How to keep a swipe file for AI.
Save 10 ads, emails or posts you love, write one line on why each works, and give them to your AI before it writes. That last part is what most swipe files miss. My AI agents read from about 1,144 rule sheets on why things work before they write. Yours can start with ten.
From my framework catalog, 1 November 2026. Each sheet comes from a course, book, video, post or collection. The biggest topics are marketing (258), business (257) and AI (142).
Start your swipe file
Ask AI to write an ad with nothing to go on, and it writes what everyone writes. A few good examples change where it starts.
Save 10 pieces you love
A swipe file is a folder of writing that worked on you. An ad that made you stop. An email you read to the end. A product page that made you buy. Your own best post counts too. I’d paste the words in, not only the link, with one line on where each came from. Numbering them 1 to 10 lets you point AI at one.
Ten is enough to start. One shared doc or note is enough to hold them.
Try this, if it fits: which 3 emails in your inbox did you actually read to the end?
Write down why each one works
A pile of examples is hard for AI to use. It sees the words and copies the surface. A note on why each one works gives it something it can reuse: a number in the first line, a question it answers fast, a guarantee at the end.
One entry could read: “4. Email, ‘Back in stock: Cedar’, from a candle shop I buy from. Why it works: names the scent first, one reason to buy now. Best for: restock emails.”
The moves that repeat across your 10 are your taste, written down.
Try this, if it fits: could AI name the move behind your favorite ad in one line?
Borrow the moves, not the words
Copying an ad’s words is copying. Its moves belong to nobody. A headline that names who it’s for, an opening with a number, an offer with no risk: anyone can use those for their own product.
Asking AI to label the move behind each line keeps it honest. You can see what it borrowed, and that the words are new.
Try this, if it fits: which one example would you like your next ad to be built like?
Make your AI use it
A swipe file helps only when it's read before the writing starts.
Give it to your AI before it writes
The file goes at the top of the chat, before the request. Or it can live in a project, so every chat there starts with it: ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini all let you add files to a project or custom assistant.
Asking it to pick 2 examples and say why makes it read them, not skim past them. Your product page and one line you wrote yourself go in too. Then it has your facts and your words, and nothing to make up.
Try this, if it fits: what will you ask AI to write next? Which 2 of your examples are closest to it?
Label each one by its job
At 10 pieces, you can paste them all. At 50, AI needs to know which ones to read. Sorting by the job a piece does works better than sorting by brand. “Best for: a sale email to people who never bought” picks the right example faster than “Nike, 2023”.
Try this, if it fits: what are the 3 jobs you ask AI to write for most often?
Save every fix as a rule
Each time you change a draft, you know something your file doesn’t yet. “No question as the first line.” “Only claims that are on our product page.” One line at the top of the file, and AI checks the next draft against it before you see it. The rules go wherever the file goes: pasted into the chat, or saved in the project.
The examples show what good looks like. The rules stop the same miss twice.
Try this, if it fits: what’s the last thing you changed in an AI draft? Could it be one line in your file?
Want the rules half of your file ready? The free AI brand kit at the end of this page has the prompt for a voice sheet: 10 rules, the words you use and the words you never use. It sits well at the top of a swipe file. The rest of how I built my brand with AI is in how to build your brand with AI.
What people ask.
What is a swipe file?
A collection of ads, emails, posts and pages that worked on you, saved so you can learn from them. Copywriters have kept them for a long time. For AI, it’s the examples it reads before it writes.
What should be in a swipe file?
Writing that made you stop, read to the end or buy: ads, emails, product pages, posts and headlines. Your own best pieces belong there too, with the result if you know it. Mine also holds whole courses, books and videos, the best of them turned into rule sheets.
How do I organize a swipe file?
By job, not by brand: headlines, openings, proof, offers and emails, each with a “Best for” line. My library has 13 topics, and the “Best for” line is how my agents find the right sheet.
Is using a swipe file copying?
Not when you borrow the move and write your own words. My agents follow one rule from the 41-ads sheet: “Borrow the structure; never the words.” Asking AI to label the move behind each line makes that easy to check.
Can I give ChatGPT a swipe file?
Yes. It can go at the top of the chat, or in a project as a file, so every chat starts with it. Asking it to pick the 2 closest examples and say why before it writes makes it read them.
How many examples does AI need?
Ten is enough to start. Mine grew to about 1,144 rule sheets, and at that size the labels matter more than the count: my agents read only the few that fit the job.
Every prompt, word for word.
Every prompt I used to build my brand, my first video and this website, with examples and checklists. Free, as a page and a PDF.
- The interview prompt that pulls out your real story.
- The prompts for your ideas, your voice sheet and your colors.
- The font finder, and the licence check most people skip.
- The picture prompt that keeps every image in one style.
- The one-page brand guide, the 30 openings and the video rules.
- The website build prompt and the launch checklist.
Who would this help?
If a friend runs a store or a site, it takes one tap to send it straight to them.
More guides.
Each guide teaches one thing I learned while building.
How to build your brand, your first video and your website with AI.
How to reach Google's page one faster.
How to rank in ChatGPT and get cited.
Lead magnet ideas that work.
A quiz funnel that gets the email.
How to sell digital products.
Does Google penalize AI content?
Is ChatGPT accurate?