AI Tells: The Copy Blacklist

Patterns that make marketing copy read as machine-written. Clients and buyers spot these fast, and a reader who decides a page was generated starts doubting its claims too.

Most of these are old human rhetoric. AI copy gives itself away by using them by default, stacked, and with nothing specific behind them. So the rules below are a mix of hard bans (for patterns that are tells even once) and frequency caps (for devices that are fine when chosen on purpose).

Confidence key

• Ban: a tell even once. Don't write it.
• Cap: fine once, a tell when repeated or stacked. Stay under the cap.

What the scopes mean

• Short copy: headlines, subheads, the hero, CTAs, ads, social posts, email subject lines.
• Long copy: body sections of a page, articles, long emails.
• Section: one hero, one page section, or one whole short post.
• CTA microcopy ("No card required") doesn't count toward the fragment cap.

Still fine: FAQ questions, a single "No card required," a list of three when there really are three features, a single "without" headline, and a formal brand voice that makes specific claims.

Contents

• Structural Patterns (the worst offenders)
• Openers, Closers, and Setups
• Marketing Phrases
• Vocabulary
• Hedges, Puffery, and Weasels
• Tone
• Formatting
• Second-Generation Tells
• Build a Writer
• Rewrite Rules
• The Self-Check
• Sources

Structural Patterns

These matter more than any word list. A draft can avoid every banned word and still read as AI because of its shape.

1. The contrast reveal: "Not X. Y." (Ban)

Sets up an assumption nobody stated, denies it, then gives the "real" answer.

Variants: "It's not X, it's Y." "Not because X. Because Y." "This isn't X. This is Y." "Not just X, but Y." "Less X, more Y." "The question isn't X, it's Y." "X? Think again."

• ✗ Most marketing teams have a list of campaign ideas that never launch. Not because they're bad. Because each one needs a developer.
• ✓ Most marketing teams have a list of campaign ideas that never launch, because each one needs a developer they can't get.

Why it's a tell: It's one of the most frequently cited AI patterns. Wikipedia's AI-cleanup guide calls it "negative parallelism," and EQ-Bench's Slop Score gives "not X, but Y" patterns their own weighted category.

Rewrite: State Y directly and attach the concrete reason or cost. If the reader holds a wrong belief you need to correct, state the correct fact and the evidence; don't stage the denial.

2. The negation list: "No X, no Y, no Z." (Ban)

Defines the product by what's absent, usually in threes, often with a fragment tacked on.

Variants: "No X. No Y. Just Z." "Without X, without Y." "Zero X, zero Y."

• ✗ No setup call, no templates to fill in, no waiting on IT. No contract.
• ✓ Install it from the app store and it's running on your data in five minutes.

Rewrite: Say what does happen, in the order it happens. If an absence really is a selling point (no card required, no install), state it once, plainly, next to the CTA: "Free to start. No card required." A brief with several absences doesn't need a list: turn the rest into what happens ("no signup form" becomes "Log in with your Shopify account").

A single "without" or "Never X again" headline is fine. Don't follow it with a negation list in the subhead.

3. The trailing pile-on (Ban)

A complete claim, then a comma, then a run of add-ons: a negation list, an "-ing" clause, or a string of extra benefits.

• ✗ Reports pull directly from the data you already have, no exports, no spreadsheets, no second copy to keep updated.
• ✗ It syncs your calendar automatically, ensuring nothing slips through the cracks.
• ✓ Reports pull from the data you already have. There's nothing to export.

Rewrite: End the sentence when the main claim ends. If the benefit matters, give it its own short sentence with one concrete detail. Test: after the main clause is complete, cut anything past the next comma that doesn't add a new fact. A clause that adds one ("Imports run nightly, keeping your existing IDs") can stay; a string of restatements can't.

4. Rhetorical question, then answer (Ban)

"The result? 3x faster onboarding." "The catch? There isn't one." "Why does this matter? Because..."

• ✗ The result? Onboarding that takes minutes, not weeks.
• ✓ New hires finish onboarding on day one.

Rewrite: Delete the question and keep the answer.

Still fine: FAQ questions ("Does it work with Shopify?"), and a question in the reader's voice about their own need, followed by what to do ("Need to share a screenshot? Drop it in the thread."). The tell is a question that labels your own claim ("The result?" "The catch?" "Why does this matter?").

5. The colon reveal (Ban)

"The best part: it learns." "Here's the secret: consistency." "One word: speed."

Rewrite: Write it as a normal sentence ("It learns from every correction"). Save colons for lists, labels, and quotes.

6. Fragment drumbeat (Cap: one per section)

Stacked fragments or one-line paragraphs for manufactured punch. "Simple. Fast. Done." "That's it. That's the whole thing."

Rewrite: Merge them into one full sentence that carries a fact. One fragment that lands a real payoff is a copywriting device. A paragraph of them is a tic.

7. Reflexive threes (Cap: one per section)

Everything comes in threes: adjectives, benefits, clauses, bullets. "Fast, secure, and scalable." "Save time, cut costs, and grow revenue."

Rewrite: Use as many items as the facts support: one, two, or four. Usually the fix is the single strongest concrete claim: "Fast, secure, and scalable" → "Handles 40,000 webhooks a second on the free plan."

8. Em dashes (Ban in short copy; cap at 1–2 per page in long copy)

The dash as the default pause, several per paragraph, often carrying a contrast reveal ("It's not a tool — it's a teammate").

Rewrite: Use a period, a comma, a colon, or parentheses. In heroes, ads, subject lines, and social posts, use none.

9. Uniform rhythm (Cap)

Every sentence 12–18 words. Every paragraph is topic sentence → elaboration → wrap-up. Every section the same length. Three pros, three cons, every time.

Rewrite: Vary on purpose. A long sentence, then a short one. Let a section be two lines if that's all it needs. Put the payoff first sometimes.

10. Dodging "is" and "has" (Cap)

"Serves as a central hub." "Stands as a testament." "Boasts a library of 200 templates." "Represents a new approach."

Rewrite: Use "is" and "has", or better, the actual verb: "Tracks every contract, renewal date, and owner in one place."

11. Abstract subjects (Cap)

"The platform empowers teams to..." "Our solution enables..." Nobody does anything.

Rewrite: Make the customer the subject. "Your team ships experiments without filing a ticket."

12. False ranges (Cap)

"From startups to enterprises." "From onboarding to renewal." The two ends don't describe a real span.

Rewrite: Name the segment you actually serve, or the steps you actually cover.

13. Synonym cycling (Cap)

Calling the same thing a dashboard, an interface, a portal, and a hub in one page to avoid repeating a word.

Rewrite: Pick the word your customer uses and repeat it.

Openers, Closers, and Setups (Ban)

Marketing Phrases (Ban)

Vocabulary

Swapping a banned word for a synonym just creates a new tell. Replace the word with the fact it was standing in for: "robust" → "99.99% uptime over two years"; "seamless" → "imports your Stripe data in about 90 seconds."

Ban: delve, tapestry, testament to, realm, embark, beacon, multifaceted, paradigm, synergy, myriad, plethora, meticulous, intricate, utilize, leverage (as a verb), supercharge, turbocharge, game-changer, "ever-evolving landscape," "plays a crucial role"

Cap (two in a paragraph means rewrite it): seamless, robust, streamline, empower, elevate, unlock, unleash, harness, foster, enhance, optimize, cutting-edge, innovative, revolutionary, transformative, holistic, comprehensive, pivotal, crucial, vital, powerful, next-level, world-class, best-in-class, landscape, navigate, ecosystem, journey (unless literal)

Cap (empty intensifiers): truly, genuinely, incredibly, deeply, fundamentally, significantly, simply, actually, literally, quietly

Favored words drift as models change ("delve" peaked in 2024; "enhance," "showcase," "foster," and "align with" rose after). Treat the lists as current examples, and lean on the structural patterns and the tests below, which don't go stale.

Hedges, Puffery, and Weasels

• Hedge stacks (Cap): "can help you potentially reduce..." State what you know, or scope the claim honestly.
• Importance puffery (Ban): "marks a pivotal moment," "redefines the category." State the fact; let the reader judge.
• Weasel sources (Ban): "experts agree," "studies show," "trusted by industry leaders." Name the source or the customer, or cut it.
• Invented labels (Cap): "the integration tax," "the growth trap." Only coin a term you'll define and use across the site.

Tone

• Chummy openers (Ban in email and social): "Great question!" "Let's be honest..." "We get it."
• Fake vulnerability (Ban): "I'll be honest, I was skeptical too..." with no real story behind it.
• Over-explaining (Cap): "Let's break this down," "Think of it as..." Give the explanation directly.
• Hype punctuation (Ban): "Ready to level up?!" Exclamation points and interrobangs in body copy.

Formatting

• Emoji as structure (Ban in B2B): 🚀 ✨ ✅ leading bullets or headings.
• Bold label on every bullet (Cap): "Seamless integration: ..." Keep it for reference tables, not every list.
• Parallel bullet openers (Cap): every bullet starting "Ensures... / Provides... / Enables..." Start bullets with the customer outcome and vary the grammar.
• Title Case Everywhere (Cap): use sentence case unless the brand style guide says otherwise.
• Unicode decoration (Ban): arrows, ×, 𝗯𝗼𝗹𝗱 letters in body copy.
• Label headings (Cap): "What / Why / How" sections. Write headings that make a claim.

Second-Generation Tells

These show up in copy that has already been de-slopped. The banned words and contrast reveals are gone, but the draft still reads as generated because the model swapped one set of habits for another. Check for them after the patterns above are fixed.

Build a Writer

Removing patterns leaves copy that's clean and flat. Human-sounding copy comes from a specific person with uneven knowledge and real opinions. Before a full rewrite of Situation A copy (see the Diagnosis section in SKILL.md), answer these silently:

1. Who is writing? Name the person and role: the founder, the head of support, the engineer who built the feature. Say why they're writing this page.
2. What do they know cold? Those parts get the most words and the most specific detail.
3. What do they find boring or not know well? Those parts get compressed, or cut.
4. What's their honest, arguable opinion about the problem, the category, or the old way of doing it?
5. If they had to cut a third, what goes first? Cut it now.

The answers produce traits that generated copy lacks:

• Uneven density. The section the writer cares about runs longest. Equal coverage of everything is a tell.
• Mixed register. A precise technical term in one sentence, plain words in the next. Don't polish every word to the same level.
• Honest limits. When the writer doesn't know something, the copy skips it or says so. Saying who the product isn't for is a strong version of this.
• Lopsided structure. At least one section is noticeably longer, and at least one is short, because that's how much there was to say.
• Sentence length from the thought. Write each sentence as long as its idea needs. Don't plan short-short-long rhythms.
• Opinions that cost something. A real opinion is specific and someone could disagree with it ("Most onboarding checklists are busywork. Ours has three steps."). "We believe in quality" costs nothing.
• First person only when it means something. "I built this after losing a client to a missed invoice" earns the "I." First person that adds no fact is decoration.

Rules that override the persona:

• Never invent experience. The writer's opinions and emphasis can be constructed; their anecdotes, customers, and results cannot. A made-up "when I ran my agency..." story is fabrication, and so is a fake customer quote. Use what the user gave you or mark [NEED: founder story].
• In Situation B, the writer already exists. Match the real voice from the draft or sample; don't build a new one.
• Keep the brand's register. A persona for an enterprise security product is still formal. Uneven density and real opinions work in a formal voice too.

Rewrite Rules

1. Rewrite from the facts. Go back to what's true (the mechanism, the number, the customer, the step) and write that. Synonym swaps and "humanizer" substitutions produce new tells.
2. Specificity test. Every claim sentence needs a number, a name, a mechanism, or a concrete action.
3. Swap test. If the line would work unchanged on a competitor's site, rewrite it.
4. Stacking test. Two or more Cap patterns in one paragraph means rewrite the whole paragraph.
5. Don't invent to de-slop. Replacing "industry-leading" with a made-up stat is worse. Mark it [NEED: proof] and ask.
6. Choose devices on purpose. A fragment you picked once, for a reason, is copywriting. The same device on every line is slop.
7. Keep the brand's register. A formal sentence that makes a specific claim is fine. Don't flatten an enterprise voice into clipped startup copy, which is its own tell.
8. Vary the fixes. The ✓ examples show one way out. Don't reuse them as templates. If every reveal becomes ", because..." and every negation list becomes "There's nothing to X," those are the new tics.
9. Flag a missing differentiator. If no headline can pass the swap test with what you have, write the best one and mark [NEED: differentiator vs. named competitors].

The Self-Check

Run this on every draft before delivering it:

1. Search for the bans. Look for "not ", "isn't", "no ", "without", "?", ":" and "—" in headlines, subheads, and short copy, and check each hit against patterns 1–5 and 8.
2. Read every sentence over 20 words. If it has more than two commas, check for a trailing pile-on (pattern 3).
3. Count the caps. Fragments, threes, and Cap vocabulary per section.
4. Read it aloud. Mark anywhere you'd sound like a press release or a LinkedIn post.
5. Apply the swap test to the headline, subhead, and every section heading.
6. Scan for second-generation tells. Check the last line of every section for a tidy closer, look for wisdom-shaped sentences, and compare section lengths. If they're all about the same, the draft has perfect balance.

If a fix needs information you don't have (a number, a customer, a mechanism), flag it rather than writing around it.

Sources

Patterns and evidence drawn from, and rewritten in our own words:

• Wikipedia, Signs of AI writing (WikiProject AI Cleanup)
• Kobak et al., excess vocabulary in 15M+ PubMed abstracts (arXiv 2406.07016)
• Juzek & Ward, Why Does ChatGPT "Delve" So Much? (COLING 2025)
• Paech et al., Antislop (arXiv 2510.15061) and EQ-Bench Slop Score
• tropes.fyi catalog of AI writing tropes
• Charlie Guo, The Field Guide to AI Slop
• Blake Stockton, Don't write like AI: negation
• Profound's humanizer and improved-copywriting skills and Wispr Flow's writing skill, published in skills-marketing-library (MIT): the build-a-writer questions, human-writing traits, and second-generation tells
• Counter-view: A case for the defense (devices are fine when chosen, not defaulted)

For a broader word-level list used in content audits, see the seo-audit skill's references/ai-writing-detection.md.