Getting Specific Feedback from ChatGPT
TL;DR:
- ChatGPT defaults to generic, overly polite feedback that doesn't help much
- Structured prompts that assign specific roles get much better results
- Ask for direct criticism and specific improvements, not general praise
- The more detailed your prompt, the more useful the feedback becomes
ChatGPT has a politeness problem. Ask it to review your work and you'll get back something vague and encouraging that sounds helpful but gives you nothing actionable to work with.
The fix is surprisingly simple. You need to be more specific about what you want and how you want it delivered.
Why Default ChatGPT Feedback Falls Short
ChatGPT is trained to be helpful and harmless, which means it errs on the side of being encouraging rather than critical. When you ask for feedback on your website copy or design, it will find something nice to say about almost anything.
This creates two problems. First, you can't tell what actually needs fixing. Second, you miss opportunities to make real improvements because the AI is too busy being polite.
Building Better Feedback Prompts
The solution is to structure your prompts to override ChatGPT's default behaviour. You need to give it permission to be critical and specific instructions on how to deliver that criticism.
Set a Professional Role
Start by telling ChatGPT to act as a specific professional. Instead of just asking for feedback, ask it to respond as an experienced copywriter, UX designer, or whatever role matches your needs.
This shifts the AI's perspective from "helpful assistant" to "professional reviewer" and changes the tone of its responses accordingly.
Demand Specificity
Tell ChatGPT exactly what kind of feedback you want. Ask for specific problems, concrete suggestions, and honest assessment of what isn't working.
Make it clear that general praise isn't helpful unless it's genuinely deserved. This pushes the AI to focus on actionable insights rather than encouragement.
Request Direct Communication
Ask ChatGPT to be direct and skip the diplomatic language. Professional feedback should identify problems clearly, not wrap them in layers of softening language.
Example Prompts That Work
Here's a prompt structure that consistently produces better feedback:
"Act as an experienced [role]. Review this [content type] and provide direct, actionable feedback. Focus on identifying specific weaknesses and suggest concrete improvements. Only include positive comments if they highlight genuinely strong elements. Skip the diplomatic language and tell me what needs fixing."
You can adapt this template for different situations:
- For website copy: "Act as an experienced copywriter…"
- For landing pages: "Act as a conversion optimisation specialist…"
- For email campaigns: "Act as an email marketing expert…"
The key is matching the role to your specific needs and maintaining the request for direct, specific feedback.
Making Prompts Work Harder
Once you have the basic structure, you can make your prompts even more effective by adding context about your goals, audience, or constraints.
Tell ChatGPT what you're trying to achieve, who your audience is, and what limitations you're working within. This helps it provide feedback that's not just technically correct but actually useful for your situation.
For example, if you're reviewing website copy for a technical product, mention that your audience needs detailed information but also wants clarity. If you're working on a landing page with strict word limits, include that constraint so the feedback accounts for it.
TL;DR:
Remember to iterate on your prompts. If the first response isn't quite what you need, refine your request and try again. ChatGPT learns from the conversation, so subsequent responses often improve as you clarify what you're looking for.
FAQs
How specific should I be in my feedback prompts?
Be as specific as possible about the role, the type of feedback you want, and the context of your project. More detail generally produces better results.
Can I use the same prompt structure for different types of content?
Yes, the basic structure works across different content types. Just adjust the professional role and add relevant context for each situation.
What if ChatGPT still gives me generic feedback?
Try being more explicit about what you don't want. Add phrases like "avoid general praise" or "don't soften criticism" to your prompt.
Jargon Buster
Prompt: The instructions or questions you give to ChatGPT to guide its response
Role-based prompting: Asking ChatGPT to respond as a specific professional or expert
Actionable feedback: Criticism or suggestions that give you specific things to change or improve
Wrap-up
Getting useful feedback from ChatGPT comes down to asking better questions. Structure your prompts to assign specific roles, request direct communication, and focus on actionable insights rather than encouragement.
The difference between generic AI feedback and genuinely helpful criticism is usually just a matter of how you frame your request.
Want to learn more advanced ChatGPT techniques? Check out our comprehensive courses at Pixelhaze Academy.