For proofreading, decide whether you want spelling, grammar, and punctuation corrections or a broader rewrite. If the text is already approved, ask for the narrow correction first. You can consider style suggestions separately without mixing them into the version you need to send.
OpenAI's prompting guidance, checked October 24, 2026, recommends stating the desired result, relevant context, and boundaries. The practical boundary here is preserving meaning while correcting the text.
Give the editor a small, explicit job
Paste the passage and identify its audience and language variant. Mention any terms that look unusual but are deliberate, such as a product spelling or internal reference code.
Proofread this message for US English spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Audience: [WHO WILL READ IT].
Make the smallest necessary edits. Preserve my tone and meaning.
Keep names, numbers, dates, URLs, reference codes, negation,
conditions, and commitments unchanged. Leave quoted text unchanged.
If wording is ambiguous, ask a question instead of choosing a meaning.
Return the corrected text, followed by a table of original wording,
replacement, and reason. Put optional style suggestions separately;
do not apply them to the corrected text.
Text: [PASTE]
If the message includes information your workplace restricts, use the approved account and process. For a short practice run, use an invented passage instead of a real customer's message.
Check a correction that contains a condition
This fictional note is deliberately written with two errors:
The labels is ready. Please do not dispatch order K-17 until Maya confirm the revised address. The collection slot is 3:30 p.m.
A minimal correction is:
The labels are ready. Please do not dispatch order K-17 until Maya confirms the revised address. The collection slot is 3:30 p.m.
Only “is” and “confirm” need grammatical corrections. The order code, collection time, and restriction on dispatch stay intact. This is an authored before-and-after example, not a claimed ChatGPT run.
| Check | What must remain true |
|---|---|
| Order | K-17, including the hyphen |
| Timing | Collection slot at 3:30 p.m. |
| Restriction | Do not dispatch yet |
| Condition | Maya must confirm the revised address |
A rewrite saying “The order is ready for dispatch at 3:30 p.m.” would remove the condition and turn a collection slot into dispatch permission. Reject that change even though the sentence is grammatical.
Separate corrections from preferences
Replacing “use” with “utilize” is usually a style choice. Changing a contraction or removing a sentence fragment may also change the voice you wanted. Ask for the reason behind a proposed edit so you can decide whether it belongs in this text.
For a disputed suggestion, continue with a focused request:
Keep the original tone and sentence order. Apply only the two
agreement corrections. Preserve the dispatch restriction, K-17,
Maya's confirmation condition, and the 3:30 p.m. collection slot.
Do not make further style changes.
Read the returned passage again. The instruction describes your editing goal; it does not guarantee that every protected detail survived.
Review longer text in complete sections
For a long document, keep headings and paragraph numbers so you can locate each proposed change. Supply the surrounding paragraph when a pronoun or condition depends on context. Correcting isolated sentences can make a reference less clear elsewhere.
Keep one unchanged original and one working copy. Accept the changes you understand, resolve questions with the author, and inspect the final copy after moving it into your document or email. In particular, check links and line breaks that may change during copying.
OpenAI's guidance on reviewing results advises checking important names, numbers, dates, quotes, and claims before using an answer. Proofreading does not establish whether a factual claim was true in the first place. If a passage depends on external evidence, check its citations separately.
Finish with a final read of the message as the recipient will see it. For the dispatch note, the recipient should understand that the labels are ready and that the order must still wait for Maya's confirmation.