How to use ChatGPT to edit your writing, step by step (using the 7 copy sweeps)

• No more second guessing how to edit your copy!
• For Copywriters, Marketers, Founders (anyone writing, really)
• Takes 5 to 30 minutes, depending on the edits

How do you edit your writing with AI / ChatGPT? You’ve reached that moment. Your draft’s ready. You want to make it perfect. Except, you’ve been stuck staring at it for the past 20 minutes, paralyzed by the sheer weight of ways to dial it up to Awesome.

Enter the 7 copy sweeps.

The 7 sweeps are a simple, step by step process to edit the awesome into your writing. You quickly “sweep” over your copy, checking it against 7 criteria, in the following order:

1. Clarity: Is this line clear? Is this message clear?
2. Voice and tone: Does this sound like our brand? Is it right for the message?
3. So what: When my prospect reads this, will they know why they should care?
4. Prove it: Is there an unsupported claim – even implied – that we should prove?
5. Specificity: Can I bring this moment / image to life more with specific phrasing?
6. Heightened emotion: Can I make people feel more here? How about here?
7. Zero-risk: Is there any way we can reduce risk here so they move forward?

The 7 sweeps are helpful… when you have the courage to use them.

But it can be tough to ‘kill your darlings’ as you sweep through your writing?

That’s where AI helps! With ChatGPT you can have your own personal assistant, walking with you step by step through the whole process. So you don’t have to guess or remember any of it.

Here’s what to do: Share your copy with ChatGPT and prompt it to guide you through the 7 copy sweeps. These are the first 2 edit recommendations it created for me when I used the AI copywriting prompts I’m about to teach you:

You can view the full chat and all 7 steps here.

Here’s how to use ChatGPT to get similar results for your business or client.

Note: At the time of writing, I typically use ChatGPT 4 as it’s a better writer than 3.5. That said these prompts work with the older model too.

Step 1: Clean up your copy

First we need to share our copy with ChatGPT. Just make sure that you only feed it with the copy you need and remove any additional elements. For clarity, in case you use CTA buttons or headlines and want ChatGPT to keep into account the visual hierarchy, just add descriptors (i.e. CTA: [button copy here]).

In my case I used an html email. So I stripped it down and extracted the copy in a blank Google document.

Step 2: Assign ChatGPT its copywriter role

Next, we’re going to tell ChatGPT to wear the shoes of a copywriter. This might not be necessary, but I’ve found that you tend to get better results if you include it.

In ChatGPT enter the following prompt:

---

Copy paste this prompt:

You are a conversion copywriter, expert in decision making, persuasion, psychology, behavioral economics, marketing, sales, UX design, customer experience, branding, and conversion rate optimization. Pretend that you are also highly empathetic and understand how people think and what makes them tick. You can easily and expertly detect human behavior, thoughts, and needs based on language.

---

By the way, you can use this for any copy related purpose.

Step 3: Share your copy and task with ChatGPT

Now that we’re on the same page with ChatGPT and it’s in the right frame of “mind”, it’s time to share our copy and what we want it to do with it.

Use the following prompt followed by the copy you just prepared:

---

Copy paste this prompt:

Ok, we're going to look at pieces of copy and run through an editing checklist. First here's the copy, just read it and don't do anything else until I give you the editing checklist:

[your copy here]

---

You might want to slightly adjust the prompt by specifying what type of copy you’re sharing (i.e. email copy, landing page copy etc.), but it’s not strictly necessary.

ChatGPT will read your copy and let you know when it’s ready for the checklist.

Step 4: Share the 7 copy sweeps checklist with ChatGPT

We’re ready, the next step is to simply give ChatGPT the series of steps it needs to take to look at your copy and recommend edits.

Use the following prompt:

---

Copy paste this prompt:

Step 1: Clarity Sweep
- Quickly review the copy for clarity issues.
- Highlight parts that are unclear.
- Don't make corrections while sweeping, just note problem areas.
- This should be a fast process
- Recommend edited copy and ask me to give you my edited copy.
- When I provide you with the edited copy move to the next point.
- After completing this sweep, return to the Rule of one and You rule Sweeps to ensure no clarity is compromised with the edited copy I just gave you. Double check for it again and move on.

Step 2: Voice and Tone Sweep
- Check if the voice and tone of the copy remain consistent.
- Highlight areas where the tone or voice seems inconsistent or inappropriate.
- Correct these discrepancies, recommend edited copy and ask me to give you my edited copy.
- When I provide you with the edited copy move to the next point.
- After completing this sweep, return to the Clarity Sweep to ensure no clarity is compromised with the edited copy I just gave you. Double check for it again and move on.

Step 3: So What Sweep
- Quickly review the copy to identify parts where the "so what" isn't clear to your prospect (here for every claim you have to ask "ok, so what?" and see if the copy answers that with deeper benefits)
- Highlight these areas.
- Review and fix the highlighted parts, then recommend edited copy and ask me to give you my edited copy.
- When I provide you with the edited copy move to the next point.
- Move back up to Voice and Tone Sweep after this. Double check for it again and move on.

Step 4: Prove It Sweep
- Ensure that everything we claim is clearly supported with evidence or proof.
- Check for testimonials, proof bars, and other forms of supporting evidence.
- Highlight areas lacking proof.
- Recommend edited copy and ask me to give you the edited copy.
- When I provide you with the edited copy move to the next point.
- Review the So What, Voice and Tone, and Clarity sweeps again. Double check for it again and move on.

Step 5: Specificity Sweep
- Examine the copy for parts that lack specificity.
- Make sure the copy is specific enough to keep the reader engaged.
- Remove any irrelevant or boring content, then recommend edited copy and ask me to give you my edited copy.
- When I provide you with the edited copy move to the next point.
- Check the Prove It, So What, Voice and Tone, and Clarity sweeps again afterward. Double check for it again and move on.

Step 6: Heightened Emotion Sweep
- Determine if your copy evokes emotions in the reader.
- Highlight areas where emotions are lacking.
- Try to make the reader feel something, but maintain consistency, then recommend edited copy and ask me to give you my edited copy.
- When I provide you with the edited copy move to the next point.
- After this sweep, revisit Specificity, Prove It, So What, Voice and Tone, and Clarity. Double check for it again and move on.

Step 7: Zero Risk Sweep
- Examine sections near the call to action (CTA).
- Identify ways to reduce the risk of taking action (e.g., clicking a button).
- Ensure that your page builds enough trust for the reader, then recommend edited copy and ask me to give you my edited copy.
- When I provide you with the edited copy move to the next point.
- Finally, check the Heightened Emotion, Specificity, Prove It, So What, Voice and Tone, and Clarity sweeps again. Double check for it again and move on.

General Guidelines:
- Don't aim to change your core message; focus on enhancing it.
- Believe in your copy and message.

---

ChatGPT will reply with its analysis for the first copy sweep, Clarity:

From here you can either edit the copy yourself following these points, or ask it for recommendations, like this:

---

Copy paste this prompt:

What would you recommend for each?

---

Here’s an example of what ChatGPT suggested in my case:

Step 5: Share the edited copy and move to the next sweep

Whether you’ve edited the copy yourself or used ChatGPT’s recommendations, now you can share the new version.

---

Copy paste this prompt:

Here's the edited copy:

[your copy here]

---

Your assistant AI editor will review it and automatically move on to the next step in the checklist:

Step 6+: Repeat for all 7 sweeps

Now you just need to repeat the whole process for all 7 copy sweeps. Don’t worry, ChatGPT will guide you through it.

Note: ChatGPT can get lost sometimes, especially if you go through a lot of different edits. In this case when you share the edited copy and want to move to the next step, just add the following prompot after your edited copy:

---

Copy paste this prompt:

Here's the edited copy:

[your copy here]

Let's move to the [next copy sweep name] step.

---

Once done with all 7 sweeps, you’ll get a final message from ChatGPT confirming you’re good to go!

Again for the full chat, head over here.

I tried this AI prompt for real web copy. Here’s what happened.

I wanted to see how this worked for web copy, so I went on an AI tool’s website and extracted some of the copy.

After sharing the copy and the 7 copy sweep checklist, in a mere 2 seconds, ChatGPT went to work:

Try it out! You can pick up the chat from here and work through the other 6 copy sweeps as a test.

As you’ll find out, this series of prompts not only gives you a solid process for editing your copy, but it’s also a great way to exercise your copy editing (and attention to detail) muscle.

A final note: ChatGPT is not aware of your research or audience data. Always take its editing recommendations with a grain of salt. Go back to your research to confirm whether or not the suggestions make sense.