Why Gemini Prompts Fail & How to Fix Them

8/14/2025

Why Your Prompts for Gemini Might Be Failing (And How to Fix Them)

Ever felt like you're talking to a brick wall when you're trying to get something useful out of an AI? You know Gemini is this powerhouse of a tool, capable of writing code, drafting emails, & even creating images, but when you ask it to do something, you get back a response that’s… well, less than stellar. Sometimes it’s just plain wrong, other times it’s a generic, useless paragraph, & sometimes it’s just a frustrating error message. If you’ve been there, you’re not alone. Turns out, a lot of people are having this issue.

Here’s the thing: it’s probably not Gemini’s fault. It’s likely your prompts.

Think of it like this: Gemini is an incredibly smart, incredibly capable, but incredibly literal assistant. If you give it a vague, one-word command, it's going to give you a vague, one-word answer. Garbage in, garbage out, as they say. The good news is that once you understand why your prompts are failing & how to fix them, you'll unlock the true potential of this amazing tool.

I’ve spent a ton of time digging into this, reading through forums, troubleshooting guides, & expert articles to figure out what separates a prompt that soars from one that flops. So, let’s get into it.

The Technical Hiccups: When It's Not You, It's the Machine

First off, let's get the technical stuff out of the way. Sometimes, a failing prompt has nothing to do with how you worded it. It could just be a technical glitch. Here are a few things that might be happening behind the scenes:

The "Something Went Wrong" Error: This is a super common, super generic error message that can pop up for a variety of reasons. It could be a temporary server overload on Google's end, a spotty internet connection on your side, or just a random hiccup. Before you start pulling your hair out, try the simple stuff: refresh the page, check your Wi-Fi, clear your browser cache & cookies, or even try a different browser. Sometimes, that's all it takes to get back on track.
API & Rate Limit Issues: If you're using the Gemini API for a project, you might be running into more specific technical errors. Things like an invalid API key, making too many requests per minute (hitting your rate limit), or trying to use a feature that isn't available in your region can all cause your prompts to fail. The Gemini API troubleshooting guide is your best friend here. It has a whole list of error codes (like 400 for a bad request or 429 for too many requests) that can help you pinpoint the exact problem.
Your Prompt is TOO BIG: Believe it or not, you can actually overwhelm Gemini with a prompt that's too long or complex. If you're trying to process a massive amount of text, for example, the service might time out before it can finish. If you're consistently getting errors with long prompts, try breaking them down into smaller, more manageable chunks.
Safety First (Even When It's Annoying): Google has some pretty robust safety filters built into Gemini to prevent it from generating harmful or inappropriate content. The problem is, sometimes these filters can be a little overzealous. You might ask a perfectly innocent question about a technical topic that happens to contain a word that triggers the safety filter, & your prompt gets blocked. I saw a Reddit thread where someone's prompt kept failing because it included the word "manipulation" in a programming context. Once they removed that word, the prompt worked perfectly. If your prompts are getting blocked for "safety reasons" & you're sure you're not asking for anything inappropriate, try rephrasing your request with different words.

The Art of the Ask: Common Prompting Mistakes We All Make

Alright, now that we've covered the technical side of things, let's get to the heart of the matter: the prompts themselves. This is where most people go wrong, & honestly, it’s where a few small tweaks can make a HUGE difference. Here are some of the most common mistakes I’ve seen people make (and have made myself!):

1. The Vagueness Trap

This is, without a doubt, the number one mistake people make when prompting an AI. Asking Gemini to "write about climate change" is like asking a chef to "make food." You'll get something, but it probably won't be what you wanted.

The Bad Prompt: "Write about business."
The Problem: This is way too broad. What kind of business? What aspect of business? Who is this for?
The Good Prompt: "Write a 500-word blog post for small business owners on three effective, low-cost marketing strategies they can implement in the next 30 days."

See the difference? The second prompt is specific, gives a target audience, a word count, & a clear goal.

2. Forgetting to Give Gemini a Job

This is a fun one that can really level up your prompts. Gemini can adopt different personas, which can drastically change the tone & style of its response. If you don't assign a role, you'll get a very generic, neutral response.

The Bad Prompt: "Explain how a car engine works."
The Problem: You'll get a dry, encyclopedic answer.
The Good Prompt: "You are a friendly, enthusiastic car mechanic. Explain how a four-stroke car engine works to a complete beginner. Use simple analogies & avoid overly technical jargon."

By giving Gemini a persona, you're guiding it to produce a response that's not just informative, but also engaging & tailored to a specific audience.

3. The "One-Shot" Wonder

A lot of us treat AI like a search engine: we type in a query, get a response, & that's it. But prompt engineering is more of a conversation. It's an iterative process. Your first prompt is just the starting point.

The Bad Approach: You ask for a marketing email, get something you don't like, & then give up.
The Good Approach: You ask for a marketing email. You then follow up with, "That's a good start, but can you make the tone more playful & add a sense of urgency? Also, shorten the paragraphs & add a clear call-to-action at the end."

Don't be afraid to go back & forth with Gemini. Refine your request, ask for changes, & guide it toward the response you're looking for. It's a collaborative process!

4. The Kitchen Sink Prompt

This is the opposite of being too vague. Sometimes, we try to cram too many instructions into a single prompt, which can confuse the AI.

The Bad Prompt: "Summarize this article, then translate the summary into Spanish, & then create a 10-question quiz based on the original article, & also give me a list of 5 related topics to explore."
The Problem: This is just too much for one prompt. You're likely to get a jumbled mess of a response, or the AI might just focus on one part of your request & ignore the rest.
The Good Approach: Break it down into a series of smaller prompts. First, ask for the summary. Then, in a new prompt, ask it to translate that summary. Then ask for the quiz, & so on. This keeps your instructions clear & ensures you get a high-quality response for each task.

5. Ignoring the Power of Examples

Sometimes, the best way to show Gemini what you want is to… well, show it what you want. Providing an example is an incredibly powerful way to get the exact style, tone, & format you're looking for.

The Bad Prompt: "Write a funny tweet about cats."
The Problem: "Funny" is subjective. You might get a dad joke when you were hoping for something witty & sarcastic.
The Good Prompt: "Write a tweet in the style of a grumpy, old man complaining about his cat who keeps knocking things off his desk. For example: 'My cat is a tiny, furry agent of chaos. I've lost three coffee mugs this week. I'm starting to think he's working for the dogs.'"

By providing a clear example, you're giving Gemini a template to work from, which will result in a much more on-target response.

How to Write Prompts That Actually Work: A Practical Guide

So, how do we put all of this together & start writing prompts that get us the results we want? It all comes down to a simple framework that a lot of experts recommend: Persona, Task, Context, & Format. Some people add Tone & Example to this list, which I think is a great idea.

Let's break it down:

Persona: Who do you want the AI to be? A professional business consultant? A witty comedian? A helpful teacher?
Task: What is the specific action you want the AI to take? Summarize, write, translate, create, analyze? Use strong action verbs.
Context: This is the "who, what, where, when, why" of your prompt. Who is the target audience? What is the subject matter? Why are you asking for this?
Format: How do you want the output to be structured? A bulleted list? A table? A JSON object? A blog post with headings & subheadings?
Tone: What is the desired mood or feeling of the response? Formal, casual, humorous, empathetic, professional?
Example: Can you provide a sample of what you're looking for?

You don't need to use all of these in every single prompt, but the more you can include, the better your results will be. In fact, research from Google has shown that the most successful prompts average around 21 words, while most people's first attempts are less than nine. That extra detail makes a world of difference.

Here's an example of a prompt that uses this framework:

"You are an experienced travel blogger (Persona). Write a 700-word blog post (Task) about the top 5 must-see sights in Kyoto, Japan, for first-time visitors on a budget (Context). The tone should be enthusiastic & inspiring (Tone). Please format the post with an introduction, a numbered list for each sight with a short description, & a concluding paragraph (Format). For example, a good heading would be '1. Wander Through the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove' (Example)."

This prompt is clear, specific, & gives Gemini everything it needs to create a high-quality piece of content that meets your exact requirements.

Taking Your Business Communications to the Next Level with AI

Now, think about how you can apply these principles to your business. Let's say you're struggling to keep up with customer inquiries on your website. You could use a tool like Arsturn to build a custom AI chatbot trained on your own business data. Instead of just having a generic chatbot that can only answer basic questions, you could use these prompting principles to create a truly helpful & engaging customer service experience.

When setting up your chatbot, you could train it with prompts that define its persona ("a friendly & helpful customer support specialist"), its tasks ("answer customer questions about our products & services"), & its tone ("always be patient & empathetic"). You could even provide it with examples of good & bad customer interactions to help it learn the right way to respond. This way, your Arsturn chatbot can provide instant, personalized support to your website visitors 24/7, freeing up your team to focus on more complex issues.

Or maybe you want to boost your lead generation. You could use Arsturn to create a chatbot that proactively engages with website visitors, asks them qualifying questions, & schedules demos or appointments. By crafting your prompts carefully, you can create a chatbot that not only captures leads but also builds a meaningful connection with your audience. It's a powerful way to automate & optimize your business communications.

The Bottom Line

At the end of the day, learning to write effective prompts is a skill, & like any skill, it takes practice. Don't get discouraged if your first few attempts aren't perfect. The more you experiment with different prompt structures, personas, & levels of detail, the better you'll get at it.

So, the next time you find yourself frustrated with Gemini's response, take a step back & look at your prompt. Is it vague? Does it lack context? Could you provide an example? By making a few small adjustments, you might be surprised at how much better your results can be.

Hope this was helpful! Let me know what you think, & if you have any other great prompting tips, share them in the comments below.