ChatGPT’s Language Tics: A Field Guide (2025)
You’ve seen it on websites, pitch decks, and LinkedIn threads.
Sentences that glide. Paragraphs that line up too neatly. A voice that feels careful, helpful—and oddly interchangeable.
That sound isn’t laziness. It’s a pattern. ChatGPT was trained on oceans of public text and then fine-tuned to be polite, safe, and clear. Great goals. But the side effect is a house style: repeated words, gentle hedges, tidy transitions, and a soft shine that smooths out personality.
For copywriters, that shine cuts both ways. It’s fast, it’s fluent, and it rarely offends. It also blurs brand edges. When every page “leans in,” “unlocks value,” and “plays a key role,” no page stands out. Claims float. Proof thins. Readers skim and forget.
This guide is about those text-level habits—nothing else. Not hallucinations, not product policy, not images. Just the writing tics that make copy read “AI-ish,” and the exact edits that bring back bite, pace, and voice.
You’ll see what to cut (buzzwords, stock intros), what to keep (numbers, names, clear bounds), and how to change rhythm without adding fluff. Treat it like an edit checklist. Run it once. Then again. Your copy will breathe. Your brand will sound like itself.
1) Buzzword drift
ChatGPT leans on a small, reusable kit of words—delve, realm, tapestry, landscape, robust, pivotal, moreover, notably, etc. Lists compiled from large samples and editor roundups keep converging on the same offenders. Swap them for concrete nouns and plain verbs, or delete them outright.
Try:
“Cut response time by 2 minutes” instead of “unlock operational efficiency.” (Numbers beat abstractions.)
2) Transitional glue everywhere
AI copy often strings paragraphs with moreover/furthermore/additionally to sound organized, but it flattens rhythm and wastes space. Studies comparing metadiscourse in ChatGPT vs. student essays show heavier reliance on these connectors and less varied interaction with the reader. Limit connectors to where they change meaning.
Try:
One connector per paragraph, max. Prefer short joins: “But,” “So,” “Then.”
3) Hedging haze
May, might, likely, could pile up even in simple claims. Comparative analyses find higher hedge rates and fewer true “boosters,” making copy sound cautious and thin. Keep one hedge only when the fact is genuinely uncertain.
Try:
“Delivery takes 24–48h in Mauritius.” If there are rare exceptions, name them.
4) Praise inflation and empty intensifiers
Phrases like “stands as a testament,” “plays a vital role,” “world-class,” and adjective clusters (innovative, seamless, transformative) flag AI-ish tone and say little. Replace applause lines with one proof: a stat, a before/after, a named customer.
Try:
“After launch, churn fell from 4.1% to 2.7%.”
5) Length padding and recap loops
RLHF (Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback) research shows length bias: longer answers win rewards, so models add throat-clearing and summaries that read like corporate filler. In copy, that means soft openings (“Let’s explore…”) and duplicate wrap-ups. Set hard limits and remove recap sentences.
Try:
Open with the first fact that matters. No “in conclusion” at the end.
6) Template intros & closers
Stock frames—“in today’s world,” “at the heart of,” “in conclusion,” “let’s dive in”—are strong AI tells (and readers spot them fast). Cut them and start with the specific change, number, or offer.
Try:
“3 actions to cut your acquisition cost this quarter.”
7) Uniform rhythm (low variety)
AI tends to keep sentence length and structure even; detectors call this low “burstiness.” Don’t chase detector metrics, but do vary sentence length and structure for human cadence. Use one short line per paragraph to reset the ear.
Try:
“Do it once. Automate it. Move on.”
8) Safe positivity (the agreeable assistant)
Sycophancy research explains why model copy often praises the user’s premise or product instead of testing it. In marketing text, that becomes generic flattery and zero friction. Replace praise with a clear stance or trade-off.
Try:
“Fast, but not for complex workflows. If you need X, pick plan B.”
9) Listicle scaffolding by default
Headings + tidy bullets + polite recap are comfortable for models, but repetitive for readers. Keep bullets only where they compress real choices or steps; otherwise write a short paragraph with one sharp claim. Comparative studies note the model’s tendency to prioritize structural coherence over genuine engagement.
Try:
One claim, one proof, one implication. Done.
A mini “de-AI-fy” checklist for copy
Delete generic openers and closers; start with the change, metric, or offer.
Strip buzzwords (delve, realm, tapestry, robust, pivotal, moreover). Replace with concrete terms.
Cap one connector per paragraph; vary sentence length.
Cut hedges unless the uncertainty is real; state bounds instead.
Trade praise for proof (number, name, timeline).
Why this matters now
Multiple teams report that people are starting to mirror “GPT words” in speech and writing—delve, meticulous, realm, etc.—leading to more uniform tone. If brands copy that voice, they blend into the same beige stream. Keep specificity, numbers, and local color to hold your own sound.
