Most People Are Prompting ChatGPT Wrong. Here Is the New Way

Most people are prompting ChatGPT wrong, which is why they keep getting shallow, generic, or inconsistent answers even from the newest AI models. The problem is not the technology. The problem is that ChatGPT no longer works the way it used to. It now decides how much “thinking power” your request deserves before it even starts writing.

If your prompt looks simple, ChatGPT gives you a fast and cheap response. If your prompt looks complex and structured, it activates deeper reasoning. This is why learning how to prompt correctly matters more now than ever.

This guide builds on prompting frameworks popularized by AI productivity expert Jeff Su.

Why Prompting ChatGPT Changed

Older versions of ChatGPT were trained mostly to predict the next word in a sentence. They were good at guessing what you meant even if your instructions were vague. That is no longer the case.

Modern ChatGPT models are designed to follow instructions with precision. They do not guess. They execute. If your request is unclear, missing structure, or poorly framed, the AI will give you exactly what you asked for, even if that result is low quality.

This is why many people think ChatGPT is getting worse when in reality it is just following their weak prompts more strictly.

How ChatGPT Decides the Quality of Your Output

Behind the scenes, ChatGPT uses an internal system that decides how much reasoning power your request should get. This system quietly routes your prompt to either a fast lightweight model or a deeper thinking model.

Simple prompts like “write me a caption” usually get routed to fast models. Structured prompts that include goals, context, and reasoning instructions get routed to more powerful models that think longer before responding.

This is why two people can ask similar questions and get wildly different results.

The 5 Prompting Shifts That Actually Work

1. Use the Reasoning Nudge

You must explicitly tell ChatGPT to think. Without this, it often chooses speed over depth.

Weak prompt:
Write a marketing plan for my food business.

Strong prompt:
Write a marketing plan for my food business. Think hard about this. Consider second-order effects and potential risks.

Useful phrases that trigger deeper thinking include:

• Think hard about this
• Think deeply about this
• Reason through this step-by-step

2. Control Output Length

ChatGPT tries to save compute by default. That means short, shallow answers unless you tell it otherwise.

When you define length, you are forcing the system to stay engaged with the problem longer.

• Provide a comprehensive breakdown of 600 to 800 words
• Summarize this in exactly 5 bullet points
• Give me a concise 3-paragraph explanation

3. Let ChatGPT Improve Your Prompt

Instead of guessing how to phrase your request, ask ChatGPT to refine it first. This is one of the highest leverage tricks available.

Template:

I want to [insert your goal]. Critique my initial prompt and rewrite it to be as clear and effective as possible for a high-reasoning AI model.

This turns ChatGPT into a prompt engineer for its own response.

4. Use XML Tags to Add Structure

Large blocks of text confuse AI models. Clear labels do not.

When you use XML-style tags, you separate context, instructions, and data into clear boxes that ChatGPT can follow without guessing.

<context> I am a business owner in the United States. </context>
<task> Write a social media caption. </task>
<data> Paste product details here. </data>

This dramatically improves accuracy, relevance, and formatting.

5. Use the Internal Perfection Loop

This is the most powerful technique. It forces ChatGPT to judge its own work before giving it to you.

Template:

Before giving the final answer, create an internal rubric for what makes this output world-class. Iterate on the draft until it scores 10 out of 10 against that rubric.

This adds a quality control layer that most users never take advantage of.

Best Practices When Prompting ChatGPT

• Be literal and specific
• Always include a reasoning nudge
• Define length and structure
• Break large requests into labeled sections
• Ask for self-critique on anything important

Final Thoughts

ChatGPT is no longer a simple chatbot. It is a reasoning engine that follows instructions. If you are still prompting casually, you are leaving a huge amount of performance on the table.

Structure beats cleverness. Constraints beat guessing. Self-review beats one-shot answers.

When you start prompting ChatGPT the new way, the quality difference is obvious and massive.