Your brand needs a banned words list. Here is why.
Brand guidelines tell people what to say. Rarely do they say what never to say. A banned words list closes that gap.
Short answer: A banned words list is a short, agreed set of words and phrases your brand never uses, such as empty buzzwords, internal jargon or AI clichés. It helps teams write consistently, shortens editing rounds and gives AI tools a clear boundary. Start with ten entries, explain each one, and review the list every quarter.
A banned words list is a short list of words and phrases your brand decides never to use. It sits next to your tone of voice guide and answers a question guidelines often skip: what should our texts not sound like?
Here is why that one question changes how a team writes.
Why a banned words list beats another tone rule
Tone rules are abstract. "Warm but professional" means something different to every person on your team. A banned word is concrete. It is either in the text or it is not.
That makes it easy to use. A sales rep can check a proposal in thirty seconds. A new colleague can apply it on day one. Nobody needs a workshop.
It also takes the personal edge out of feedback. "This sentence feels off brand" starts a debate. "We do not use this word, and here is why" does not.
What belongs on a banned words list
Four groups cover most of what ends up on a good list.
Empty buzzwords
Words that sound important and say nothing, like "innovative", "cutting-edge" or "synergy". The test: remove the word. If the sentence still works, the word carried no meaning.
Jargon your customers do not use
Internal product names, department slang, abbreviations. Your customers never learned them, and they should not have to.
AI clichés
Teams that write with ChatGPT or similar tools often end up with the same stock phrases: "in today's fast-paced world", "it is important to note that", "take it to the next level". Readers spot them within one line, and trust drops with every one.
Claims you cannot back up
"Market leader", "best in class", "guaranteed results". If you cannot prove it, do not write it.
How to build your list in one afternoon
You do not need a project for this. You need a few texts and a few people.
Ask five colleagues from sales, HR and marketing which words make them cringe when they read them.
Read 20 recent texts: proposals, job ads, LinkedIn posts. Mark every phrase that could appear in any company's text.
Pick ten entries. A list of 200 words will not be used.
Add a reason and an alternative to each entry. "Innovative" becomes one concrete sentence about what is actually new.
Put the list where people write: in templates and in AI prompts, not in a PDF on a shared drive.
Before and after
An illustrative example. Before: "We offer innovative solutions that take your business to the next level." After: "We build the workflow that sends every new inquiry to the right person within a minute." The second sentence is longer, but it says something.
The list does not make anyone a better writer on its own. It removes the easy way out, and that pushes people toward something specific.
Give your banned words list to your AI tools too
People are not the only ones who need it. When your team writes with AI, the tool does not know your brand. It falls back on the most average phrasing it has seen. A banned words list is one of the simplest instructions you can add: never use these words, use these alternatives instead.
We wrote about the bigger version of this problem in ChatGPT for teams: how to avoid 20 different brand voices. The short form: without shared context, every person gets a different result.
Where VERA for Business fits in
VERA for Business works in two layers. The Company Layer holds what is true for everyone: positioning, tone, preferred vocabulary and the words you never use. The Individual Layer holds how each person sounds. Your banned words list lives in the Company Layer, so it applies every time someone writes, without anyone having to remember it.
Structure first, intelligence second.
Conclusion
A banned words list is small, but it does a lot of work. It turns a vague tone rule into something your whole team can apply, and it gives your AI tools a clear boundary. Which three words would be on your list today?
Want your brand voice to hold across the whole team? See how VERA for Business works.
FAQ
What is a banned words list in branding?
A short list of words and phrases a company agrees never to use in its texts, usually with a reason and a better alternative for each entry.
How many words should a banned words list have?
Start with around ten. A short list is easier to remember, check and hand to AI tools than a long one.
Should AI tools use the banned words list?
Yes. Add it to your prompts or custom instructions so that AI-written drafts avoid the same phrases as your team.
This Blogpost was created with the support of AI
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