10 AI Copywriting Tells & How To Fix Them
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The last thing I want to be is the copywriter who hates AI, because that's such a defensive place to write from. But after seeing a weird resurgence of AI ‘tells’ online, I realized that I just want my audience to know what isn’t working, so that you can fix it.
Before you go erase every em dash in your document, here's what I want you to take from this post instead: whether you write your first draft yourself, with AI, or somewhere in between, you should know what to change and why so that your copy converts!
We’ll Start With Our Favorite – The Em Dash
I have used the em dash for years and I'm not giving it up. No good writer would. The issue is that AI overuses the emdash, and it’s not only distracting, but it depletes your authority if your readers thinkyou’re using AI to sell to them.
Two fixes:
If the em dash bookends a phrase that could just as easily sit inside commas, swap it. Your copy flows better without the heavy pause.
If whatever comes after the dash contradicts the first half of the sentence ("run your business smarter, without the overwhelm"), cut the contradiction. "Run your business smarter!" is a stronger, more direct line on its own.
"It's Not X, It's Y"
I saw this recently in a friend's Delta flight check-in notification: "It's not just a flight, it's an experience."
WRONG. NO. STOP IT.
It's a flight. She was flying economy across the country in a tin can with a hundred other people. That's fine. It doesn't need to be an experience.
This pattern, called a false choice reframe, shows up constantly in small business copy. It sounds like, "it's not a course, it's a path to success." Yet it IS a course. Saying what it isn't confuses your buyer and makes you sound like you're hedging instead of standing behind your offer. Clear messaging just says what something is.
“And that’s the gap!”
AI loves naming the abstract gap between where someone is and where they want to be, but it names the gap as a generic problem instead of an emotional one. If you catch your draft saying "and that's the gap," delete the phrase and replace it with the specific way your offer closes that gap. Show me you know your reader well enough to solve their problem, not just describe it.
Circular Restating
This is saying the same thing three different ways without adding anything new. It stalls, and readers have short attention spans, so stalling loses them.
Pick the outcomes that matter most and state each one once.
Vary Your Lists Instead of Defaulting to Three
Our brains like groups of three, which is why AI leans on the pattern so hard. The trouble is it happens over and over until it goes flat.
If your draft reads "faster, easier, and better," cut the least important item and let potency work in your favor. Be bold, babes!
Vague Intensifiers
Words like "genuinely," "incredibly," and "-ly" adverbs in general are filler. Cut them and your sentence gets stronger. Instead of "get what you truly (or actually) want," just say "get what you want."
To give the emotional lift that the adverbs are trying to create, be super specific. Tell a story. So with the sentence used above, it might bcome, “Get the results you thought you were going to get from your first coach.”
Rhetorical Questions
Fun fact: asking questions slows down your readers. And slow readers lose attention quickly.
So if your copy is full of rhetorical questions like, "Ever wonder why you're so tired at night? Wish you could get better rest? Want to show up more fully YOU in the mornings?" it’s going to slow people down and likely send them on tangential thought patterns.
Instead, swap most of your rhetorical questions out for a direct statement: "You're tired at night because you've been running on no plan all day.". This will show your audience that you understand them, and keeps you in the position of ‘the guide’.
Obvious Definitions
AI defines things nobody asked about: "sales copy at its core is words that sell things on the internet.".
Just start with your point. Tell people what they’re supposed to do with information they already have. Prescriptiveness sets you up as the authority, and positions people to want to follow and buy from you.
Use Active Voice
Passive voice is when something ‘can’ do something or ‘should’ cause an effect. In copy, it sounds like, "This can help a lot of people achieve their goals".
Instead, be upfront! "I will help you achieve your money goals" is much more clear and authoritative than ‘I can help you…’.
Search your draft for "can" and "might," and replace them with a direct, confident statement about what you will do for the reader.
"It's Not Just a Blank"
This one falls in the same family as the false choice reframe. What I see a lot of are statements like, "It's not just a course". This is distracting to the maxxxxx, friends – and it starts to sound like that old infomercial statement, “but wait! There’s more!”. Gross.
If it's a course, say it's a course, and then sell them on why it's a good one.
Key Takeaways
AI tells are about patterns, not specific words. They create distance between you and your reader.
Fixing them is about clarity and confidence, not memorizing a banned word list.
Editing your own draft (or your AI draft) with these ten patterns in mind will make your copy sound more like you and convert better.
None of these tells are bad to have in your copy occasionally. Just remember that you want to truly connect with your readers. These patterns put space between you and the person reading your copy, and that lack of humanity is what costs you the sale, not the em dash.
If you want a second set of eyes on your copy every week, that's what Copy On Demand is for. It's currently on the waitlist and opens again in December: Join the Copy On Demand waitlist.
Want more help before your next launch? Grab the Forgotten Launch Emails checklist for $1 with code PODCAST.
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