Why Aren’t More People Using Custom Instructions in AI?
This one always surprises me.
On all courses even advanced AI workshops, I ask delegates a simple question:
“Who here has set up Custom Instructions in your AI tool?”
And time and time again… only a handful of hands go up.
Now, this isn’t a criticism. It’s an opportunity.
Because Custom Instructions are one of the simplest and most powerful ways to instantly improve your AI results and yet they’re still massively underused.
What Are Custom Instructions (And Why Do They Matter)?
Think of Custom Instructions as briefing your AI everything it needs to know about you once, so you don’t have to repeat yourself every time.
Instead of starting from scratch in every conversation, you give the AI:
Context about you and your business
Preferences on how it should respond
Guidance on tone, structure and style for content it will help generate
In short, you move from using a generic tool to having your own AI expert assistant.
The result?
More relevant and better answers
Less time spent rewriting prompts
Consistent outputs
Content that actually sounds like you (or even a better version of you).
What You Should Include in Your Custom Instructions
This is where you can obtain some real value. Don’t just add a sentence or two; you need to spend some time to help your AI tool of choice get to know you.
1. About You and Your Business
Give the AI useful context:
Your role and industry
Who you help
Your services or products
Your goals (eg marketing, training, efficiency)
What sort of tasks you want help with (eg summrising, content creation, research)
2. Your Tone of Voice
Tell the AI how you want it to sound when responding and what you’d like to sound like in content. For example:
Friendly and conversational
Professional and concise
Practical and easy to follow
For example, at Pollinger AI, the focus is on being clear, practical and empowering.
3. Formatting Preferences
Save time on editing by specifying formatting and structure:
Bullet points
Step-by-step instructions
Short paragraphs
Emojis
Real-world examples
4. Your Prompting Framework
This is one of the most powerful (and overlooked) uses.
You can instruct the AI to:
Ask clarifying questions before answering
Suggest better prompts
Offer multiple points of view
Challenge your thinking
Follow a prompting framework when improving your prompts
This turns AI into an effective prompting partner.
5. Do’s and Don’ts
Examples include:
Avoid jargon
Don’t use AI buzzwords (eg deep dive, gamechanger, delve)
Use UK English
Keep answers practical
Always include actionable steps
Small tweaks here make a big difference over time.
How to Set Up Custom Instructions in ChatGPT
It only takes a couple of minutes:
Open ChatGPT
Click your profile
Select Personalisation
Complete Base style and tone, Characteristics then Custom Instructions.
The complete the fields in the About you section.
Click Save.
That’s it - you’ve upgraded every future interaction. Note that it’s a similar process in other AI tools including Copilot, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity. The takeaway is simple: The better your instructions, the better your results.
Why This Matters More Than Ever
AI isn’t just about access anymore.
It’s about how you use it.
And the people getting the best outcomes are the ones who:
Provide clear context
Give better instructions
Build repeatable workflows
Custom Instructions sit right at the centre of all three.
A Simple Challenge
If you haven’t set this up yet:
Do it today
Keep it simple
Improve it over time
It’s one of the highest-impact, lowest-effort upgrades you can make when it comes to using AI.
Want a Ready-Made Template?
If you’d like a head start, I’ve created practical templates for:
ChatGPT
Microsoft Copilot
Claude
They’re designed to help you get better results immediately without overcomplicating things.
👉 Get in touch and I’ll happily share them with you.
