{"id":"sheet-mkt-merge-lists-unsubscribe-wins","audience":"marketing","category":"spreadsheets","track":"data","technique":"constraints","title":"Write merge rules that keep unsubscribes unsubscribed","free":false,"task":"You're merging the webinar list and the newsletter list into one email list. Ask for exactly 4 numbered lines: 3 merge rules, then Result: with how many unique people remain and which address must stay Unsubscribed. Same email ignoring capitals counts as one person, an Unsubscribed status on any copy always wins, and otherwise the newest row wins. Plain text, under 100 words.","materialLabel":"Your two lists (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"WEBINAR LIST (export Nov 2)\nEmail | Name | Status | Updated\nana.ruiz@mailbox.net | Ana Ruiz | Subscribed | 2026-09-14\nben.k@mailbox.net | Ben Kato | Subscribed | 2026-09-14\nCJones@mailbox.net | Cara Jones | Subscribed | 2026-09-14\n\nNEWSLETTER LIST (export Nov 2)\nEmail | Name | Status | Updated\nAna.Ruiz@mailbox.net | Ana R. | Unsubscribed | 2026-06-02\ncjones@mailbox.net | Cara Jones | Subscribed | 2026-10-01\ndev.p@mailbox.net | Dev Patel | Subscribed | 2026-08-20\n\nNotes:\n- Holiday campaign goes to the merged list on Nov 24\n- The webinar form auto-subscribes everyone who registers\n- Last year a merged list emailed people who had unsubscribed and we got complaints","rules":[{"type":"numberedItems","count":4},{"type":"maxWords","max":100},{"type":"plainText"}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Letting the newest row win","why":"The AI keeps Ana's newer webinar row and quietly resubscribes her.","fix":"Add: \"Unsubscribed on any copy always wins.\"","checks":["r1","r2"]},{"title":"Matching on exact text","why":"The AI treats Ana.Ruiz and ana.ruiz as two people.","fix":"Add: \"Same email ignoring capitals is one person.\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"No result line","why":"The AI lists rules but doesn't apply them, so you can't check them.","fix":"Add: \"Result: how many remain and who stays Unsubscribed.\"","checks":["r2","numberedItems"]},{"title":"Long or formatted output","why":"AI writes a merged table plus a guide in bold.","fix":"Add: \"Each line under 22 words, plain text.\"","checks":["maxWords","plainText"]}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Puts unsubscribes first","patterns":["unsubscrib.{0,20}(wins|always|any)","any copy"]},{"label":"Defines a duplicate","patterns":["capital","case","same email"]},{"label":"Says which row wins otherwise","patterns":["newest","latest","most recent"]},{"label":"Asks for a result line","patterns":["result:","how many","unique"]},{"label":"Asks for plain text","patterns":["plain","no bold","no markdown"]}],"hint":"When lists merge, \"newest wins\" can resubscribe someone who opted out. Make the unsubscribe rule beat everything else.","rubricLabels":["A rule says the same email ignoring capitals is one person (so ana.ruiz and Ana.Ruiz match, and CJones and cjones match)","A rule says Unsubscribed on any copy always wins, even when another copy is newer, and another rule says otherwise the newest row wins","The Result: line says 4 unique people remain and ana.ruiz@mailbox.net (Ana Ruiz) stays Unsubscribed"]}