How to Get Claude to Write Like You

"Does this work in Claude too?" It's one of the questions I get asked most. Yes... and getting Claude to write like you takes the same three things it takes in ChatGPT: a place for your business to live, instructions it reads every time, and your three S's. The buttons are in different spots, so here's the Claude version, step by step.

If ChatGPT is your AI, the same setup is here: How to Get ChatGPT to Write in Your Voice, Step by Step.

Why Claude still sounds generic out of the box

Claude is a strong writer. But a strong writer who knows nothing about you still writes about nobody in particular.

Ask it for a caption with nothing to go on, and you get the average version of your industry. Polished, friendly, and not you. It doesn't know who you help, the words your clients use when they describe their problem, or the phrases you'd never say. I wrote more about why that happens in Why ChatGPT Sounds Generic (and What Fixes It). Everything in that post applies to Claude too.

The fix isn't a cleverer prompt. It's giving Claude the information only you have, in a place it reads every time.

Think of a project as an office with the door shut

Picture your AI as an office building. The main chat screen is the lobby. Everything you say there is mixed in with everything else: your meal plan, a trip itinerary, a client email and last week's captions.

A project is an office with the door shut. What you say in there stays in there, and it stays together. That's where your business goes.

One thing to know before you start: Claude can let a project use memory from your other chats, and it may be on without you realizing it. So the door isn't shut until you shut it. Step 2 below shows you where.

How to get Claude to write like you

These steps and screen names are accurate as of October 2026. AI apps change their menus often, so if something looks different, look for the words Projects and Instructions.

1. Make a project for your business. Click Projects in the sidebar, then New project. Give it a name you'll recognize, like Marketing.

2. Turn off account memory for this project. Open the project, click View next to Memory and turn off Use account memory. That keeps your meal plans and trip chats out of your business writing.

   

   

3. Open the Instructions box. Inside your project, find Instructions on the right, in the same list as Memory, and click Add. (It says Edit if you've written instructions before.)

   Claude reads this box before every reply in the project, so this is where everything else goes.

4. Write down your rules. Every rule you've typed into a chat more than once. "No hashtags." "Sign off with my name." "End with one clear next step."

5. Tell it not to write like AI. Paste this in: "Don't write like AI. No em dashes. No 'it's not this, it's that.' No hype words. No more than five hashtags. Only use emoji I actually use." My free workbook has the full version, with the hype words spelled out.

6. Give it permission to push back. Paste this in: "Don't agree with everything I say. If something I ask for doesn't fit my voice, my standards or what I believe, tell me plainly and suggest something better."

7. Tell it not to make things up. Paste this in: "Don't make anything up about me or my business. If you don't know something, ask me, or leave a blank in {curly brackets} so I can fill it in." The curly brackets make the blanks stand out, so you catch them before you post.

8. Add your three S's. Substance, style and standards. More on each one below.

9. Save, then ask for a post in one line. Click Save, start a new chat from inside the project and type something like "Write me an Instagram caption about the question my clients ask me most." No explaining who you are first.

Instructions and Context: what goes where

Every Claude project has two places for information, and they do different jobs.

• Instructions are your must-dos. Claude reads them before every reply, so your rules and your three S's go here.
• Context is where you add files, like your price list, your FAQs or a longer document about your business. Claude looks things up there when they're relevant to what you asked. (ChatGPT calls this Sources.)

Think about a new assistant on day one. "Never book calls before 10" is something they need every single day. That's an instruction. Your price list is something they look up when it comes up. That's context.

Your three S's in Claude

Your three S's are what make Claude sound like you instead of like a polished stranger. Take any one away and it slides back to generic.

Substance: what you know. The things you do with every client and never mention, because to you they're normal. Kara, the sample health coach in my workbook, wrote: "I ask what time they went to bed before I ask what they ate."

Style: how you sound. Answer this out loud: you're at a party and someone asks what you do. What do you actually say? Kara says, "I work with women in their forties who are doing everything right and feel like garbage." That isn't a description of her voice. That is her voice.

Standards: what you'd never say. What does everyone in your industry say that you never would? For Kara, it's "nourish your body" and "anything you'd find on a candle."

Write all three in your Instructions box, under your rules and the three lines you pasted in.

Questions people ask

Is Claude better than ChatGPT for writing?

Both are strong writers. What makes the bigger difference is what you give them. Everything I teach is tested start to finish in ChatGPT and in Claude, so pick the one you'll actually open every day.

Can I use the same instructions in ChatGPT and Claude?

Yes. The text you write for one works in the other. Paste it into ChatGPT's project instructions and Claude's Instructions box, and both read it every time.

Where do my longer documents go?

In Context, inside your project. Your Instructions box is for the rules Claude needs every time. Longer documents it should look things up in, like your price list, go in Context.

When a few lines aren't enough

Your three S's will make Claude sound more like you this week. After a handful of posts, though, a few lines run out, and it starts filling the gaps with something generic again. To post week after week, it needs your client stories, the questions people ask you and the way you explain things. That's what The AI Marketing Profile is for. It works in Claude and ChatGPT.

Want every step with space to write your answers? Grab the free workbook below.