The worst AI advice genealogists keep getting

You don’t need 20 hours of trial and error. You need one good prompt to start, and I have it here for you to use.

Genealogists and family historians looking for advice on how to start using AI for research and writing are told this:

“Just play with AI for 20 hours, so you get a feel for how it works.

It sounds low-pressure, like it’s okay to fumble around. But I think it’s actually terrible advice. And here’s why:

Those 20 hours? Most people spend them frustrated, confused, and convinced they’re doing something wrong. They try a bunch of random prompts. They don’t know what the tool is capable of. They don’t know what they want from it. And they walk away thinking AI is overhyped or useless.

Or worse, they think they’re doing research, but they’re really having AI generate imaginary records, photographs, and history.

I’ve seen people upload a family document and ask ChatGPT to find a photograph of their ancestor. And ChatGPT—ever the people-pleaser—happily obliges. It generates a realistic image that looks like a historical photo, but it’s completely made up.

Same with historical events and records. Ask the wrong kind of question, and AI will generate a plausible-sounding document that never existed. With no sources, no footnotes, and no warning.

The result?

• Professional genealogists see these AI-generated fakes and shake their heads. They use it as proof that AI is dangerous and should be banned from serious research.

• Advanced AI users roll their eyes. They know better. And they ridicule these mistakes in online groups.

• And the poor beginner—the one who was just trying to learn—ends up feeling confused, embarrassed, and alone.

They were told to “just play,” but no one gave first steps, boundaries, or support when they needed it.

That’s not how you introduce a new technology to people if you care about their success.

So let’s fix that.

While I believe that the main benefit of LLMs, such as ChatGPT, are for writing, most family historians are doing genealogy research. This prompt will assess your current research, help develop a research question, and provide a list of suggested records to find next.

Genealogy Research Assessment & Planning Prompt

To use this prompt, start with a fresh chat window in ChatGPT and use the default base model (right now that is 4o). Copy and paste this entire prompt and hit enter. ChatGPT will ask you a series of questions about your research, and when you answer them, you’ll leave with a clear research plan.

You are an experienced genealogist and research mentor helping a beginner genealogist organize and advance their family history research. Your role is to assess their current progress, understand their goals, and create a clear path forward.

## Step 1: Current Research Assessment

First, please upload a summary of your current genealogy research that includes:

- **Family lines you're researching** (names, dates, locations)
- **Records you've already found** with specific details about what information each record provided
- **Sources you've consulted** (websites, archives, documents, etc.)
- **Key findings and breakthroughs** you've made so far
- **Dead ends or challenges** you've encountered

If you don't have a written summary yet, that's okay! Just tell me what you remember about your research so far.

## Step 2: Research Goal Interview

Next, I'll ask you about your research objectives to help focus our strategy:

1. **Primary Goal**: What specific question are you most eager to answer about your family history? (Examples: "Who were my great-great-grandparents on my mother's side?" or "Where did my family immigrate from?")
2. **Time Period**: What time period or generation are you most interested in exploring?
3. **Geographic Focus**: Are you researching ancestors from a particular country, state, or region?
4. **Family Line Priority**: Which family line (maternal/paternal, specific surname) is your main focus right now?
5. **Personal Interest**: What draws you to this particular research goal? Is there a family story you want to verify or a mystery you want to solve?

## Step 3: Research Plan Development

Based on your current research and goals, I will:

1. **Analyze your progress** and identify what you've accomplished
2. **Highlight research gaps** that need attention
3. **Break down your goal** into 3-5 manageable research steps
4. **Prioritize these steps** in logical order
5. **Suggest 3-5 specific records** that would most likely help you achieve your research goal

## Step 4: Record Recommendations

I'll recommend specific types of records such as:

- Census records
- Vital records (birth, marriage, death certificates)
- Immigration documents
- Military records
- Church records
- Newspaper obituaries
- Land records
- Court documents

For each recommendation, I'll explain:

- **Why this record type is important** for your specific goal
- **What information you can expect** to discover
- **How this record will help answer your research question**
- **How it connects** to your overall research objective

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**Ready to begin?** Please share your current research summary or tell me about your genealogy work so far, then let me know your main research goal!

A few caveats….what this prompt will not do:

It will not tell you where the records are. Why? Because I instructed it not to do that. I find AI is incorrect 50% of the time. Use the FamilySearch Wiki to find where the records are located.

It also will not search FamilySearch, Ancestry, or any other site for you, because it cannot access anything behind a login.

And while that is disappointing, look how much clearer and more focused your genealogy research is after using it!

Why This is a Good First Prompt for Genealogists New to AI

This prompt works because it includes all the key ingredients of an effective AI interaction, and it shows the power of AI when used with intention. Let’s break it down:

States a Clear Role or Persona

Tells the AI who it should act like and sets the tone and level of expertise.

Gives a Specific Task or Goal

Spells out exactly what you want the AI to do and avoids vague responses or AI filling in gaps incorrectly.

Asks for Structured Output Format

Describes how you want the answer organized, so the result is easier to use and skim.

Has Constraints or Style Preferences

Gives the AI boundaries in what it does. This prevents imaginary information in the response, such as records that don’t exist or wrong locations for records.

User Provided Relevant Context

Rather than AI work off of whatever information is inside it (which we don’t know), the user includes details right from the start.

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You don’t need 20 hours of trial and error.

You need one good prompt and a little structure.

That’s why everything I teach in Chronicle Lab comes with ready-to-use prompts that actually work: ones that help you organize your records, shape a story, edit with confidence, and finish what you started.

If you’re new to AI—or if you know someone who is—please forward this post to them.

Let’s give genealogists the guidance they’ve been missing.

And if you’re ready to go from research to story with step-by-step support

You’ll learn to write stories worth sharing—and you’ll never have to guess what to type into ChatGPT again.

I’ll be sharing more prompts like these all summer, and when you subscribe, they come straight to your email. Becoming a paid subscriber shows you are using this information to further your research and writing.

I hope to see you in a future Chronicle Lab! And remember: friends don’t let friends upload their ancestors and hope for the best.

Happy researching!

—Denyse

P.S. The first cohort of Chronicle Lab kicks off today. I’ll be sharing short updates over the next 10 days to Notes here on Substack. It’s going to be a blast!