How to write better prompts: a five-part method for any assistant
During our tests, the same assistant could produce a useless answer and a great one to the same request. The difference was almost always the prompt. A prompt is just the message you type, and a good one reads like a brief you would hand to a new colleague. Here is the five-part method our editors settled on after a month of side-by-side testing.
1. Start with the job, not the topic
"Tell me about RRSPs" invites a generic essay. "Explain the difference between an RRSP and a TFSA to my 19-year-old, who just got her first part-time job, in under 200 words" gets you something you can actually send. Name who the answer is for and what they will do with it.
A quick test: if a human assistant would need to ask you a follow-up question before starting, put the answer to that question in the prompt.
2. Give the assistant your material
Assistants fill gaps with guesses. When you paste the real email you are replying to, the meeting notes, or the three bullet points you want covered, the guesses go away. Most of the six assistants we rank accept pasted text, and several take file uploads; 
Pi is the exception for files.
Before you paste, remove names, account numbers and anything else you wouldn't post on a bulletin board. Our privacy settings guide explains why.
3. Set the format and the length
Say what shape you want: a table, five bullets, a 120-word paragraph, a subject line plus body. Give a word limit and the reading level. If the result is for a Canadian audience, say so, or you may get American spelling, US dollar figures and rules from the wrong country.
Before: Write an email to my landlord about the heat.
After: Write a polite but firm email to my landlord in Winnipeg. The heat in my apartment has been off since Monday and it is −20 °C outside. Ask for a repair date within 48 hours. Keep it under 150 words, Canadian spelling, no legal threats.
4. Ask for its assumptions
Add one line to any prompt that matters: "List any assumptions you made and anything you weren't sure about." In our tests this single sentence surfaced most of the shaky claims before we had to hunt for them. It also shows you which details to add next time.
For factual questions, ask for sources you can open. Then open them. Our guide to fact-checking answers covers what to look for.
5. Revise in the same chat
The first answer is a draft. Reply with short, specific notes: "shorter", "drop the second paragraph", "warmer tone in the opening line". Staying in the same chat keeps the context, so you don't have to repeat yourself.
If you reuse the same instructions every week, save them. 
ChatGPT offers projects and custom GPTs on Plus and higher plans, and 
Jasper stores Brand Voices and Knowledge assets so every draft starts from your style guide.
A prompt template you can copy
I need [what you need] for [who it is for], who will use it to [what they will do].
Here is my material: [paste text or notes].
Format: [table, bullets or paragraphs], about [length] words, Canadian English.
Before you answer, list any assumptions you are making.
Fill in the brackets, delete what doesn't apply, and send. It takes about a minute longer than a one-line request, and in our experience it saves several rounds of back-and-forth.
Common mistakes
- Asking two unrelated things in one prompt. Split them into two chats.
- Accepting the first answer for anything you will publish or sign.
- Pasting private documents into a free account that trains on your chats.
- Asking for "the latest" figures from an assistant without web search; it may give you last year's numbers without saying so.
Want to see how each assistant handled our prompts? The rankings page links to every review.