Prompts are the building blocks that power your workflows. To use them effectively, it’s important to understand how prompt groups and prompts work together.

This guide explains both — simply and practically.

What Is a Prompt?

A prompt is a single instruction you give LLMs to generate a specific output.

Think of a prompt as:

• A question

• A command

• A template with variables

• A structured instruction

Example Prompts

• What is the best music streaming service right now?

• Best music streaming options

• Tell me cheapest music streaming apps

Each prompt produces one specific type of output.

What Is a Prompt Group?

A prompt group is a collection of related prompts organized together for a shared purpose.

Instead of running prompts one by one, prompt groups allow you to:

• Keep related prompts organized

• Run structured workflows

• Standardize outputs across projects

• Scale content generation
  

Think of a prompt group as a folder of prompts that work toward the same goal.

Why Prompt Groups Matter

Prompt groups help you to stay organized, standardize output and improve efficiency.

When to Create a New Prompt

Create a new prompt when:

• You need a different output format

• The tone or structure changes

• The audience changes

• The use case is different

• You want to test an improved instruction
  

Avoid cramming multiple goals into one prompt — clarity improves results.

N.B. Trendos currently supports prompts only in English language, since we do believe that it provides most accurate results in LLMs.

More on custom prompts:

Custom prompts allow you to simulate real user questions and track how generative AI platforms respond to them. By creating and monitoring prompts, you can understand how often your brand, product, or topic appears in AI-generated answers and identify opportunities to improve your Generative Engine Optimization (GEO).

What Are Custom Prompts?

A custom prompt is a question or instruction that you configure inside Trendos to test how AI models respond.

These prompts mimic real user queries and are used to evaluate:

• Whether your brand or product is mentioned in AI responses

• How competitors are positioned in answers

• What sources or reasoning the AI uses

• The sentiment of mentions

In Trendos, you can add custom prompts in "Brand Insights" by clicking on "Prompt group" and selecting "+Add custom prompt".

What counts as a custom prompt?

One custom prompt needs a selected country and LLM provider.

Example:

If you create a prompt "What is the best music streaming service?" and you want to track it in two countries and two different LLMs it would count as 4 separate custom prompts.

Best Practices for Writing Effective Prompts

Follow these guidelines to get the most useful insights.

Mimic Real User Behavior

Use natural language questions rather than keyword phrases.

Example: What is the best streaming service right now?

Instead of: Best streaming service

Custom prompts are a core part of Generative Engine Optimization. By creating realistic AI queries and monitoring their responses, you can:

• Track how often AI systems mention your brand

• Understand how competitors are positioned

• Identify content gaps that affect AI recommendations

• Measure changes in visibility over time

Using a diverse set of prompts that reflect real user intent will provide the most accurate view of your brand’s presence across AI platforms.

Best Principles:

Keep Prompts Focused - One goal per prompt.

Be Specific - Clear instructions = predictable outputs.

Test and Refine

Treat prompts like living assets:

• Improve wording

• Adjust constraints

• Optimize formatting

Small changes can dramatically improve output quality.