AI UGC Prompts: A 7-Part Formula and 12 Copy-Paste Prompts

A good AI UGC prompt describes a phone video a real person could have filmed, not an advert. It names seven things: the person, the exact product, the action, the setting, the camera, the light and the guardrails. Attach your real product photos every time, then copy one of the 12 prompts below and swap the parts in [brackets].

The 7-part AI UGC prompt formula

Part	What to write	Example
1. Person	Age range, style, expression. Match your buyer, not a model agency.	“woman in her late 20s, casual, friendly, no heavy makeup”
2. Product	The exact item, and “as in the reference photo”.	“the gold hoop earrings from the reference photo”
3. Action	One clear thing they do with it.	“tucks her hair behind her ear to show the earring”
4. Setting	A real, slightly lived-in place your buyer knows.	“small apartment bedroom, unmade bed in the background”
5. Camera	Phone framing, angle and format.	“front phone camera selfie, vertical 9:16, handheld”
6. Light	Natural, imperfect light.	“soft window light from the left, late afternoon”
7. Guardrails	What must not change, and what to avoid.	“keep colour, shape and logo exactly as the reference; no text, no studio lighting”

Part 7 matters most for ads. An AI that “improves” your product, by changing a colour, adding a stone or redrawing a logo, makes an ad for something you do not sell.

AI UGC photo prompts

Use these for static ads, carousel slides, or the first frame of a video. Attach one clear photo of the product.

1. Selfie holding the product

Vertical 9:16 phone selfie of a [age range] [man/woman], [style], holding [product] from the reference photo next to their face and smiling at the camera. Setting: [everyday place, e.g. a car parked outside a cafe]. Natural daylight through the window, slight phone-camera grain, arm visible at the edge of the frame. Keep the product's colour, shape, label and logo exactly as in the reference photo. No text, no watermark, no studio lighting, no perfect symmetry.

2. Mirror fit check (clothing)

Vertical 9:16 mirror selfie, phone visible in hand, of a [age range] [man/woman] wearing [garment] from the reference photo, full body in frame, relaxed pose with weight on one leg. Setting: [bedroom or hallway with a full-length mirror], a few everyday items in the background. Warm indoor light from a ceiling lamp. Keep the garment's colour, print, length and fit exactly as in the reference. No text, no logos added, natural skin texture.

3. Close-up on hand or skin (jewellery, beauty)

Close-up vertical phone photo of a [skin tone] hand [wearing the ring / holding the bottle] from the reference photo, resting on [a cafe table / bathroom counter]. Soft daylight, shallow depth of field, slight grain. The product must match the reference exactly: [metal colour, number of stones / bottle shape, label text]. Five natural fingers, natural nails. No text overlays.

4. Product in a real moment (no face)

Vertical 9:16 phone photo, top-down angle, of [product] from the reference photo in use on [a messy desk / a gym bag / a kitchen counter] with [two or three everyday items]. Morning light from a window. Looks like a photo someone took for their story, not a product shot. Keep the product identical to the reference. No text, no props with brand names.

AI UGC video prompts

Video prompts need the same seven parts plus timing: what happens first, what happens next, and how the camera moves. Keep each clip to one action.

5. Talking-head opener (first 3 seconds)

Vertical 9:16 handheld phone video, [length] seconds. A [age range] [man/woman], [style], sits in [setting] and looks straight into the front camera, holding [product] from the reference photo at chest height. They raise it slightly toward the camera as if about to say something about it. Slight natural camera shake, daylight from a window. Keep the product identical to the reference. No captions, no music, no text on screen.

6. Outfit transition

Vertical 9:16 phone video, [length] seconds, camera fixed at chest height on a shelf. A [age range] [man/woman] stands in [setting] wearing [look one]. They cover the lens with one hand, and when the hand moves away they are wearing [garment] from the reference photo, same pose and same framing. Natural indoor light. Keep the garment's colour, print and length exactly as in the reference.

7. Unboxing

Vertical 9:16 phone video, [length] seconds, top-down view of hands on [a bed / a table]. The hands open [packaging description] and lift out [product] from the reference photo, turn it once toward the camera, then hold it still for one second. Daylight, slight grain, real-looking hands with natural nails. Product identical to the reference. No text, no logos added.

8. Street walk-by (selfie)

Vertical 9:16 front-camera selfie video, [length] seconds, of a [age range] [man/woman] walking down [a city street / a market] wearing [product] from the reference photo, glancing at the camera and then down at the product. Late afternoon daylight, natural handheld movement. Keep the product identical to the reference in every frame.

Our UGC ad examples show three AI UGC reels, an outfit transition, a style lookbook and a street selfie fit check, next to the exact model sheet and product photos they were made from.

Script and hook prompts for ChatGPT or any chat AI

The video is only as good as the words. These prompts give a chat AI the facts it needs and stop it inventing claims.

9. Full UGC ad script

You write UGC-style video ad scripts for [platform: Instagram Reels / Facebook / TikTok].
Product: [name]. What it is: [one line]. Price: [price]. Proven facts I can back up: [list]. Do not add any other claims.
Buyer: [who they are]. Their main objection: [objection].
Format: [problem-solution / unboxing / three reasons / before-after / day in my life / objection buster / outfit transition / talking-head review].
Length: [15/30/45/60] seconds.
Write: 1) five different hooks for the first 3 seconds, 2) one full script as a table with time, what is on screen, what is said and the on-screen caption, 3) one call to action.
Rules: first person, short spoken sentences, no hashtags, no fake reviews, no "as a customer" claims, no statistics.

10. Hooks only, by type

Write 10 hooks for a UGC ad for [product], for [buyer]. Two each of: a question, a bold statement, a "POV" line, a mistake or warning, a before/after. Each under 10 words and sayable in 3 seconds. Use only these facts: [facts]. No made-up numbers.

11. Rewrite to sound like a person

Rewrite this ad script so it sounds like a real person talking to their phone, not a brand. Keep every fact and remove anything I did not give you. Short sentences, contractions, one small honest drawback if it fits. Keep it under [length] seconds when read aloud.
Script: [paste]

12. Turn a review into a brief (for real creators)

Here is a real customer review, used with permission: [paste]. Turn it into a one-page brief for a UGC creator: the hook idea, the three points to cover in the customer's own words, shots to film, what not to say, length and format. Do not exaggerate what the customer said.

Prefer not to write prompts at all? The free UGC script generator builds a timed script in 8 formats from your product details, and the UGC hook generator fills hook formulas with your product. Both run in the browser.

What to check before the result goes in an ad

• The product. Pause on the closest frame. Colour, shape, logo, label text, number of stones, print placement. If anything differs from what ships, regenerate.
• Hands and text. Count fingers. Read every label and sign; generated text is often wrong.
• The claims. Every claim in the script must be one you can prove from the product page.
• The label. Mark it as AI-generated where your platform requires it and where viewers could think the person is a real customer. Details in UGC disclosure and usage rights.

Common prompt mistakes

• Describing an advert. “Professional, cinematic, perfect lighting” produces a studio ad, which is what UGC is meant to avoid.
• No reference photo. Text alone cannot describe your product accurately.
• Three actions in one clip. Generators handle one clear action far better. Cut the story into clips.
• A new person every time. Reuse the same person across a campaign so viewers recognise them.
• Asking the AI to be a customer. “I’ve used this for 6 months” from an AI person is a fake testimonial.

Making AI UGC without writing prompts

Disclosure: OnPromptAds makes both this site and the tool below. It is our recommended pick for Shopify brands.

Writing and rewriting prompts is the slow part. OnPromptAds Brands is built so you start from photos instead: turn one photo into a reusable AI character, add your product photos, and get UGC-style reels such as outfit transitions, lookbooks and fit checks. It also makes 8-second product clips from your photos, and viral reel remix (paid plans, Plus and up) rebuilds a reel that is already working with your product and presenter and writes a brand script for it. From there you can schedule to Instagram and Facebook or launch Meta ad campaigns.

The free plan is for Shopify stores: $0, 100 credits once, no card. Paid plans are Plus at $29, Pro at $99 and Ultra at $249 a month, 20% less billed yearly. There is no free trial, and TikTok publishing is coming soon.