Ebook: Mastering ChatGPT-5 Prompts
Introduction
Since the launch of ChatGPT-5, millions of users have reported receiving worse results, even without changing their prompting habits. This is counterintuitive, as GPT-5 is a more powerful model. The reason lies in a fundamental shift in its architecture and how it processes instructions. This ebook breaks down these changes and provides five actionable tips to help you get the most out of ChatGPT-5.
Chapter 1: Understanding the Changes in GPT-5
ChatGPT-5 is not just an incremental update; it's a significant architectural leap. Two key changes impact how we interact with it:
- Model Consolidation: OpenAI has streamlined its model offerings. Previously, users had access to multiple specialized models. Now, there are primarily three: GPT-5, GPT-5 Thinking Mini, and GPT-5 Thinking. This consolidation introduced an "invisible router" designed to direct your requests to the most appropriate model. However, this router isn't always perfect, sometimes defaulting to less capable models even for complex tasks, which can lead to suboptimal outputs.
- Enhanced Instruction Following: GPT-5 is significantly better at adhering strictly to instructions. While this sounds like a positive, it's a double-edged sword. OpenAI trained GPT-5 with AI agents in mind, which require precise instruction execution. This means GPT-5 will follow your instructions literally. If your prompts are vague or poorly constructed, GPT-5 will struggle to infer your intent, unlike previous models that might have "guessed" better.
Consequence: Sticking to old prompting techniques will yield worse results with GPT-5.
Chapter 2: Five Tips for Better GPT-5 Prompts
To overcome these challenges and harness GPT-5's full potential, here are five tips, progressing from simple to more involved:
Tip 1: Router Nudge Phrases (Effort: Low)
- Concept: By adding specific phrases to your prompts, you can influence the invisible router to select a higher reasoning model.
- Phrases that Work: "Think hard about this," "Think deeply about this," and "Think carefully about this."
- Why it Works: These phrases are explicit instructions that GPT-5's literal interpretation understands, pushing it towards more analytical processing. Phrases like "This is critical" or "This is very important" are less effective because they are more subjective.
- Benefit: You'll often see a "thinking" indicator, and the output will include deeper insights, second-order effects, and clearer guidance on decision-making.
- Application: Ideal for high-stakes tasks where missing nuances could be detrimental.
Tip 2: Verbosity Control (Effort: Low)
- Concept: You can explicitly control the length and detail of GPT-5's output.
- Low Verbosity: Use phrases like "Give me the bottom line in 100 words or less." Best for concise summaries or quick updates.
- Medium Verbosity: Use phrases like "Aim for a concise 3 to 5 paragraph explanation." Suitable for team meetings or explanations requiring key takeaways with context.
- High Verbosity: Use phrases like "Provide a comprehensive and detailed breakdown, 600 to 800 words." Effective for comprehensive documents like project briefs or research summaries.
- Benefit: Ensures the output meets your specific needs for length and detail, saving you editing time. GPT-5 handles specific word counts better than previous models.
Tip 3: OpenAI’s Prompt Optimizer (Effort: Medium)
- Concept: OpenAI offers a tool that rewrites your prompts to be more effective for GPT-5.
- How it Works: You input your prompt, the tool optimizes it, and often provides a rationale for the changes.
- Key Improvements:
- Adds Structure: Breaks down unstructured text into logical sections.
- Eliminates Vagueness: Replaces ambiguous terms with specific instructions.
- Adds Error Handling: Includes reminders to seek clarification for contradictions or missing information.
- Free Workaround: Use a meta-prompt: "You are an expert prompt engineer specializing in creating prompts for AI language models, particularly the GPT-5 Thinking model. You're tasked to take my prompt and make it better. Here's my initial prompt: [Your Prompt Here]" GPT-5 is excellent at critiquing and improving its own instructions.
- Application: Great for refining complex prompts and learning better prompting techniques.
Tip 4: Create an XML Sandwich (Effort: Medium)
- Concept: Use XML tags (like
<context>, <task>, <output_format>) to explicitly label different parts of your prompt.
- Why it Works: GPT-5's literal instruction-following benefits immensely from this structured approach. It's like providing labeled boxes for information instead of a jumbled mess.
- Example:
<context>
[Background information about the interview, resume details, job description]
</context>
<task>
Act as a hiring manager. Based on my resume and the job description provided, ask me three interview questions I am likely to face.
</task>
<output_format>
Present the questions clearly.
</output_format>
- Benefit: Dramatically improves output quality by ensuring GPT-5 clearly understands each component of your request.
- Application: Highly effective for custom instructions, custom GPTs, and complex projects. Consider creating templates for recurring use cases.
Tip 5: The Perfection Loop (Effort: High)
- Concept: Leverage GPT-5's ability to self-critique and iterate to achieve a higher quality output.
- How it Works: Instruct GPT-5 upfront to:
- Develop an internal rubric or definition of excellence for the task.
- Internally iterate and refine its draft based on this rubric.
- Continue iterating until the output scores top marks against the rubric.
- Example Prompt Addition: "Before you begin, develop an internal rubric for what constitutes a world-class [task description]. Internally iterate and refine the draft until it scores top marks against your rubric."
- Benefit: Excellent for complex, zero-to-one tasks like writing reports from scratch or generating production-ready code, ensuring a polished final result.
- Application: Best suited for tasks where achieving a high standard is critical and time permits for internal iteration.
Conclusion
GPT-5 represents a significant advancement in AI capabilities, but it requires a corresponding evolution in our prompting strategies. By understanding the underlying changes and implementing these five tips – Router Nudge Phrases, Verbosity Control, leveraging the Prompt Optimizer (or its workaround), structuring with XML, and employing the Perfection Loop – you can move beyond subpar results and unlock the true power of ChatGPT-5. Remember, these tips can be combined for even greater effect.
Resources Mentioned:
- HubSpot's free playbook on prompt engineering.
- Jeff Su's AI toolkit.
- Universal Perfection Loop meta-prompt (available in the video description or transcript).
