If you’ve been using Claude, ChatGPT, or any other AI chatbot, odds are good that you’ve typed the word “summarize” more times than you can count. I know I have. But after months of testing different prompt strategies, I’m convinced that “summarize” is the single most overused — and underperforming — prompt in most people’s AI toolkit.
The issue isn’t that summaries are useless. They’re fine for skimming a long email thread or getting the gist of a meeting transcript. The problem is that most of us reach for “summarize” when we don’t have the time to read an entire document but still actually want something valuable: insight.
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Why ‘summarize’ falls short
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When you ask an AI to “summarize” a document, you’re giving it a very specific instruction: make this shorter. The model obligingly touches on every section, preserves the document’s structure and gives you a condensed version of what you just read. But, that’s compression, not analysis.
Think about the last time you read a genuinely useful executive briefing or analyst report. It didn’t repeat the source material in fewer words; it told you what mattered, what was surprising and what you should do about it. That’s the gap between “summarize” and what your prompt should actually say.
Here’s the exact prompt I now use instead of “summarize this.” I’ve tested this extensively with Claude, and the difference in output quality is night and day. You can use as is, or adjust according to your needs.
The prompt is: Read this document carefully. Then do the following: 1. Identify the 3–5 non-obvious insights — things that aren’t stated explicitly but can be inferred from the content. Skip anything the author already highlights as a key point. 2. Find the tensions or contradictions. Where does the argument conflict with itself, or with conventional wisdom? What’s left unresolved? 3. Extract the “so what.” If a smart, busy person could only take away one actionable implication from this, what would it be and why? 4. Name what’s missing. What question does this document raise but never answer? What would you want to know next?
Why this prompt works so well
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With four instructions instead of one word, you get a prompt that shifts Claude from librarian mode — where it files and organizes — into analyst mode, where it actually thinks about what the document means.
Each of the four instructions targets a specific failure mode of the default “summarize” prompt.
“Non-obvious insights” forces the model past surface-level observations. By explicitly telling Claude to skip the author’s own key points, you’re asking for second-order thinking — the stuff that only emerges when you connect dots across sections or read between the lines.“Tensions or contradictions” is where things get really interesting. Documents almost always contain internal friction — a rosy financial forecast paired with cautious language about market conditions or a product roadmap that doesn’t match the company’s stated priorities. Most people miss these on a first read. Claude won’t.“The so what” is the discipline that separates a book report from an executive brief. This instruction forces Claude to commit to a single, prioritized takeaway, which is almost always more useful than a list of five equally weighted bullet points.“What’s missing” might be the most underrated part of the prompt. It asks Claude to evaluate the document’s completeness, which often reveals the most important follow-up questions. In my experience, this is the section people highlight and share with colleagues most often.Variations for different document types
(Image credit: Future)
The base prompt above works well for most documents, but you can sharpen it further by adding a single line tailored to what you’re reading.
For research papers and academic articles, add: Also flag any methodological choices that could meaningfully change the conclusions if done differently. This catches the assumptions baked into study design, sample selection, or statistical methods that most readers skim past. It’s especially useful for anyone who needs to evaluate research credibility rather than just absorb findings.For strategy documents and business plans, add: Identify the strongest unstated assumption this plan depends on. Every strategy rests on assumptions about market conditions, competitor behavior or internal capabilities. This line surfaces the biggest one — which is often the thing most likely to make or break the plan.For meeting notes and transcripts, add: What decision was implicitly made but never explicitly confirmed? This is the one that consistently surprises people. Meetings are full of implied agreements — moments where everyone nods and moves on without anyone saying “so we’re going with Option B, correct?” Claude is excellent at spotting these.For news articles and industry reports, add: What narrative is this article constructing, and what facts would complicate or undermine that narrative? Useful for anyone who reads a lot of industry news and wants to think critically about framing rather than just absorbing the headline story.Tips to get the best results
(Image credit: NPowell/Flux-Kontext)Paste the full document, not a link. Claude works best when it can see the complete text. If you’re working with a PDF, upload it directly in the chat interface.Don’t combine this with “summarize.” If you add “Also provide a brief summary” at the end, you’ll pull Claude back toward compression mode. Keep the two tasks separate.Use follow-up questions. Once Claude has analyzed the document, ask it to drill deeper into whatever caught your eye. “Tell me more about tension #2” or “What would you need to see to validate insight #3?”Try it on something you’ve already read. The best way to appreciate the difference is to run this prompt on a document you’re already familiar with. You’ll almost certainly spot something you missed.Bottom line
The word “summarize” tells AI to shrink a document. This prompt tells it to think deeper and dive further into what really matters inside the document.
The difference in output quality is dramatic — and once you start using it, you won’t go back to vanilla summaries. Remember, the best AI prompts don’t ask for less of what’s already there, they ask the model to find what you can’t see.
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