How to Use AI to Write Product Descriptions That Sell

You have 40 products waiting for a description, the supplier text is stiff and half in capitals, and every time you ask ChatGPT for help you get “elevate your everyday” with no real detail. It feels like the AI is the problem. It usually isn’t.

Here is how to use AI to write product descriptions that actually sell: give it the facts first, not the product name. Fill in a short fact sheet (what it is, what it is made of, sizes, who it is for, what buyers keep asking), paste that into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini with a prompt that sets your tone and length, then check every claim before you publish. The AI does the wording. You supply the truth.

That is the whole method. The rest of this page shows the fact sheet, the prompt, a worked example, how to do it from a photo or a spreadsheet, and what Google says about AI-written product text.

Why AI product descriptions all sound the same

When you type “write a product description for a linen apron”, the AI has nothing to go on except the words “linen” and “apron”. So it fills the gap with the safest, most average sentences it knows. That is where “crafted with care” and “perfect for any occasion” come from.

The fix is not a cleverer prompt. It is better input. A description that sells answers the questions a buyer has when they cannot touch the product: How big is it? What is it made of? Will it work for me? How do I look after it? If those answers are in your input, they end up in the output.

Step 1: Build a fact sheet (5 minutes per product)

Before you open any AI tool, write down the raw facts. Bullet points, no style, typos are fine. This is the part only you can do.

• What it is: the plain name, as a customer would say it.
• Specs: size, weight, materials, colours, capacity, what is in the box.
• Who it is for: one or two real types of buyer, and the moment they use it.
• Who it is NOT for: this cuts returns and builds trust.
• Customer words: phrases from your reviews, support emails or DMs. “Finally fits over my jumper” is better copy than anything an AI will invent.
• Care and practical stuff: washing, assembly, compatibility, delivery quirks.
• Claims you can prove: certifications, test results, warranty. Only the ones you have on paper.

Google’s own advice for shopping listings points the same way. Its Merchant Center guide says to be specific and accurate, to list the most important details in the first 160 to 500 characters, and to include things like size, material, intended age range and special features (Google Merchant Center Help: Description).

Step 2: The prompt to paste

Open ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, paste this, and drop your fact sheet at the bottom. Change the bits in square brackets once, then reuse it for every product.

You write product descriptions for [shop name], which sells [what you sell] to [who buys].

Tone: [e.g. friendly and plain, like a shop owner talking to a regular]. No hype words such as "elevate", "game-changer", "must-have" or "perfect for any occasion".

Write a product description using ONLY the facts below. If something is not in the facts, do not add it. If a buyer would obviously want to know something that is missing, list it as a question at the end instead of guessing.

Format:
* One opening sentence that names the product and who it is for.
* A short paragraph (2 to 3 sentences) on the main benefit, in the buyer's words.
* 4 to 6 bullet points with the specs that matter most.
* One line on care or practical use.
Keep the first 2 sentences under 300 characters and put the most important detail there, it is what shoppers read first.

FACTS:
[paste your fact sheet here]

Two lines in that prompt do most of the work. “Using ONLY the facts below” stops the AI from inventing features. “List it as a question instead of guessing” turns the gaps into a to-do list for you, not a made-up spec on your shop.

Step 3: Push back once, then check every claim

The first draft is usually close, but not finished. Send one follow-up instead of rewriting it yourself:

Read this as a buyer who is on the fence. Which sentence would make them doubt it, and which question is still unanswered? Rewrite those parts. Then list every factual claim in the description next to the fact it came from.

That last instruction is your safety check. If a claim has no matching fact, delete it. This matters more than style. In the US, the FTC’s guidance for small businesses is clear that ads must be truthful and that you need evidence for your claims before the ad runs, including claims that are only implied (FTC: Advertising FAQs, a guide for small business). A product page counts. “Keeps coffee hot for 12 hours” needs to be true for your product, not just plausible to an AI.

A worked example (made-up product)

Here is the method on an invented product, so you can see what changes. The fact sheet:

Linen cross-back apron. 100% washed linen, mid weight. One size, adjustable by how you cross the straps. Two front pockets, one fits a phone. Colours: oat, charcoal. Buyers: home bakers, potters, café staff. Not for heavy grease work (linen stains). Reviews say: "no neck strap, finally", "fits over a jumper". Machine wash 40°C, line dry, gets softer with washing.

What a bare prompt (“write a description for a linen apron”) tends to give you:

Elevate your kitchen with our premium linen apron, crafted with care for the modern home chef. Perfect for any occasion, this must-have piece combines style and function.

What the fact-sheet prompt gives you, after one push-back:

A washed linen apron for home bakers, potters and café staff who are tired of a strap pulling on their neck.

The straps cross at the back instead, so the weight sits on your shoulders, and there is room to wear it over a jumper. It gets softer every time you wash it.

* 100% washed linen, mid weight
* One size, adjusts by how you cross the straps
* Two front pockets, one fits a phone
* Oat or charcoal
* Machine wash at 40°C, line dry

Not the best pick for heavy grease work: linen shows oil stains.

Questions for you: What are the exact length and width? Is the linen certified (for example OEKO-TEX)?

Notice the questions at the end. The AI did not invent a size or a certificate. It asked. You fill those in, delete the question line, and publish.

Write a product description from a photo

No fact sheet yet, just a picture? You can upload a product photo to ChatGPT (PNG, JPEG or non-animated GIF, up to 20MB) and ask it to describe what it sees. Claude and Gemini accept images too.

Look at this product photo. List what you can actually see: shape, colour, materials that are visible, parts, details. Mark anything you are guessing with (guess). Do not write a description yet.

Use that list as the start of your fact sheet, then fix the guesses. OpenAI’s own help page warns that the model may generate incorrect descriptions of an image in some cases and that it does not read the original file name or metadata (OpenAI Help: ChatGPT image inputs FAQ). So a photo can show “brushed metal”, but only you know whether it is stainless steel or coated aluminium.

Write descriptions in bulk from a spreadsheet

Once the prompt works for three or four products, do the rest in batches. Most shop systems can export products to a CSV file.

1. Export your products. Keep one row per product with columns for name, specs, materials, audience and notes.
2. Paste 10 rows at a time into the chat with your prompt and this extra line: “Write one description per row. Keep the product name as a heading so I can match them.”
3. Read every description. Batches are where small mix-ups happen, such as one product’s size landing in another product’s text.
4. Paste the results back into a new column and re-import.

Why 10 and not 200? Smaller batches are easier to check properly, and checking is the step you cannot skip. If you need help cleaning up the spreadsheet first, the same approach as using AI to write Excel formulas works for splitting and merging spec columns. When you are ready to run this without copying and pasting at all, an automation tool can loop through the rows for you; the n8n tutorial for beginners shows how a first workflow like that is set up.

Using the AI built into your shop

If you sell on Shopify, you may not need a separate chat window. Shopify’s help pages say its assistant, Sidekick, can write text inside the pages you edit, including product descriptions (Shopify Help: AI writing in your Shopify admin).

The same rule applies there. A built-in tool only knows what is on the product page. Fill in your specs and notes first, and give it your tone, or you get the same generic copy, just faster.

Will Google penalise AI-written product descriptions?

Not for being written with AI. Google’s Search team has said that appropriate use of AI or automation is not against its guidelines, and that what it rewards is helpful, original content, however it is produced (Google Search Central: guidance about AI-generated content).

What does get sites in trouble is volume without value. Google’s spam policies name “scaled content abuse”, including using generative AI tools to generate many pages without adding value for users (Google Search Central: spam policies). Pasting 500 product names into a tool and publishing whatever comes out is close to that line. Feeding it real facts and checking the result is not.

A few practical points if your products also go to Google Shopping:

• The description can be up to 5,000 characters, but the first 160 to 500 characters matter most.
• Google asks you not to include comparisons with other products, such as “even better than X”.
• Merchant Center has an optional structured description field where you can mark that the text was created with generative AI.

All three come from the same Merchant Center description guide.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Starting from the product name only. No facts in, no facts out.
• Letting the AI fill in numbers. Battery life, dimensions and “lasts for years” must come from you.
• Health or safety claims. “Eases back pain” or “non-toxic” need proof. If you don’t have it, cut it.
• Copying the supplier text into the prompt and asking for a rewrite. You end up with the same facts in slightly different words, while your own knowledge (customer questions, what gets returned) stays out of it.
• One tone for everything. Write the tone line once, save the prompt, and reuse it so the shop sounds like one person.
• Skipping the read-through. Read each description as a buyer. If you would not trust it, they won’t either.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use AI to write product descriptions?

Yes. Google does not penalise text for being written with AI, and every major chat tool can do it. The part you keep is the facts and the final check, because you are responsible for what the page claims.

Which AI is best for product descriptions?

ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini all handle this well when the input is good. The difference is mostly tone, so try the same fact sheet in two of them and keep the one that sounds more like you. Our comparison of ChatGPT vs Claude for writing goes deeper on that.

How long should a product description be?

As long as it takes to answer the buyer’s questions, with the most important details at the top. For a simple product that is often a short paragraph and a few bullets. Google’s Merchant Center guide puts the key details in the first 160 to 500 characters.

Can AI write product descriptions from a picture?

It can describe what it sees, which is a good start. It cannot see materials, sizes or certificates for sure, so treat the photo as the start of your fact sheet, not the finished text.

Should I tell customers a description was written with AI?

Rules differ by country and marketplace, so check the ones where you sell. Google Merchant Center already lets you mark AI-generated descriptions in its structured description field. Either way, the facts on the page must be right.

Once your product pages read well, the rest of the site deserves the same care. Here is how to write website copy with AI for your home page, about page and service pages.

Your next step

Pick your three best-selling products today. Write the fact sheets, run the prompt, push back once, check the claims. If the new versions read better than what is live, do the next ten tomorrow.

If you want more small, practical wins like this one, using AI for the real tasks on your desk, start with the free Launchpad on our home page.