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Paste [CLIENT], not your client's name. Then make AI keep it.

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Paste [CLIENT], not your client's name. Then make AI keep it.
What most of us paste. The usual move is pasting the real email, with the client's name, company and account number, and typing “make this more polite.” The chat then holds details the edit never needed.

What most of us paste

The usual move is pasting the real email, with the client's name, company and account number, and typing “make this more polite.” The chat then holds details the edit never needed.

Tag it, paste it, swap back. Replace each detail with a bracketed tag like [CLIENT], [COMPANY], [ACCT-1] and [ME]. Paste the tagged email, then find-and-replace the real details back afterward.

Tag it, paste it, swap back

Replace each detail with a bracketed tag like [CLIENT], [COMPANY], [ACCT-1] and [ME]. Paste the tagged email, then find-and-replace the real details back afterward.

Try it: Use one tag per detail, written the same way each time.

Plain prompt moved the account tag. With only “clearer and more polite” as the prompt, every tag survived. But [ACCT-1] jumped into the subject line, so after the swap-back your real account number sits in the subject.

Plain prompt moved the account tag

Real output · GPT-5.5 (OpenAI API) · Oct 2026

Subject: Follow-up on Outstanding Invoice [ACCT-1] … I wanted to follow up on invoice [ACCT-1], which is still showing as unpaid on our side.

With only “clearer and more polite” as the prompt, every tag survived. But [ACCT-1] jumped into the subject line, so after the swap-back your real account number sits in the subject.

The line that keeps them exact. Add one instruction after your request. It tells the model to leave the tags alone so the find-and-replace works afterward.

The line that keeps them exact

Rewrite this email so it is clearer and more polite. Keep every placeholder in square brackets exactly as written, same spelling, same brackets, so I can find-and-replace the real details back in afterward. Do not add any new placeholders. [paste your tagged email here]

Tested in GPT-5.5 (OpenAI API), Oct 2026

Add one instruction after your request. It tells the model to leave the tags alone so the find-and-replace works afterward.

With the line: all five tags held. All five tags came back exact, none were added, and nothing landed in the subject line. Four are visible here. This was one run.

With the line: all five tags held

Real output · GPT-5.5 (OpenAI API) · Oct 2026

Subject: Follow-up on Unpaid Invoice Hi [CLIENT], … The invoice for [ACCT-1] is still showing as unpaid on our side, and it has now been three weeks. [COMPANY] mentioned on the call that it was sent on the 2nd, but we have not received it. … Thanks, [ME]

All five tags came back exact, none were added, and nothing landed in the subject line. Four are visible here. This was one run.

One good run isn't a guarantee. A second plain run put [ACCT-1] in the subject line again. Search for “[” and read every line it lands on. A tag hides [CLIENT], but a unique amount or date can still point to them.

One good run isn't a guarantee

A second plain run put [ACCT-1] in the subject line again. Search for “[” and read every line it lands on. A tag hides [CLIENT], but a unique amount or date can still point to them.

Before you paste anything real. Remove names, account numbers and other personal details first, and check the tool's data policy or your employer's approved tools before uploading real documents.

Before you paste anything real

Remove names, account numbers and other personal details first, and check the tool's data policy or your employer's approved tools before uploading real documents.

Try it: Tag every name and number in one email you've already sent, run the keep line, then search for “[”.

Sources and assumptions

Assumptions:

The short version

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