How to Not Sound Like Every Other Company on the Internet Right Now

First things first: I’m not here to talk you out of using AI to generate content.

Why wouldn’t you use it? It’s fast, efficient, and it can almost certainly take a lot of the legwork out of your content production process.

But here’s the thing, most of what’s being pushed out by brands right now sounds Exactly. The. Same. And if your audience can’t tell the difference between you and your competitors then you’re not just blending in, you’re in danger of losing your unique brand voice altogether.

As the AI content hype continues to ramp up, the brands being heard aren’t actually the ones saying the most, they’re the ones that still sound unmistakably like themselves.

Let’s talk about how to make sure that’s you.

Generic content doesn’t build brands

We all know that AI is great for getting content out the door quickly. It can turn a vague brief into a full first draft and it can summarize, reword and repurpose content until the cows come home.

But if you’re not careful, it’ll start doing all that in a voice that isn’t yours. And that’s the risk, because you end up with content that’s technically fine, but it could belong to anyone.

And when your audience sees a hundred versions of the same AI-polished message day in, day out, ‘fine’ isn’t good enough. ‘Fine’ doesn’t build recognition, or trust, or preference. Instead, what happens is your brand ends up sounding like every other brand in a noisy market, and that’s basically about as useful as saying nothing at all.

Let’s look at what happens when that voice (the one that makes your brand sound like your brand) starts to fade into the background.

3 signs your brand voice has left (or is on its way out of) the building

1. Your AI-generated content’s going live without even a second glance.

With all this extra pressure to churn out content faster than ever just because we can, it can be difficult to consistently uphold your brand’s tone.

But if your content is being uploaded without anyone having checked it for nuance, tone or relevance, then your voice isn’t being managed so much as it’s being outsourced to a robot with no idea what your brand actually stands for.

2. You’re reading other companies’ content and thinking “Wait, didn’t we just post this?”

It’s happening everywhere. Teams across sectors are all using the same tools and the same prompts. So, if you’re seeing content in your industry that could just as easily have your logo on it, it may be time to stop and refresh your understanding of your brand voice.

You’ll know the signs: everyone’s starting with “In today’s fast-paced world,” ending with “In conclusion” and circling the same buzzwords in between. (And don’t even get me started on the em dash palaver—RIP my favorite punctuation mark). It’s interchangeable content. And that’s the problem.

3. Your teams are second-guessing what “on-brand” even means anymore.

Large Language Models (LLMs) (see: ChatGPT, Google Gemini etc) will always default to safe, generic-sounding content if it hasn’t been given crystal clear guidance on how you want it to sound and the style of language you want it to use. (And even if it has been given that guidance, it needs to be watched like a hawk lest it slip back into generic autopilot phrasing!).

The point is, the tool might be doing the writing, but no one’s really steering the voice and, over time, that erodes your team’s sense of what “on-brand” even is for your business.

How to sound like you even when AI’s helping

Know how you’re meant to sound before you do anything else

If your teams don’t have a shared understanding of your brand’s tone, AI won’t either. Before you even think about prompts or tools, make sure you’ve got the basics: brand tone of voice guidelines, examples of on-brand copy, and clarity around what isn’t your style.

If that sounds a little daunting, we can help. At Elixirr Digital, we work with brands to define and document their voice so it’s easy to maintain without losing the thread.

Train your AI like you’d train a new hire

Once you’ve locked in your voice, show your AI what good looks like. Feed it examples. Be specific in your prompts – not just what you want it to say, but how you want it to say it. Set up a prompt library that reflects your tone, structure and intent as a brand.

Don’t take humans out of the process

Seriously, don’t. AI can speed things up, but it can’t make judgment calls. Your brand still needs real people to edit, sense-check, and apply the nuance that AI often misses.

Our content specialists are here to help

If you’re not sure where to start with all this, that’s completely normal. A lot of teams are figuring this out as they go.

At Elixirr Digital, our copywriters and content specialists understand how to get the best out of AI tools, and we’re constantly refining how we do it.

We can support you with the stuff that sets the foundations, like creating brand tone of voice guidelines and messaging frameworks, giving your teams (and tools) something solid to work from.

We can also help you create content that actually sounds like your brand, not just any brand. Clear, consistent, and tailored to the platforms that matter most to you.

Reach out to us today and let us help your brand stand out in the sea of AI sameness.