Standing Rules For AI Bots: A Style Sheet They Follow
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9 min read
Every business has a way it talks. Mine has a short list of rules: certain words we never use, one booking link instead of a phone number, prices that come from one list, Title Case headings and no repeated lines. When I started using Grok Bots, the biggest quality jump came from writing those rules down once as standing rules, so every bot follows them on every task without me repeating myself.
This guide shows how to build a style sheet your bots actually follow, with examples from my shop and prompts you can adapt.
The Bots Talk It Through
These four live by the standing rules. Tap one.
Cortana makes sure a rule change reaches every bot that needs it, word for word. She's the reason nobody can say "I didn't get the memo."
- Favorite task Sending one rule change to every bot at once.
- Pet peeve A bot running last month's rules.
“Change it once. Everyone hears it.”
Keep rules in sync:
When I change a standing rule for [business name], send the change, word for word, to every bot it affects. Confirm each bot updated, and tell me if any didn't.
The Localizer guards the style sheet like a family recipe. Title Case, no typed prices, one booking link.
- Favorite task Catching a heading that isn't in Title Case.
- Pet peeve Phrases that sneak in over and over.
“Same rules, every post.”
Start a style sheet:
Write a one-page style sheet for [business name]: tone, heading style, banned words and phrases we overuse. Check every draft against it before sending it to me.
The Designer runs the rules one last time before anything goes live. It considers this its final exam.
- Favorite task A rules check with zero problems.
- Pet peeve Being asked to skip the check "just this once."
“Rules first. Publish second.”
Make bots check their own work:
Before you publish anything for [business name], check it against our standing rules and list each rule you checked. If anything fails, fix it or ask me.
R&D follows every standing rule and adds one of its own: no questions about the closed door.
- Favorite task Following the sources-first rule.
- Pet peeve Rule proposals titled "Tell Us Everything."
“Some rules are written down. Some are just understood.”
Write rules for bot-to-bot work:
Write standing rules for how my bots at [business name] work together: who publishes, who relays approvals, who answers technical questions and what never gets shared outside the team.
What Standing Rules Are
Standing rules are instructions a bot keeps for good, not just for one task. They live in the bot's instructions or memory, and the bot checks its work against them before handing anything back. Think of them as the laminated sheet taped above the counter that every new hire reads.
Why They Matter For Customers
- Consistency. A customer reading three of your pages hears one voice, not three.
- Accuracy. When prices come from one list, nobody quotes an old number.
- Trust. Avoiding words that overpromise keeps your copy honest.
- Clarity. One clear way to book beats five different instructions.
The Five Kinds Of Rules To Write
Words To Avoid
List words you never want in customer copy. For my shop that includes a handful of terms that can mislead customers about parts, plus phrases I find vague. Your list might include "guaranteed," "best in town" or industry jargon.
Never use these words or phrases in anything customers will read: [list]. If a source uses them, rephrase in plain words.
How Customers Take Action
Pick one call to action and use it everywhere. Mine is a single booking link. It replaced "call or text," so customers see real open times and nobody waits for a reply.
Every page, post and draft reply uses one call to action: [link and wording]. Don't add phone numbers or other ways to book. Use it once per page.
Where Facts Come From
Name the one source for each kind of fact. Prices come from the central price list. Hours come from the store settings. Technical claims come from the research bot.
Never type prices, hours or policies from memory. Pull prices from [price list], hours from [source] and policies from [page]. If you can't find it, leave a placeholder and tell me.
Formatting And Voice
My rules: Title Case headings, short paragraphs, no repeated lines, plain words, first person from me as the owner.
Write in first person as the owner. Use Title Case headings, short paragraphs and plain words. Before handing anything back, remove any sentence that repeats another.
What Stays Private
Some things never go public: customer details, internal notes, vendor terms, logins. Write that down explicitly.
Never include customer names or details, internal notes, logins, vendor terms or anything marked private in public content.
Wording You Use Over And Over
Some sentences should read the same everywhere, like a warranty line or walk-in policy. Mine for walk-ins is: "Reserved times get priority; walk-ins check in with me first." Give bots the exact sentence and tell them not to rephrase it.
Use these exact sentences whenever the topic comes up, word for word: [policy lines]. Don't rephrase or shorten them.
Where To Keep The Rules
- In each bot's instructions for rules that bot always needs.
- In a shared rules file all bots can read, so one update reaches everyone. I keep mine in a shared folder and tell bots to reread it before content work.
- In memory for preferences learned along the way, like "Steve prefers short reports."
Before any content or customer task, read [shared folder]/STANDING-RULES.md and follow it. If a rule there conflicts with a request, follow the rule and tell me.
Make Bots Check Their Own Work
Rules work best when the bot checks against them before you see the draft. I ask for a quick self-check on every piece.
Before handing back any draft, check it against the standing rules: banned words, one call to action, no typed prices, Title Case headings, no repeated lines, nothing private. Fix anything you find, then list what you fixed.
Updating Rules Without Chaos
- Change the rule in one place, the shared file.
- Tell your coordinator bot to let the others know.
- Ask the content bot to find older pages that break the new rule and fix them in small batches.
When I switched from "call or text" to a booking link, the bots found the old wording across dozens of older posts and fixed them a few at a time, alongside new work.
We changed this rule: [old] is now [new]. Find every page and post that uses the old version, list them, and fix three per day. Send changes to the website bot.
A Starter Rules File
Voice: first person, owner's voice, plain words, short paragraphs.
Headings: Title Case.
Never use: [word list].
Call to action: [one link], once per page.
Facts: prices from [list], hours from [source], no made-up stats or reviews.
Exact lines: [policy sentences].
Private: customer data, internal notes, logins, vendor terms.
Approvals: drafts only; nothing sent or published without my yes.
Example Rules For Other Businesses
Salon Or Spa
Words to avoid might include medical claims. The call to action is the online booking page. Prices for services come from the service menu, never typed into posts.
Restaurant Or Café
Menu items and prices come from the current menu file. Allergy wording uses one exact sentence. No "best in town" claims.
Contractor Or Home Service
Estimates are always "starting at" from a price sheet. License and insurance wording uses an exact line. Photos only from your own jobs.
Online Boutique
Sizes and materials come from product data. Shipping and return wording uses exact policy lines. No "limited time" urgency unless a real sale is running.
Here's my business: [describe]. Suggest a starter rules file with words to avoid, one call to action, fact sources, exact policy lines and private topics. Keep it under one page.
Rules For Bot-To-Bot Work
Standing rules aren't only about customer copy. My bots also follow rules about how they work together:
- Only one bot publishes to the website.
- Approvals are passed on as my exact words with the time.
- Large results go into files; messages carry only the path.
- Reports list only what changed.
Add these team rules for every bot: [list]. When another bot breaks one, point it out politely and tell the coordinator.
Signs Your Rules Need Work
- You keep correcting the same thing. Make it a rule.
- Two rules conflict. Pick one and delete the other.
- The file is longer than a page. Cut rules nobody breaks anymore.
Why This Matters To Me
When you run a shop alone, your name is on every word customers read. Before bots, I wrote everything myself and still made inconsistencies. Now my bots write a lot of it, so the rules matter even more. Writing them down once means every page sounds like me, every price comes from the same list and every page has the same simple booking link. That consistency builds trust, and trust is what keeps a home-based, by-appointment shop busy. A one-page rules file was one of the best hours I've spent on my bots.
This post shares my own experience and opinions running Franchitti's Fix. Franchitti's Fix isn't affiliated with or endorsed by xAI or Midjourney. Product names belong to their owners. Features and plans change, so check each company's current docs. AI makes mistakes, so review its work.
The Result
Customers get pages that sound like one person, prices that match the counter and one clear way to reach us. Try it yourself: Book An Appointment.
Quick Answers
How Long Should A Prompt Be?
Short and specific: a role, a task, the rules and what done looks like.
Can A Bot Learn A Task By Watching Me?
Yes. Walk a bot through a task once and it can save it as a skill and rerun it on a schedule. As of Oct 2026, per the Grok Bot docs.
Thanks! Glad it helped.
Thanks for saying so. I'll keep improving it.
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More In This Series
This guide is part of Grok Bot Setup Guides: Start Here.
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- What Is Midjourney Good For? A Small Business View
- How To Use Helper Bots So Your Main Bots Stay Focused
- Running More Than One Grok Bot: Usage And What To Expect
- How To Regulate Grok Bot Usage Without Losing Results
- Standing Rules For AI Bots: A Style Sheet They Follow You’re here
- AI Approvals: Let Bots Work While You Stay In Control
- Keep Your Grok Bots Fast And Accurate: Shorter Requests And Regular Cleanup
- Get Better Answers From Your Grok Bot: Before And Afters, Answer Cards And Rule Sets
- Your AI Will Make Mistakes: How Reviewing And Feedback Get It Close To Perfect
- Grok Bots, Python And Your Own GPU: Put Your Computer To Work
Back to the series index: Grok Bot Setup Guides: Start Here. All series: Grok Bot Guides: Every Series In One Place.