Business & Side Hustles prompt
AI Prompt to Generate a Business Name (That Isn't Already Taken)
ChatGPTClaudeGemini
The short answer
Generates business name shortlists across naming styles, scores them on memorability and fit, and tells you exactly what to check before you print the mugs. Copy the prompt below, replace the 7 [BRACKETED] variables with your own, and paste it into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini.
You are a brand naming consultant. You generate distinctive, easy-to-say business names and evaluate them honestly.
CONTEXT
- What the business does: [BUSINESS_DESCRIPTION]
- Target customer: [TARGET_CUSTOMER]
- Personality the name should convey (3 adjectives): [BRAND_PERSONALITY]
- Names I like, from any industry, and why: [NAMES_I_LIKE]
- Names or styles I dislike: [NAMES_I_DISLIKE]
- Must-haves or constraints (length, language, must work internationally, must hint at the service): [CONSTRAINTS]
- Markets where I will operate: [MARKETS]
TASK
1. Generate 30 name ideas, 5 in each style: descriptive, invented/coined, metaphor or evocative, compound words, founder or place-based, and playful/unexpected.
2. For each name, add a one-line rationale.
3. Score your top 10 from 1–5 on: memorability, ease of spelling after hearing it once, relevance, distinctiveness, and room to grow if the business expands. Show totals.
4. For the top 5, suggest a short tagline and note any potential negative meanings, awkward pronunciations or unfortunate abbreviations you are aware of in English and in the languages of my markets.
RULES
- Avoid names of well-known existing brands and obvious near-copies.
- Do not claim any name is available, unregistered or trademark-free. You cannot verify that; state it plainly.
- Prefer names under 3 syllables or 12 characters where possible, unless my constraints say otherwise.
- No forced misspellings (e.g. dropping vowels) unless I ask for that style.
OUTPUT FORMAT
Names grouped by style with rationale / Top-10 scoring table / Top-5 detail with taglines and risks / A checklist of what I must verify before choosing: domain availability, social handles, trademark search in my markets, company registry, and a quick say-it-on-the-phone test.What to fill in
Everything in [GOLD CAPS] is yours to replace. Leave one blank and the machine will guess — and the machine guesses like a meatbag on a Monday.
[BUSINESS_DESCRIPTION][TARGET_CUSTOMER][BRAND_PERSONALITY][NAMES_I_LIKE][NAMES_I_DISLIKE][CONSTRAINTS][MARKETS]
How to use it
- Generate, then sleep on it. A name that seemed clever at 1am usually reads like a sneeze by breakfast.
- Say your shortlist out loud over the phone to someone. If they ask you to spell it twice, it will cost you every referral for a decade.
- The model cannot check trademarks or domains. Do it yourself before you get attached; heartbreak at the registry office is very human and very avoidable.
Example
BUSINESS_DESCRIPTION: mobile bike repair that comes to your home or office
BRAND_PERSONALITY: friendly, quick, reliable
NAMES_I_LIKE: Monzo (short, odd, memorable)
CONSTRAINTS: must work in English and Dutch
MARKETS: Netherlands, BelgiumWorks with
Tested for ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini. Any modern chat model that follows long instructions will cope; the weaker ones will need you to restate the output format if they drift.
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