The design of a site is not just its color and type. It is also how it reads. And nothing dates a page faster, or quietly costs it trust, than copy that sounds like it came out of a chatbot. This page is the writing half of the brand: the specific habits that mark text as machine-generated, and the plain-writing rules that avoid them.
It matters more now that AI writes so much of the web, including, often, the first draft of your own copy. If you let an assistant draft your marketing page, your docs, or your commit messages, it will reach by default for an inflated register that readers have learned to spot. The fix is not to stop using AI. It is to tell it, and yourself, what good looks like.
Where these rules come from
This is not personal taste dressed up as law. The vocabulary list comes from two excess-vocabulary studies that measured which words spiked in published writing after ChatGPT shipped: "delve" alone ran at roughly twenty-five to twenty-eight times its prior frequency. The sentence-pattern and structure tells come from Wikipedia's editor-maintained "Signs of AI writing", from journalism on AI detection, and from editors who read AI drafts for a living. Where a rule is widely cited, that breadth is noted next to it.
Treat the plainest accurate word as the right one. The studies found that two thirds of the words AI overuses are verbs: the inflation is stylistic, not informative. Plain writing is not dumber writing, it is the writing that survives a reader who is deciding whether to trust you.
The rules
The fast ban-list
The words sources flag most. If a draft leans on these, it reads as machine text. Reach for the plainest accurate word instead.
Vocabulary
Decorative style-words that inflate without adding meaning. The studies found two thirds of excess AI words are verbs: the spike is stylistic, not topical.
delve, delve into, delving
explore, look at, dig into, or just name the thing directly
The single most-cited tell: two studies measured it at ~25 to 28x normal frequency, plus FSU, The Conversation, Wikipedia, and most editor lists
underscore, underscores (as a verb)
shows, proves, or cut the sentence and state the point
Named by both excess-vocabulary studies, The Conversation, Wikipedia, Pangram
showcase, showcasing
shows, presents, includes
Named by both studies, The Conversation, Wikipedia, Pangram
tapestry, especially rich tapestry
drop the metaphor and describe the actual mix of things
The notorious editor flag; named by Wikipedia, The Conversation, Pangram, and several blogs
realm, in the realm of
field, area, world, or name it: in software, in chess
Named by a study, FSU, The Conversation, Pangram
landscape, ever-evolving landscape
name the actual situation or market
Named by Wikipedia, The Conversation, Pangram, and more
pivotal, crucial
important, key, or say why it actually mattered
Named by studies, The Conversation, Wikipedia
intricate, intricacies, meticulous, meticulously
complex, careful, or describe the specific complication
Named by both studies, FSU, The Conversation, Wikipedia, Pangram
testament, a testament to, stands as a testament to
shows, proves, or state the evidence plainly
Named by Wikipedia, Pangram, and editor lists
robust, seamless, transformative, groundbreaking, game changer
say concretely what changed, how strong, and by how much
Inflated adjectives named by Wikipedia, Pangram, and editor lists
leverage, utilize
use
Named by Walter Writes, Learning Data, and community ban-lists
empower, foster, facilitate, harness, streamline, elevate, unlock, navigate
help, support, enable, handle, or a plain verb
Inflated business verbs named across the editor lists and Wikipedia
notably, additionally, moreover, furthermore
also, and, or just start the sentence
Stiff connectives named by both studies, Pangram, and editor lists
symphony, mosaic, kaleidoscope, odyssey, beacon, cornerstone
skip the prestige metaphor noun entirely
Named by Pangram and the Vollmer field guide
résumé, café, naïve, and other accented spellings of naturalized English words
use the plain English spelling: resume, cafe, naive
A reach for a fancier or foreign-derived form when the plain spelling is standard; the same instinct as inflated vocabulary, applied to spelling
Stock phrases
Prefab transitions and openers that signal nothing and could front any topic.
It's important to note that, it's worth noting that
if it matters, just say it; if not, cut it
Named across the editor field guides
In today's fast-paced world, in an ever-evolving landscape, as technology continues to evolve
open with the actual subject
Vapid openers named by Vollmer, Walter Writes, Hunting the Muse, ignorance.ai
In conclusion, in summary, overall, ultimately (as a closing label)
end on a real last point, not a recap announcement
Closing rituals named by Pangram, Vollmer, and editor lists
Here's the thing, here's what nobody talks about, at the end of the day
make the point without the drumroll
False-profundity fillers named by several editors and Reddit-derived lists
shed light on, deeper understanding, valuable insights, significant impact on
state what was learned and the measured effect
Named by Pangram, Wikipedia, Learning Data
Great question, hope this helps, let me know if you'd like me to go deeper
drop sycophancy openers and cheap-warmth sign-offs
The earnest-helpfulness tell, named by Vollmer and Pangram
experts argue, studies suggest, observers have cited (with no source)
cite the actual person or paper, or cut the claim
Vague attribution named by Wikipedia and Pangram
Sentence patterns
Formulaic templates that recur regardless of subject. The manufactured contrast and the triplet are the loudest.
It's not X, it's Y; it's not just X, it's Y; not X but Y
make one clear assertion without the manufactured contrast
One of the most-cited patterns, named by Wikipedia, Pangram, and at least five editor sources
The rule of three: fast, simple, powerful; plan it, build it, ship it
use one or two items, or vary the count; reserve triplets for rare emphasis
Named by Wikipedia and five editor sources
Question-then-answer crutch: The secret? Consistency. The result?
state the point as a plain sentence
Named by four editor sources
No X. No Y. Just Z; stacking negations before a pivot
describe what it is, not a stack of what it isn't
Named by three editor sources
not only X but also Y
split into plain clauses or pick the stronger point
Named by Wikipedia and Pangram
Trailing -ing tails: ..., underscoring its importance; ..., marking a pivotal moment
end the sentence on the noun; start a new one if there's more to say
Named by Wikipedia and Vollmer
Dressing up is/has as serves as, stands as, boasts, features
use is, are, has
Named by Wikipedia
Structure
Habits in how the whole piece is shaped: even rhythm, reflexive bullets, and templated arcs.
Uniform rhythm: every paragraph three to four sentences of the same length
vary sentence and paragraph length deliberately; let some be very short
The burstiness tell, named by Pangram, Vollmer, and four more editors
Over-bulleting: lists for ideas that are not list-shaped
write prose; reserve bullets for genuinely parallel items
Named by Pangram, Vollmer, ignorance.ai, Wikipedia
Templated arc: intro, three bodies, recap; or significance, challenges, future outlook
let the content dictate the structure
Named by Vollmer and Wikipedia
Missing fingerprints: no names, dates, numbers, or lived detail, byline interchangeable
anchor with specific names, numbers, dates, and real experience
Named by the 500-articles editor, Vollmer, ignorance.ai
Aphoristic kicker endings: That's the whole game. And that changes everything.
end sections on substance, not a pull-quote
Named by three editor sources
Excessive signposting: first we'll look at, second, finally
let transitions emerge from the ideas
Named by Vollmer
Punctuation and formatting
The surface tics, led by the em-dash, that survive even when the prose is otherwise clean.
Em-dash overuse for dramatic pauses and additive qualifiers
use commas, colons, or two sentences
The most-cited punctuation tell across nearly every source, with two dedicated essays on it
Zero contractions paired with flawless, spotless grammar
use contractions and let a natural voice show
Named by Vollmer, Pangram, and the em-dash essay
Random mid-prose bolding without clear emphasis
bold sparingly, only for true emphasis
Named by ignorance.ai and Wikipedia
Emoji in headings, emoji-led bullets, Title Case Headings In Odd Places
plain sentence-case headings, no decorative emoji
Named by Vollmer, ignorance.ai, Wikipedia
Decorative unicode (arrows, curly quotes) and leaked markdown
plain straight punctuation matching the target format
Named by ignorance.ai and Wikipedia
Tone
The underlying register: inflated, relentlessly positive, hedged, and stance-free.
Flowery style-word inflation divorced from the subject
prefer plain, precise words; flowery prose costs clarity and credibility
The core finding of both studies: the excess is stylistic, not substantive
Relentless promotional positivity and press-release puffery
state limits and tradeoffs; be willing to call something mediocre
Named by Wikipedia, Vollmer, Pangram
Generic, stance-free blandness with no point of view
take a position and stake a claim
Named by the 500-articles editor, The Conversation, ignorance.ai
Over-hedging: balanced pros and cons with no verdict
commit to a judgment after the analysis
Named by Hunting the Muse, Vollmer, Walter Writes
Throat-clearing and restating the same idea in new clothes
cut the padding; say it once, plainly
Named by the 500-articles editor, Learning Data, Walter Writes
How to apply this
You do not need to memorize the list. Two habits cover most of it:
Draft however you like, then strip the inflation
Write the first pass with whatever tool you want. Then read it once with a single question: which words are doing decorative work instead of carrying meaning? Cut or replace them. Most slop dies in this pass.
Make your AI write to these rules, not its defaults
If an agent drafts copy for you, hand it the rules. The Set up my CLAUDE.md bootstrap installs them as standing directives, so every draft your agent produces already avoids the em-dash, the inflated vocabulary, and the manufactured contrast. That is the difference between fighting the slop on every draft and never seeing it.