How to use AI to write product descriptions without sounding generic

If you have ever used ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini… or any other AI tool to write a description in your product page, and the result has sounded like a hypermarket catalogue or a stale shop from the 90s, rest assured: you are not alone.

“High quality”, “elegant design”, “perfect for any occasion”… are just empty phrases that say nothing to anyone and that, on top of everything, could describe anything: from trainers to an office chair.

So, AI is not useful for creating product pages? Of course it is, you just have to learn how to ask it for things.

In this post, we are going to explain how to make real use of these tools, so that your product pages truly sell, are unique, sound like your brand and do not seem generated by popping out like an assembly line.

Notice: this post contains prompts that you should save.

A product description is not only an informative text, and it is not an excuse to stuff keywords for SEO either. The product page text is, in fact, the salesperson who works 24 hours for you (and without charging commissions). If that salesperson limits themselves to vaguely describing your product and, what is worse, is the same employee your competition has hired… we are not adding anything to our eCommerce.

Because when the customer does not feel that they are being given special treatment, when they do not have the feeling of speaking with an expert who advises them, nor is there someone working on persuasiveness on the other side… they do not buy. Or worse: they buy elsewhere where someone has taken the trouble to treat them as expected.

To that, add the impact on SEO. Google does not reward content that sounds the same as that of a hundred competitors. If your product pages look as though they came out of the same mould as everyone else’s, your visibility in search engines is going to suffer, and a lot.

And then there is GEO and LLM engines for AI. Bear in mind that if you have the same content as other eCommerce sites with more authority, the chances of your product pages being cited fall sharply.

So this is not a trivial matter.

Most online store owners who use AI for their descriptions do the same thing: they open the chat, write “describe this product for me” with four basic details and expect magic.

The result, you already know it: correct, odourless, colourless and tasteless text. With the same stylistic resources and the same structure.

AI does not know who your customer is. It does not know whether you sell to parents looking for quick solutions, to sports enthusiasts who want technical specifications, or to design lovers who buy with their eyes. If you do not tell it, it will write for everyone. And writing for everyone is, in practice, writing for absolutely no one.

Think of the prompt as the detailed instructions you would give to a copywriter.

The more context you give it, the better it will work.

These are the elements that should not be missing:

PROMPT: “write a 100-word description for [product] aimed at [ideal customer], with a [adjective] tone, highlighting the benefit of [specific benefit]. Avoid generic adjectives such as 'elegant', 'versatile' or 'high quality'”.

The difference from the undeveloped approach is enormous.

Basic prompt: “Write a description for a black work backpack with a laptop compartment.”

RESULT: High-quality work backpack in black. Includes padded compartment for laptop up to 15". Elegant and versatile design, perfect for any occasion. Made with resistant and durable materials.

Optimised prompt: “Write a 90-word description for a black work backpack with a 15" laptop compartment, aimed at urban professionals aged 28-40 who travel by public transport and need to have everything organised without looking as if they are carrying a travel suitcase. Direct and practical tone. Avoid ‘high quality’, ‘elegant’ and ‘versatile’.”

RESULT: Everything you need for the day, while avoiding chaos. The backpack has a padded compartment for laptops up to 15", organiser pockets so that the charger, keys and headphones do not all end up together in the same black hole, and a slim profile that does not turn you into an obstacle on the metro. Black, discreet, functional. For going from home to the office without thinking about what you are carrying.

Basic prompt: “Create the text for the product page of this moisturising facial cream with natural ingredients.”

RESULT: moisturising facial cream made with high-quality natural ingredients. Its exclusive formula nourishes and moisturises your skin deeply, leaving it soft and luminous. Suitable for all skin types. Free from parabens and artificial colourants.

Optimised prompt: “Write an 85-word description for a moisturising facial cream with rosehip oil and hyaluronic acid, aimed at women aged 35-50 with dry or combination skin who have been trying products for some time without seeing results and distrust empty promises. Honest tone and without exaggerations. No “exclusive formula”, “luminous” or “revolutionary””.

There is no magic prompt for creating product pages in eCommerce; that does not exist. AI is a tool to speed up the process, not to automate it 100%.

The first draft is exactly that: a draft. What works is using it as a starting point and then introducing variables: ask it to make it shorter, more direct, with a stronger hook in the first line, with a call to action at the end... modify what does not fit and polish it until it truly convinces you.

You can also ask it for several different versions and combine the best of each one. In ten minutes you get three different approaches to the same product and can thus choose the one that works best for your audience.

That, before these tools, took hours.

No matter how well you explain the context to AI, there are things that only you know: why you chose that supplier, what the first customers who bought it told you, what problem you had to solve in your own life.

That type of detail (a brief anecdote, a phrase that came from a real review, a piece of information that only you know… storytelling) is what, in the end, ends up turning a correct description into a memorable description.

Use AI to do 80% of the work. The remaining 20% is yours. And that 20% is exactly what no one else can replicate and what makes the difference.

As a reflection, keep in mind that AI should not write for you, but it can help you write better, faster and with more consistency if you learn to direct it.

Start with one of your best-selling products, apply these principles and compare the result with what you had before. I think you will be surprised by the differences.