AI and Content Marketing

Why It All Sounds the Same (and How to Fix It)

Instant Gratification TL;DR: Get my SAFE WORD LIST here...

If you've ever used AI to write a newsletter, blog, or sales funnel and thought, "Why does this sound like LinkedIn wrote it in its sleep?" - you're not wrong.

In the rapidly expanding world of AI and content marketing, a strange thing is happening. Everyone's content is starting to sound... exactly the same.

Whether it's ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or a bespoke fine-tuned bot of your own making, most AI writing tools are drawing on the same data soup. And that soup, while vast, is seasoned heavily with overused phrases, filler sentences, and the kind of motivational copy that makes your teeth itch.

This blog post is for marketers, founders, and copywriters using AI and content marketing tools to power their funnels, emails and lead magnets — but who don’t want to lose their own voice in the process.

We’ll cover:

• Where LLMs get their language from (spoiler: it’s a mess)
• Why they default to filler and faux authenticity
• How to prompt them more effectively
• Editing tricks to make AI copy sound like you, not a brochure from 2014

Oh, and there’s a killer resource at the end to help you keep your tone clear, confident and completely unfluffy.

Let’s pick this apart properly.

Where AI and Content Marketing Models Get Their Words From

1.1 The Training Buffet: Internet Soup

Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini are trained on vast datasets scraped from books, articles, websites, social media, forums, Wikipedia, Reddit threads, academic journals, and marketing copy. It's a chaotic, often contradictory mix.

In other words, the language powering your AI and content marketing tools comes from millions of places that weren’t designed to teach anyone how to write well.

So your AI may confidently recommend something like:

"Unleash your inner potential and take your business to the next level."

Helpful? Barely. Common? Wildly.

1.2 Style Imitation, Not Strategy

LLMs don’t think in tone. They pattern-match. So they mimic what looks like successful content, based on word frequency and structure. That means your AI-written content might sound like a marketer, a life coach and a personal finance blogger all fighting over the same paragraph.

That’s why your "unique" welcome sequence may read just like everyone else's.

1.3 The Fluff Factory

Because they predict the most likely next word, AI tools tend to regurgitate vague hooks, non-committal transitions, and empathy-lite buzzwords:

• "You’re not alone."
• "In today’s fast-paced world..."
• "Let’s take a closer look."

These aren’t terrible. They’re just tired. And when everyone using AI and content marketing tools is pulling from the same list, it quickly becomes hard to tell one brand from another.

Why AI Copy Sounds Like a Motivational Poster in a PowerPoint Deck

2.1 Repetition by Design

AI tools are designed to offer "safe bets". The more often a phrase appears in its training data, the more likely it is to show up in your funnel email. That means phrases like "Let's dive in" or "unlock your potential" are used not because they're good, but because they're common.

2.2 American by Default

Most LLMs have been trained primarily on US data, which means your copy may come out filled with American spellings, cultural references, and over-enthusiastic punctuation. For UK-based content marketing, that means:

2.3 Faux-Empathy & Formulaic Promises

• You’ll constantly be correcting "prioritize" to "prioritise"
• It’ll insert exclamation marks where they don't belong
• It may pitch you like you’re launching a startup in San Francisco, not Bournemouth

Because AI is trained on a lot of coaching and business content, it tends to default to faux authenticity:

"You’ve got this. The journey starts today."

And while that might work for some audiences, in professional AI and content marketing it risks sounding generic at best, patronising at worst.

Fixing AI Copy Without Rewriting Everything

3.1 Better Prompting = Better First Drafts

You can save hours of editing time by simply teaching your AI how to write for you. Try using a prompt like:

You are writing copy for a British business strategist with a smart, witty tone. No fluff, no exclamation marks, no Americanisms. Avoid overused phrases like "game-changer", "let’s dive in" or "quick wins". Use plain language, occasional dry humour, and clear structure.

3.2 The SAFE WORD LIST Cheat Sheet

This is where the real editing magic happens. I’ve compiled a free resource called Kerry’s SAFE WORD LIST: Smart Swaps for LLM Fluff.

Inside you'll find:

• Overused phrases and their smarter alternatives
• Anti-fluff writing swaps
• Tips on avoiding Americanisms and tonal drift
• Evergreen-friendly language prompts

Perfect for anyone using AI and content marketing tools to write faster without sounding like a robot that just binge-watched TED Talks.

3.3 Kerry’s AI Editing Triage Checklist

Here’s what I do before publishing anything AI-assisted:

• Remove generic openers and replace with relevance
• Hunt down business-speak and translate it to real language
• Use contractions (don’t, isn’t, won’t) to make it sound human
• Cut words like "just", "really", and "very" unless they’re doing real work
• Check for UK spelling and remove that blasted Oxford comma

You don’t need to edit to perfection. You just need to make it yours.

AI and content marketing are a powerful match, but only if you remember that you’re the one in charge of the voice. LLMs are clever, but they’re not creators. They're pattern machines. Which means the more you train them to reflect your style, tone and values, the more effective (and less beige) your content becomes.

Before you sit down to write your next sales funnel, email series, or lead magnet using AI, grab a copy of my editing survival kit.

👉 Download: Kerry's SAFE WORD LIST - Smart Swaps for LLM Fluff

Usually reserved for members who finish my Kickstart Audience Finder Course, but since you’ve made it this far, you’ve clearly earned it.

Now go on. Give your content a proper scrub. It deserves better than "synergy" and "quick wins".

TL;DR

AI and content marketing are a dynamic duo, but most AI tools pull from the same overused, fluffy language pool. That’s why your content sounds like everyone else's.

This post breaks down where AI gets its words, why it defaults to clichés, and how to fix it with smarter prompts and a free cheat sheet: Kerry’s SAFE WORD LIST. Skip the waffle, keep your voice. Download the guide and reclaim your tone.