How to stop your AI content sound like everyone else’s
We’re a few years down the line now with AI content, especially as small businesses. Which means we’re all pretty skilled now at spotting AI content that sounds the same as everyone else’s — and it goes well beyond the em-dash, overuse of the word ‘quietly’ and other AI tells.
Forget ‘quietly’ for a minute. There’s another word I want to ban from your marketing content. No, I want to ban it from everyone's vocabulary.
Utilise.
Every time I see it, I want to gently take the writer by the shoulders and say: just say use. It means exactly the same thing. Nobody is impressed because you typed four extra letters. And guess what, “utilise” makes you sound further away, not more credible.
When readers get a whiff of you trying too hard, they feel it. And they switch off.
I understand why we go for the fancier word or the more "professional" phrase. From when we’re in education, we’re asked to level up our language to sound more impressive. We’re told that using big words is impressive, and what will make people pay attention to what we’re saying.
So we leverage synergies instead of working together. We deliver value instead of helping people. We utilise when we just... use.
I've done this too, for sure. We all have. Because we want to be taken seriously and sound like we know what we're doing.
But credibility doesn't come from longer words. It comes from saying something real, in a way that actually sounds like you.
Why does AI-generated content feel so meh?
Earlier this year I attended Uplift Live where copywriter Dave Harland made exactly this point: the words we choose either bring people closer or push them away. Simple as that.
In another talk, Heather Murray explained why so much AI-generated content feels samey. Written by everyone, for no one in particular.
The reason is this: AI learns from the entire internet. The brilliant stuff and the terrible stuff. The thoughtful long-reads in the Observer and the unhinged Reddit threads. And then it takes all of that and gives you the average for your blog/email/caption.
The average. The very much middle-of-the-road, palatable, acceptable. Vanilla content.
Think about what average actually sounds like. Competent sentences that could apply to any business. Advice that's technically correct but somehow says nothing. Content that makes your reader feel vaguely informed and completely unmoved.
Does that mean small businesses shouldn't use AI for content?
Not at all. But it means being distinctly, specifically, recognisably you is no longer a nice-to-have.
We know that more content than ever is being churned out every second. Considering pretty much all of it is converging on the same middle ground, making your content more you than ever before is now the whole strategy.
So what does that look like? Think about that turn of phrase that makes your regular readers smile. Your slightly niche reference. Your opinion that not everyone will agree with. The story only you could tell, because it happened to you, last week, in your actual life.
AI can try to make up those anecdotes and words, but it won’t be real. What’s real to you cannot be averaged or replicated. It's yours. And it’s time to lean in to it more than ever before.
How do I check if my content sounds like me?
Look at something you've written recently, an email, a social post, your About page, and ask yourself honestly: does this sound like me? Or does it sound like a reasonably competent person in my industry? Could it be lifted and applied to any of your competitors without anyone noticing?
If it's the latter, the fix is simpler than you think.
6 ways to check if your writing sounds like you
Drop the "utilise". If a word sounds like it belongs in a corporate email you'd roll your eyes at, swap it for the one you'd actually say out loud.
Name the specific thing, not the general thing. Not "a client struggled with visibility", but "Sarah's inbox went quiet for three months and she thought her business was dying". Specifics can't be copied. Generalities can.
Read it out loud. If you stumble over a sentence or it doesn't sound like something that would come out of your mouth, it isn't yours yet. Rewrite until it does.
Look for your verbal habits and little oddities, and let them stay. The phrase you always use in conversation, the slightly odd analogy, the way you tell a story when you're excited about it. Those are your fingerprints. Don't smooth them out.
Check for an opinion, not just information. Anyone can explain what a thing is. Only you can say what you think about it, and why you think that.
Ask what only you know. What's a detail, story, or reaction that nobody else in your industry has access to? If it's not in there somewhere, the piece is missing its youiness (yes, that’s a word, and no, AI doesn’t come up with stuff like that … that’s the point).
So imagine me taking you gently by the shoulders, encouraging you to take a big brave breath and tell the specific story. Use the word you'd actually say out loud.
That's where the good stuff is.
Quick answers
Why does AI-generated marketing content sound generic? AI learns from huge amounts of existing text and produces something close to the average of it all. That makes it fluent and competent, but also unspecific, because it has no actual lived experience or opinions of its own to draw on.
Should I avoid AI when writing marketing content? Not necessarily. The issue isn't the tool, it's whether the finished piece still sounds like a specific person with specific experiences. AI can help you draft or restructure, but the unique detail has to come from you.
What's a quick way to make my content sound less generic? Swap any word you wouldn't actually say out loud (utilise, leverage, deliver value) for the plain version. Then add one detail only you could know, a specific story, opinion, or moment from your actual week.
Why is sounding distinctly "you" a marketing strategy now? Because as more content converges towards the same AI-flavoured middle ground, the businesses that stand out are the ones whose content couldn't have been written by anyone else.