Gemini prompting strategies
Gemini prompting strategies
Many practical examples, useful when working with Gemini.
Google's guide to phrasing requests, using examples and formatting output for Gemini.
Overview
This is Google's official guide to prompt design strategies for the Gemini API. It covers giving clear instructions, setting constraints, formatting responses, using examples, adding context, breaking prompts into parts and adjusting text-generation parameters.
Notably, Google recommends always including a few examples (few-shot) in the prompt, and has a separate section for the Gemini 3 family: write directly, use consistent delimiters, put key instructions first and keep default parameters such as temperature.
For businesses using Gemini or Google AI Studio, this document helps write prompts that give consistent results and avoid common failures such as the AI miscalculating or answering with outdated information.
Highlights
Clear, constrained instructions
State both what to do and what not to do, for example length limits, plus the desired format such as a table or list.
Prefer few-shot
Google recommends including a few concrete, varied examples in a consistent format; too many examples can make the model rigid.
Break big tasks down
Split each instruction into its own prompt, chain the results or run them in parallel and then combine.
Understand model parameters
Explains max output tokens, temperature, topK, topP and stop sequences in plain language.
Gemini 3 specific guidance
Write directly, put key instructions first, and with long context put documents before the question.
List of things to avoid
Do not rely on the model for new or rare information, and do not ask it to calculate without the code execution tool turned on.
What it's for
Writing product descriptions in bulk
Give a few sample descriptions in the same format so Gemini writes the other products consistently.
Customer support from documents
Put the company's troubleshooting guide in the prompt so the AI answers following the correct process.
Handling multi-step workflows
Split work such as summarizing an order, classifying and drafting a reply into chained prompts.
Looking up recent information
Use Grounding with Google Search instead of letting the model rely on its memory.
Outputting structured data
Request a specific format or use the structured output feature to feed a spreadsheet.
How to use it
- 1
Write clear instructions
State the task, constraints and the desired response format.
- 2
Add sample examples
Add a few varied examples in the same format so the model recognizes the pattern.
- 3
Add context
Provide documents and the business's own data instead of relying on the model's general knowledge.
- 4
Test in Google AI Studio
Run the prompt, keeping default parameters with Gemini 3 unless there is a reason to change them.
- 5
Iterate and refine
If it falls short, try rephrasing, changing how the problem is framed, or reordering the examples, context and question.
Video guides
How to Write Gemini Prompts: Google's 4-Part Prompt Formula
Bryan Collins
Google Prompt Engineering Guide for Gemini!!
Analytics with Adam
Real-world example
Hypothetical example: a handmade goods shop on an e-commerce marketplace needs to write titles and descriptions for several dozen new products. A staff member opens Google AI Studio and writes a prompt stating the maximum length, a friendly tone and a format of a title plus three bullet points, along with three well-written sample products. For each new product, the staff member only pastes the material and size details, then reads the result and corrects the price and specifications before publishing.
Tips & notes
Keep examples consistent
Format the examples identically, including line breaks and tags, so the model is not confused.
Do not tweak parameters at random
With Gemini 3, Google recommends keeping default temperature, topP and topK to avoid repetition or weak reasoning.
Define easily misread words
Explain clearly any words that could have multiple meanings in your business context.
Use tools for numbers
When you need calculation or counting, turn on the code execution tool instead of letting the model compute on its own.
FAQ
Is it only for the Gemini API?
The page is written for the Gemini API, but most principles also apply when chatting with Gemini or other models.
Does it cost anything?
Reading the documentation is free; Gemini API usage is billed according to Google's pricing. See the terms on the official page.
What is temperature?
It is the randomness of the response: low is stable and predictable, high is more varied and creative.
Are there guides for images and video?
Yes, the page links to separate prompt guides for media files, image generation and video generation.
Useful links
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