is the general rule set; that one is the Instagram version.
What is the 60-second rewrite pass?
The 60-second rewrite pass is five moves you make on any draft before it goes anywhere: read it aloud, cut the first sentence, add one specific detail from real life, break one rule of grammar on purpose, and name a real client moment in place of an abstract noun. It removes most of the fifteen tells without a second prompt, and it is the habit that makes the rest of this page optional. Before the pass, paste the draft into the AI writing checker: it scores the draft 0 to 10 on these fifteen tells, highlights each hit and shows the fix, without sending the text anywhere.
- 01
Read it aloud. Anything you stumble on or would not say to a client, cut.
- 02
Cut the first sentence. It is almost always a warm-up; the second sentence is the real opener.
- 03
Add one specific detail from real life this week: a number, a name you have permission for, a time, a food.
- 04
Break one rule of grammar on purpose. A fragment. A sentence that starts with "And".
- 05
Name a real client moment, anonymised if needed, in place of any abstract noun ("journey", "progress", "mindset").
What prompt makes ChatGPT write in my voice?
The rewrite prompt gives the model three things you wrote so it learns your rhythm, then ten rules that ban the tells and protect every fact, and asks for the rewritten text plus a two-line note on which of your phrases it reused. It edits; it does not add. Use it on any draft from any prompt, and if you find yourself pasting the same three samples every day, turn them into a style card once with the voice-profile method.
Rewrite this in my voice
When to use it: Any draft a model produced, before a client or a follower reads it.
What to paste in: Three things you wrote (a caption, a check-in reply with the name removed, an email), one detail from this week, and the draft.
You are editing text for me, an online fitness coach. Your only job is to make it read like I wrote it, not to add anything.
First, here are three things I actually wrote, unedited, so you can learn my rhythm:
[PASTE YOUR OWN CAPTION 1]
[PASTE YOUR OWN CHECK-IN REPLY, client name removed]
[PASTE YOUR OWN EMAIL]
Notice my sentence length, how I open, which words I repeat, whether I swear, how I sign off.
Now rewrite the draft below using these rules.
1. Keep every fact and number exactly as written; do not invent details, results or client names.
2. No contrast framing ("it's not about X, it's about Y").
3. No groups of three (adjectives, verbs, benefits).
4. Never use: elevate, unlock, journey, game-changer, empower, transform, dive in, unleash, seamless, in today's, whether you're, let's be honest.
5. No rhetorical question followed by another question.
6. No summary sentence at the end and no closing offer ("If you'd like, I can...").
7. No emoji unless my samples use them, and never more than one.
8. Vary sentence length on purpose: at least one sentence under six words and one over twenty-five.
9. Keep one specific detail from real life that I gave you: [ONE DETAIL FROM THIS WEEK, e.g. "Sara hit 60 kg squat on Tuesday after three months at 55"].
10. If a sentence could appear in any coach's post, cut it.
Output only the rewritten text, then a two-line note listing which of my phrases you reused.
Draft: [PASTE THE DRAFT] How do I check a draft before I post it?
Check a draft with the detector prompt, which scores it from 0 to 10 for "sounds like AI", quotes every tell it finds in a fixed order, and gives a one-line fix for each without rewriting the whole thing. Then the read-aloud test: if you would not say a sentence to a client on the phone, it goes. Detector tools give probabilities; a reader who has seen a thousand generated posts is the only detector that matters.
AI-tell detector
When to use it: A draft you are not sure about, yours or the model's.
What to paste in: The text, nothing else.
Read the text below and act as a sceptical reader who has seen a thousand AI-written fitness posts. Score it from 0 to 10 for "sounds like AI". Then list every tell you found, quoting the exact words, in this order: contrast framing, groups of three, banned words (elevate, unlock, journey, game-changer, empower, seamless, dive in), rhetorical question stacks, summary or offer at the end, generic praise, uniform sentence length, hedging phrases like "it's important to note", emoji walls, and anything that could be pasted into any coach's account unchanged. For each tell, give a one-line fix that keeps my meaning. Do not rewrite the whole text. Text: [PASTE]
What should a coach never let AI write?
A coach should never let AI write the final version of six things: the check-in reply to a struggling client, the "you are slipping" message, anything with a client's name that has not been rewritten, testimonials and client quotes, apologies, and answers to medical or injury questions. A rewrite pass makes drafts sound like you; these are the messages where a client is listening specifically for whether it is you, and one coach on r/personaltraining lost a client over exactly that.
- 01
Check-in replies that go to a struggling, upset or silent client. Bullet points from the model, words from you.
- 02
The "you are slipping" message. The one clients remember for years.
- 03
Anything with a client's name in it that you have not rewritten and read aloud.
- 04
Testimonials, client quotes and client stories that put words in someone's mouth.
- 05
Apologies, for a missed reply, a wrong plan or a billing mistake.
- 06
A reply to a medical, pain or injury question. Refer out or answer yourself.
Where this fits in a coaching week: drafts live in your notes and your assistant, and the client only ever sees the rewritten message, sent from the place they expect to hear from you. In Coachway that is the same client screen as their check-in and plan; the drafting stays wherever you draft. Both prompts on this page are in the free AI prompt pack for online coaches alongside every other prompt on this site.
Frequently asked questions about making ChatGPT not sound like AI.
How do I make ChatGPT not sound like AI?
Give it three things you wrote so it copies your rhythm, then ban the tells in the prompt: no "it's not X, it's Y", no groups of three, no elevate or unlock or journey, no rhetorical question stacks, no summary or offer at the end, one emoji at most, uneven sentence lengths, and one specific detail from real life. Then do a 60-second rewrite pass by reading it aloud. The rewrite prompt on this page carries all of that.
What words make writing sound like AI?
Elevate, unlock, journey, game-changer, empower, transform, dive in, unleash, seamless, thrive, "in today's fast-paced world", "whether you're", "let's be honest", "it's important to note", and "at the end of the day". None of them are wrong on their own; they are recognisable because generated text uses them constantly and people saying things out loud almost never do.
Why does ChatGPT always write "it's not X, it's Y"?
Because contrast framing is the most common rhetorical move in the persuasive writing it learned from, and because it lets the model sound decisive without committing to a specific fact. A coach can say the same thing with the fact alone: "Her deadlift went from 60 to 80 kg in eleven weeks" needs no "it's not about the weight, it's about the habit" in front of it.
Can ChatGPT learn my writing style?
It can copy it from samples convincingly, which is different from learning it. Three samples in a prompt get you a draft that needs a two-minute edit; ten samples turned into a style card and kept in custom instructions get you that on every chat. Without samples, adjectives like "friendly and direct" produce the same text for every coach who types them.
Do AI detectors work on rewritten text, and should a coach care?
Detector tools give a probability, not a verdict, and they are wrong in both directions often enough that no coach should rely on one. The reader is the detector that matters: a client who feels a message was generated at them rather than written for them. Pass the read-aloud test and the 15 tells below and the detector question stops mattering.
Should I tell followers or clients that I used AI to draft a post?
If a draft has been rewritten in your voice with a real detail in it, it is your writing and needs no label. If a message went to a client unedited, the honest position is that you should not have sent it, not that you should disclose it. The rule that keeps you clear of the question is that AI never writes the final version of anything a client reads.
Is it fine to use AI for check-in replies if I edit them?
For a routine, on-track week, a draft you rewrite with the client's name, their actual numbers and one thing only you would know is fine. For a client who is slipping, upset or going quiet, write it yourself; that is the message clients have quit over when it read as generated. The check-in prompts on this site hand that one back to you with bullet points, on purpose.
How long should the rewrite pass take?
Sixty seconds for a caption or a DM, two to three minutes for a check-in reply or an email. Read it aloud, cut the first sentence, add one detail from real life, break one rule of grammar on purpose, and name a real moment. If the pass takes longer than the writing would have, the prompt needs your samples in it, not more editing.
Generated text is the average of everyone. Put one real Tuesday back into it, read it aloud, and it is yours again. Coachway costs EUR 69 per month for up to 5 clients plus EUR 9 per additional client, every feature included, with a 14-day free trial; the numbers are on pricing, and the AI tools worth a coach's time lists what sits around it.
Keep reading
all guidesInstagram Captions That Don't Sound Like AI: 12 Rules for Coaches
The 12 rules for Instagram captions that don't sound like AI, 10 before-and-after rewrites, a 300-word master prompt built on your own voice samples and 8 sub-prompts for hooks, stories, CTAs, carousels, reels, client wins, myth-busts and day-in-the-life posts.
Read the guideHow to Train ChatGPT on Your Coaching Voice: The Voice-Profile Method
The voice-profile method for fitness coaches, done once in about 30 minutes: the ten samples to collect across captions, check-in replies, emails and DMs, the profile prompt that turns them into a style card, an example card, the header prompt that uses it, three tests that show whether it worked, and the six messages never to let AI write in your voice.
Read the guideHow to Use AI as an Online Fitness Coach: 7 Workflows (2026)
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Read the guideFree tools for this: Discovery Call Calculator · No-Show Cost Calculator · Referral Value Calculator
Ready-made template: AI Prompt Pack for Online Coaches
Where the rewritten message reaches the client
Check-ins, messages, the plan and payments through your own Stripe on one client screen. Start the 14-day free trial and move one client over: cancel any time under Billing.
