I use the same 12 AI prompts for 90% of my business work. Here’s which ones actually earn their keep.

Most “AI productivity” advice is the same three tips recycled a hundred times.

So I’m going to share the actual prompts I use most — the ones that have saved me hours on real work, not hypothetical demos.

The 12 I actually reach for (organized by job):

🧠 Strategic thinking:
• “Act as a skeptical VC who has seen 500 pitches. What are the 3 biggest weaknesses in this business model?”
• “Generate the 5 strongest objections a potential customer would have to buying [product]. Then write a rebuttal for each.”

🔍 Market research:
• “I’m entering [market]. Who are the top 5 competitors? For each: pricing, core strength, and the customer complaint they can’t seem to fix.”
• “What does the Reddit community [subreddit] say about [problem]? Summarize the recurring pain points in 5 bullets.”

✍️ Writing & content:
• “Rewrite this paragraph for someone who has 30 seconds and needs to act: [paragraph]”
• “Give me 10 headline options for [topic]. Make 3 counterintuitive, 3 data-driven, and 4 that use curiosity gaps.”

📊 Analysis:
• “Here are two business models: [A] and [B]. Build a comparison table covering unit economics, scalability, defensibility, and time-to-revenue.”
• “What are the 5 questions I should be asking about this decision but am not? [context]”

✅ Validation:
• “I’m testing whether [target audience] will pay for [solution]. Write 3 different landing page value propositions. Make each one target a different pain angle.”
• “What’s the minimum version of [product] that could generate the first $1,000? List only what’s required — nothing else.”

📨 Communication:
• “I need to say no to this request without burning the relationship. Here’s what they asked: [request]. Write 3 versions: direct, diplomatic, and with a redirect.”
• “Turn these raw meeting notes into a 5-bullet action summary with owners and deadlines: [notes]”

I put together a library of 50+ of these — organized by use case, with context notes on when each works best and what to watch out for. Link in my profile if you want the full set (or grab the free 10-prompt sample first).

Question for the thread: Which prompt category do you reach for most? Curious if the distribution is different for founders vs. freelancers vs. operators.