ChatGPT General

ChatGPT Prompts: 6 That Work Better Than Asking Nicely

These six are built around the things ChatGPT does badly by default. It pads, it agrees too readily, it summarises when you wanted analysis, and it invents specifics when it does not know. Each prompt below contains at least one instruction whose only job is to stop one of those habits. Free tier works for all of them.

⌨️ 6 prompts 🕐 Updated Aug 26, 2026

💡 How to use these prompts: Replace everything in [BRACKETS] with your specific details before sending. Click Copy to copy any prompt to your clipboard instantly.

Get an actual opinion instead of a balanced overview

Stops the default behaviour of presenting every side and committing to none.

I want your assessment, not a summary of viewpoints.

Question: [QUESTION]

Rules:
- Take a position and defend it
- Tell me your confidence and what would change your mind
- If the honest answer is that it depends, say what it depends on rather than listing both sides
- Do not end with a paragraph about how there are many factors to consider

Stop it agreeing with you

Models default to agreement. This one asks for the opposite explicitly, which is the only reliable way to get it.

I am going to describe a plan. Your job is to find what is wrong with it.

Plan: [DESCRIBE]

Give me:
1. The assumption most likely to be false
2. What breaks first if you are right about that
3. What I have not considered
4. Whether the plan is worth doing anyway

Do not open by telling me it is a solid plan.

Force it to admit what it does not know

The single most useful instruction for anything you will act on. Tagged uncertainty is far more useful than confident prose.

Answer the question below. For every factual claim, tag it:

[CONFIRMED] you are confident and it is widely documented
[LIKELY] you believe it but could be out of date
[UNSURE] you are reasoning from general knowledge
[UNKNOWN] you do not know and should not guess

Do not skip the tags. An untagged answer is worse than no answer.

Question: [QUESTION]

Rewrite without losing your voice

The negative list is what preserves your voice. Without it you get generic business prose.

Improve the text below for clarity only.

Do NOT:
- Change my vocabulary to more formal words
- Add transition phrases like furthermore or moreover
- Make sentences uniform in length
- Add a summary paragraph

DO:
- Cut anything that repeats
- Fix genuinely unclear sentences
- Flag anything that reads as untrue

Text:
[PASTE]

Study something properly instead of getting the answer

Turns a chat into a tutorial. Works well with study mode on the paid tiers.

I want to understand [TOPIC], not be given the answer.

Work through it with me:
- Ask what I already know before explaining
- Give me one concept at a time and check I have it
- When I get something wrong, tell me what I misunderstood rather than restating the right answer
- Do not move on until I can explain it back

Start by asking what I know.

Decide between two options

Feature comparisons rarely resolve a decision. Naming the deciding question usually does.

I am choosing between [A] and [B].

Do not compare features. Instead:
1. What is the single question that decides this
2. What would make A clearly right
3. What would make B clearly right
4. Which do you think fits what I have told you, and what are you unsure about

If you need something from me to answer properly, ask before answering.