Which tool to choose
There's no universal tool: it depends on how many products you have and where you sell them.
You have few products (under 30) or one service to describe well. Use ChatGPT or Claude in the free version. They give you total control over the tone, talk things through with you, and refine the text until it sounds like yours. They're assistants for organizing ideas, polishing the message, and producing drafts you then edit yourself.
You need to write hundreds or thousands of listings. You need tools built for bulk generation. Jasper.ai, Copy.ai, and Writesonic generate a lot of content at once and save you time when you have to update a large catalog. Copy.ai has a free plan with limited monthly credits, enough to try it on a small catalog; the paid plans start around 49 dollars a month and unlock higher usage limits, team features, and advanced workflows.
You care above all about visibility on Google. Try the free generator from Ahrefs. It's known as an SEO platform, but its free generator brings search reasoning into the product text: it places keywords naturally, without the forced effect of tools designed solely for persuasion. The description generator is free; the subscription unlocks the whole platform, but you don't need it for this single tool.
If you're stuck, start with free ChatGPT. It gives you the most control and you don't risk paying before you've figured out what works for you.
How to do it
The critical point is the prompt. ChatGPT doesn't access your analytics, doesn't verify current prices, doesn't know your customers, and doesn't grasp your positioning unless you tell it. It can also generate inaccurate claims about the product. So you're the one who hands it the ammunition.
Whether on a computer or a phone the path is the same, the interaction is identical:
- Open ChatGPT and start a new conversation.
- Gather your real data first: product name, 3-5 concrete technical features, the typical customer, the problem you solve, the tone you want.
- Paste the prompt below, replacing the values with your real data.
- Read the first response. If it's generic, it's because data is missing: add it and ask it to regenerate.
- Refine with terse instructions like "shorten to 80 words", "make it warmer", "cut the empty adjectives".
The prompt, ready to paste:
Act as an e-commerce copywriter specialized in conversion.
Write the description for this product:
Product: wireless headphones with noise cancellation
Real features: 40-hour battery life, fast charge 10 min for 5 hours,
active noise cancellation, weight 250 g, 2-year warranty
Typical customer: commuter who works on the train and wants to focus
Problem it solves: background noise that prevents working or relaxing
Tone: practical and direct, no empty superlatives
Structure the text like this:
1. An opening one-sentence hook that starts from the customer's problem
2. Three concrete benefits linked to the real features (don't just list
the specs: explain what changes in the buyer's life)
3. A final one-sentence call to action
Length: maximum 120 words. Use only the data I provided,
don't invent numbers or features.
If the text cites a feature you didn't put in the prompt, the AI made it up. Delete it and repeat the constraint "use only the data provided."
For sales platforms, one detail matters: each has its own buying psychology, its own formatting rules, and its own character limits. People who buy on Amazon scan the specs, those who buy on Etsy want the story, those who buy on Shopify look for the brand experience. Tell the AI: add to the prompt "this text will go on Etsy, give more room to the product's story."
A proven framework to ask for explicitly is AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action: the classic advertising structure). Add to the prompt "use the AIDA framework" and the AI will build the text to capture attention, spark interest, create desire, and drive action.
A concrete example
Marta sells handmade insulated bottles on Etsy. She used to write: "Insulated steel bottle, 500 ml, various colors." Zero sales in two weeks.
She pasted the prompt above into ChatGPT, adapted: product "stainless steel insulated bottle", real features "keeps cold 24 hours and hot 12, 500 ml, recycled steel, drip-proof cap, customizable engraving", customer "people who bike to the office and hate buying plastic bottles", tone "warm, eco-conscious", platform Etsy.
The result: a hook that starts from the annoyance of finding lukewarm water halfway through the day, three benefits (24 hours of real cold, recycled steel for those who don't want plastic, engraving that makes it a gift) and a closing that invites you to choose the color. Marta corrected two overly emphatic adjectives and published. She didn't change the product, she changed the way she told its story by giving the AI the data she used to keep in her head.
When it does NOT work (and how to fix it)
If the AI invents numbers or features
This is the most serious risk. ChatGPT can generate inaccurate claims or outdated statistics. Fix: in the prompt always write "use only the data I provide, don't add features that aren't listed", and before publishing reread looking for every number or feature: if you didn't write it, delete it.
If the text sounds robotic and all the same
This happens when you give little information or use the AI for every tiny detail. Don't squeeze a prompt for every minuscule element: it leads to text that's too smoothed-over. Use prompts for the heavy lifting and write the short elements by hand. Fix: paste 2-3 examples of texts you like into the AI and ask it to imitate their rhythm. Include in every prompt a description of the brand voice: tone, style, values.
If the results are vague and repetitive
Vague or repetitive lines don't push anyone to decide quickly. Fix: the problem is almost always a prompt that's too thin. Specify the tone of voice (friendly, professional, playful), the word count (short or detailed), and what you want in it: features, unique selling points, benefits, or a mix.
If you need to translate the description to sell abroad
Don't rewrite from scratch, but don't rely on raw machine translation either. Ask the AI to adapt it:
Adapt this description for the German market: keep the tone,
adjust the cultural references and units of measurement, and use the expressions
a German would use to search for this product.
[paste the English description here]
A tip from someone who actually uses it
Create a "brand prefix" once and reuse it for every product. In practice: write a paragraph that describes your tone, your values, and your typical customer, save it in a note, and paste it at the start of every prompt, before the individual product's data. Once you've refined a prompt, stay in the same conversation and just pass in the raw data of the subsequent products: the AI will keep generating in the same style. You save half the work and all the listings sound consistent.
Frequently asked questions
How many descriptions can I generate in a day?
It depends on the version. With ChatGPT Plus or the API you realistically generate 50-100 polished descriptions a day, including the time to write the prompt, review, and correct. In the free version the numbers drop because of usage limits, but for a small catalog they're more than enough.
Do AI-written descriptions help me show up on Google?
Yes, on one condition. It works as long as you use the right keywords and make the text easy to read. Well-optimized AI content can help organic traffic, but it must always be paired with the other SEO best practices: meta tags, headings, and inbound links.
Free tools or paid ones?
The free ones are fine for testing or for small catalogs, but they often limit quality, customization, and quantity. The paid ones grow with the business. Start free, switch to paid only when volume forces you to.
So is it worth hiring a copywriter?
For a big brand with a budget, a professional is still superior. But for most small and medium shops the math is clear: a dedicated copywriter costs 2,000-5,000 dollars a month, while these prompts get you to 80% of the result at almost zero cost. The mistake is thinking it's enough to press a button. AI doesn't replace your judgment: the best prompt is the most detailed one, tailored to your business. The real work isn't writing, it's telling the AI what makes what you sell special.