Editing AI-written copy so it holds up

Generated copy reads well. That is the problem: it is fluent in exactly the way that discourages checking.

Stage 1: facts

Every number, name, date, price, legal statement and claim about your business must be verified against a source you control.

The characteristic failure is plausible invention: a statistic that sounds right, a regulation that does not exist in that form, a figure with a spurious precision. It will not be flagged, because the system has no way to know.

Stage 2: your business

Generated text describes a generic business in your sector. It will confidently state your lead times, your service area, your guarantee and your process, all invented.

Check every statement about what you do against reality. This is where published copy most often ends up making promises the business cannot keep.

Stage 3: the filler

Certain constructions recur and are recognisable to readers.

Removing these is the difference between text that reads as written and text that reads as generated. It typically removes 15 to 25 per cent of the word count and improves the piece.

Stage 4: the house voice

Generated text defaults to a neutral international business register. If your business has a voice, this erases it.

Apply the tone rules deliberately: the banned phrase list, the sentence length you use, the way you address the reader, the things you never say.

What to keep from the draft

Structure, usually. The generated outline is often sound and rearranging is faster than starting cold.

Coverage, sometimes. It will mention aspects you would have forgotten, which is useful even when the treatment of each is thin.

Who is responsible

The published text is yours. Liability for misleading claims, incorrect prices, unlawful comparisons and infringing content attaches to the publisher, not to the tool.

That means a named person approves every published piece, and there is a record of who. Organisations publishing at volume without that step accumulate exposure they cannot audit.

The realistic saving

For routine copy, generating and editing is faster than writing from scratch, typically by a third to a half. For anything requiring specific knowledge or judgement, the checking overhead can exceed the saving.