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Compare three rivals on set criteria and pick one to lead against

  • For Marketing and content
  • You practice Keeping the AI to your sources
  • Time about 5 minutes
  • Level Advanced

About this exercise

Your team is writing a competitor one-pager and must choose which rival to lead against. Write a prompt for a markdown table with columns Rival | Public price | 20+ integrations | Phone support, using only Yes, No or Unconfirmed in the cells, followed by a last line starting "Lead against:" naming the rival that meets the fewest criteria and a reason under 15 words. A claim that appears only in a review or a sales rep's comment is Unconfirmed, and so is a feature a page says is "coming soon". Under 100 words, no other text.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Counting the sales rep's 40+. The AI treats any number it sees as a fact. Try: Add: "A claim that appears only in a review or from a sales rep is Unconfirmed, not Yes."
  • Writing sentences in cells. The AI fills cells with prose and notes. Try: Say: "Cells contain only Yes, No or Unconfirmed."
  • Choosing by gut feel. Without a rule the AI picks the biggest rival. Try: Say: "Lead against the rival meeting the fewest criteria."
  • Letting markdown through. AI adds bold text and headings by default. Try: Add: "Plain text only, no bold, no headings."
  • Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting and often runs past a word limit. Try: Cap each part (for example "each line under 15 words") so the total lands well under the limit.

What a strong prompt includes

  • Names the table columns
  • Limits cell values
  • Treats reviews and reps as unconfirmed
  • Defines how to pick
  • Starts the last line with a label

Practice this now ↑

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