How we write is the client's house style guide: tone of voice, the words they use and avoid, what to lead with, what may be claimed. These rules travel with everything the AI writes for the client, on every channel. This article shows how to draft the rules, collect the client's own answers through a link, and turn client feedback into rule changes.
Before you start
You need edit rights on the company memory. See What AI Memory is and how it is organised.
Scan the website under Company Branding first. The scan drafts proposals for these rules automatically. See Setting up Company Branding.
Open the rules
Open AI Memory and go to the Branding tab.
Click How we write. A number badge on the tab shows how many suggestions are waiting.
The counter at the top shows how many rules are answered, for example 5/17. Rules are grouped into folding sections:
Section | Rules |
|---|---|
Voice & tone | Tone of voice, How the tone shifts, Person and address |
Word choice | Preferred terms, Banned words, Reading level, Say this, not that |
Mechanics | Punctuation rules, Numbers and dates |
Claims | What we may claim, Required disclaimers |
Selling | What to lead with, Calls to action we never use, Content we never produce |
Imagery | Photography style, Imagery to avoid, AI-generated images |
Each rule is asked in the shape of its answer: a choice list, word chips you add with Enter, or "instead of / say" pairs. An open rule shows a hint or Not answered yet. A rule marked house default uses a standard answer until you change it. Click Edit on an answered rule to change it.
Note: Rules for one kind of content, such as how a blog post is built, sit beside that kind under Content Examples > How we do it. See Content Examples: showing the AI what good looks like.
Draft rules from the site and examples
Click Suggest from my site & examples. The button only appears while some rules are still open.
Wait while it reads the memory. A Read from: line then lists what the proposals were based on.
Each proposal appears under its rule, labelled Suggested from your memory.
For each one, click Use this to accept it, or Not us to dismiss it. On a rule that already has an answer, the button reads Replace with this.
To accept every proposal at once, click Use all at the top.
Nothing is saved until you accept it.
Ask the client
Let the client answer the open questions themselves.
Click Ask the client.
A link is created and copied. The message confirms it is valid 30 days. The link is also shown on screen with a Copy button.
Send the link to your client by email or chat.
The client opens a simple page with their logo and the heading How we write. They see only the rules that are still open, can skip anything they aren't sure about, can add their name, and click Send answers. No login is needed. If every rule is already answered, the page tells them there is nothing left to ask.
When answers come back, How we write shows who answered and when. Each answer appears under its rule, labelled Answered by your client. Take them one by one with Use this, take them all with Use all, or clear them with Dismiss all. Answers are only offered for rules that are still open.
Tip: Every client answer is reviewed by your agency before it is used. Tell the client this, so they feel free to answer quickly.
Turn client feedback into rule changes
When a client comments on a draft ("please don't call us a webshop, we're a specialist"), feed it back into the rules.
Click From feedback.
Paste the client's feedback as they wrote it, for example an email or a comment on a draft.
Click Propose changes.
Review the proposals, labelled From the client's feedback. Feedback can propose changes to rules that are already answered too.
Accept with Use this or Replace with this, or dismiss with Not us.
If the feedback doesn't affect any rule, a message tells you so.
Good rules to start with
Tone of voice, Person and address and Banned words open first because they change the output most.
What to lead with tells the AI what the client really wants to sell, which a keyword list can't show.
What we may claim and Required disclaimers protect the client from promises they can't keep.