“I tried ChatGPT once and it was useless” they said. Here’s what went wrong

ChatGPT not giving good answers is almost always an input problem, not a tool problem: too little context, no definition of good, and no follow-up.

If ChatGPT isn’t giving you good answers, the most likely cause is that you gave it a short question with no context and accepted the first reply. Fix three things and the results change immediately: tell it who you are and who the output is for, describe what “good” looks like, and reply to its first attempt with corrections instead of closing the tab.

I know this because I did exactly the wrong version myself in 2023, long before I started teaching AI to teams and individuals in Amsterdam. Typed “write a LinkedIn post about AI.” Got something that read like a corporate greeting card. Decided the whole thing was overhyped. Came back six months later and realised I’d been briefing a very capable tool like it was a search engine.

Why ChatGPT isn’t giving good answers, reason 1: you asked a question instead of giving a brief

“Write me a welcome email” is a search query. It gives you the average of every welcome email ever written, which is exactly as exciting as it sounds.

“I run a boutique fitness studio in Amsterdam. New members are mostly women in their 30s and 40s who are nervous about group classes. Write a welcome email that’s warm, a bit funny, under 120 words, and tells them what to bring to their first session” is a brief. It gives the tool something to work with.

Same tool. Different input. Wildly different output.

Reason 2: you didn’t say what good looks like

AI can’t read your taste. If you have opinions about tone, length, structure, or words you hate, say so upfront. “No exclamation marks. Don’t use the word ‘journey.’ Short paragraphs. Sound like a person, not a brand.”

Every one of those instructions removes a way the output could annoy you.

Reason 3: you took the first answer as the final answer

The first reply is a draft. Treat it like one. “Too formal.” “Cut the second paragraph.” “That opening is a cliche, try three alternatives.” Each correction gets you closer and teaches you what the tool responds to.

People who say AI “doesn’t work” almost always stopped at reply one. People who get great results are usually on reply three or four. The difference is not talent. It’s persistence for about ninety seconds.

Reason 4: you didn’t give it your material

Want it to sound like you? Paste three things you’ve written. Want it to summarise your situation accurately? Give it the actual document, not a description of the document. The tool is only as good as what it can see. Most disappointing results come from asking it to guess.

This is usually the moment in a 1-1 session where someone’s face changes. We paste in their real email thread, their real notes, their real half-written proposal, and the output suddenly sounds like their business instead of a generic one. It’s not a trick. It’s just context.

Reason 5: you asked it to do too much at once

“Write my whole website” produces mush. “Write the opening paragraph for my About page, based on this bio” produces something usable. Break big asks into small ones. You’d do the same with a person.

A quick before-and-after

Before: “Give me ideas for social media posts.”

After: “I’m a nutrition coach for women with IBS. My audience is tired of being told to ‘just eat clean.’ Give me five post ideas that push back on common gut health myths. Each idea should have a punchy first line and a one-sentence angle. Casual tone, no emoji.”

Try both. Then tell me the tool is useless.

FAQ

Is ChatGPT worse than it used to be?

Not in any way that affects everyday tasks. When it feels worse, it’s almost always because expectations went up faster than the briefing quality did. Better input still fixes it.

Should I switch to Claude or Gemini instead?

Switching tools won’t fix a briefing problem. The three big chatbots respond to the same principles: context, clarity, iteration. Learn those on any one of them and the skill carries over.

Do I need prompt templates?

No. Templates teach copying. What you need is the habit of describing your task fully, in your own words, the way you’d brief a person. That takes about a week to become natural.

If you want to skip six months of “it’s overhyped” like I went through, bring one task to a 1-1 session and we’ll fix your briefing on the spot. Most people leave slightly annoyed at how simple it was.