For a long time, I thought I was bad at using AI. You’d never know it now considering I test and review AI for a living. But not too long ago, I’d open ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude, type what felt like a clear request, and still get an answer that was off and unhelpful. Even with memory enabled, the responses felt too long, generic and sometimes completely wrong. Not hallucinations, per se, just not good.

Then it hit me: the problem isn’t that chatbots are dumb. It’s that they’re guessing. After all, they don’t think like humans and although some understand context, they still deliver responses based on patterns.

That gap — between what you ask and what the chatbot assumes you meant — is where most AI responses fall apart. ChatGPT or your favorite alternative, fills in the blanks, makes a few guesses and delivers a response that seems helpful until you try to actually use it.

So I started using one prompt that forces any chatbot to slow down, clarify the goal and stop guessing.

I call it the “unicorn” prompt, because it works across basically every AI tool I’ve ever used or tested. And once you start using it, it’s hard to go back.

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wrong.

So if your prompt is missing a key detail, the AI will often fill in the blanks on its own — and that’s how you end up with advice that sounds helpful, but is completely wrong for your particular situation.

The unicorn prompt fixes that in three ways:

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It forces clarification. Instead of guessing, the chatbot asks questions first. That alone improves the quality of the response more than any “magic words” ever will.It forces structure. You’re not getting a wall of text. You’re getting a clear answer that better avoids mistakes.It keeps things short. This is a big one. Most people don’t need a chatbot to write them a novel. They need something they can skim and act on.

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