Describing What Your AI Product Actually Does

Open a dozen AI product pages and you will find the same phrases again and again: "supercharge your workflow", "powered by cutting-edge AI", "unlock the future of work". They tell a reader almost nothing. A buyer scanning a listing wants to know what the thing does, for whom, with what input, producing what output and with what limits. If you can say that clearly, you stand out.

This guide shows how to write such a description, step by step.

Start from the job

Every good description begins with a job. Complete this sentence: "This tool helps [person] do [task] by [method], so that [outcome]."

• "This tool helps recruiters turn interview notes into structured feedback forms, so that every candidate is judged against the same criteria."
• "This tool helps small shops generate consistent product descriptions from a spreadsheet of attributes, so that new items can be listed in minutes."

Notice the specifics: who, what, how, result. Notice also what is missing: the words "AI-powered". The technology matters, but the job comes first.

Show an example

A concrete example is worth more than a paragraph of claims. Show a real input and the output it produces.

Input: A bullet list of five meeting notes. Output: A three-paragraph summary with action items assigned to names.

If you can, show a messy example as well as a clean one, so readers see how the tool behaves in realistic conditions. Mark the example clearly as illustrative if it has been edited or selected, and say how many attempts it took.

Say what is under the hood, within reason

Buyers often ask what model or method sits behind a product. You do not need to disclose trade secrets, but you should not mislead.

• If you use a third-party language model, you can say so, or at least say that the product uses a large language model. Some buyers need to know for procurement or data-protection reasons.
• If you trained your own model, say what for and, in broad terms, on what kind of data.
• If part of the process is rules or human review, say that too. Calling a partly manual service "fully automated AI" is misleading.

The point is not technical bragging. It is to let buyers understand what they are getting and decide whether it fits their requirements.

Be honest about accuracy

Accuracy claims need evidence. A statement like "99% accurate" is meaningless without answers to four questions: accurate at what, measured how, on what data and compared with what?

If you have measured something, describe it plainly: "On a test set of two hundred support emails written by our customers, the tool assigned the correct category in most cases. Mistakes were most common with messages that covered more than one topic." Include the date and say that results will vary with your own data.

If you have not measured, say so. "We are collecting data on accuracy and will publish it" is better than an invented figure. The NIST AI Risk Management Framework emphasises trustworthiness and transparent communication about AI systems, and clear statements about what you have and have not tested fit well with that spirit.

State the limits

Every tool has limits. Naming them early is a strength.

Typical limits to consider:

• Languages it handles well
• Types of document or format it struggles with
• Size limits on inputs
• Situations where a human should check the output
• Topics it should not be used for, such as medical or legal decisions
• Known failure modes, such as inventing details when information is missing

A short "Not suited to" list saves buyers from mistakes and saves you from complaints.

Explain data handling in plain words

Privacy questions are among the first buyers ask. Answer them in the description or link to a clear page.

• What data does the product receive?
• Is it stored, and for how long?
• Is it used to improve models, and can customers opt out?
• Who can access it?
• Where is it processed?
• How can a customer delete it?

The Information Commissioner's Office guidance on AI and data protection stresses transparency, accountability and individuals' rights. Writing clearly about data helps you meet those expectations and helps buyers trust you.

Avoid empty and risky words

Some words add nothing, or create obligations.

• "Revolutionary", "game-changing", "next-generation". They carry no information.
• "Intelligent". Say what the tool actually decides.
• "Human-level". Compared to whom, and on what?
• "Guaranteed". Only if you really guarantee it.
• "Unbiased". Hard to prove and easy to challenge.
• "Secure". Say what measures you use.

Replace them with facts and let the reader draw the conclusion.

Structure the page for scanning

Readers skim. Help them.

1. A one-sentence summary at the top.
2. Who it is for in one line.
3. How it works in three or four steps.
4. An example with input and output.
5. What you need to use it, such as a file format or account.
6. Limits and cautions.
7. Data and privacy summary.
8. Pricing summary and a link to the pricing page.
9. Frequently asked questions.

Use short paragraphs and descriptive headings. Search engines and AI assistants also favour pages that answer common questions in clear sentences.

Write for search and for assistants

People find products by searching for a job, not for a brand: "turn meeting notes into minutes", "caption videos automatically". Use the words your customer would type. Google's guidance on helpful content recommends writing primarily for people, showing who is behind the site and providing original information rather than rewording what others say. A page that describes a real job in the customer's words, backed by an example, ticks those boxes.

AI assistants read pages too. A clear sentence such as "AcmeNotes converts recorded meetings into written minutes with action items" is easy to quote correctly, while a vague slogan is not.

Test your description

Give your draft to someone who does not know the product and ask:

• What does it do?
• Who is it for?
• What would you need to try it?
• What do you think it cannot do?

If the answers do not match your intentions, revise. Test again with a second person.

Keep it current

AI products change fast. Review the description whenever you ship a significant change, switch a model, alter data handling or change pricing. Put a "last updated" date on the page. Out-of-date claims are a common source of disappointment.

Where to publish it

Your own site is the primary home. A discovery listing gives people another way to find you. On this site, the submit page lets you create a listing with a description, category and details, and the categories page shows where tools like yours sit. The pricing page lists the paid options available.

A before-and-after example

Consider a fictional product called Tallybot. The first draft of its listing reads: "Tallybot is a revolutionary AI-powered platform that supercharges your finances with next-generation intelligence." A reader learns nothing from it.

The revised version reads: "Tallybot reads the receipts you photograph and enters them into a spreadsheet, with date, supplier, total and tax amount in separate columns. It is built for sole traders who keep paper receipts. It works best on printed receipts in English and often struggles with handwriting and crumpled paper. It highlights any field it is unsure about so you can check it. Photos are stored for thirty days so you can look back at them and then deleted, and they are not used to train models."

The second text is longer, but every sentence does work. It names the job, the user, the input, the output, the limits, the review step and the data policy. A buyer can decide in half a minute whether it is relevant, and an AI assistant asked "which tool turns receipt photos into spreadsheet rows?" has a clear passage to quote. Notice also that nothing in it makes a promise the team cannot keep.

Updating after you ship

When you improve the product, resist the urge to inflate the description. If receipt reading now works better on handwriting, say what changed and how you tested it: "In March we added support for handwritten receipts. On a test of sixty handwritten receipts, most totals were read correctly; faint pencil remains difficult." Specific, dated statements keep your page believable and give returning readers a reason to trust the next update.

A short checklist before you publish

Read the description aloud and ask whether each sentence could appear on a competitor's page unchanged. If it could, it is probably too vague, so add a detail that only your product has: the specific file type, the particular profession, the actual limit. Confirm that every number has a date and a source, every capability has an example and every limit is stated in words a new customer would use. Then ask a colleague to try to find something untrue. If they cannot, publish.

Frequently asked questions

How long should the description be? Long enough to answer the main questions, usually a few hundred words plus an example.

Can I use AI to write the description? You may use it for drafts, but check every claim yourself and keep the final text honest and specific.

Should I mention competitors? You can mention categories and alternatives fairly. Avoid unverified claims about rivals.