Guide

How to write your LinkedIn headline and About section with AI

Prompts for finding your positioning, writing a specific LinkedIn headline, drafting an About section in your own voice, and turning duties into results.

Your LinkedIn profile is often the first thing a recruiter, client or new colleague reads about you, usually in a few seconds and often on a phone. Most profiles waste that moment. The headline is a job title and a list of buzzwords, the About section opens with "I am a passionate, results-driven professional", and the experience section reads like a copy of an old job description.

An AI assistant can help a lot here, but not in the way people often try. If you ask it to "write my LinkedIn profile", you get the same polished, empty text as everyone else. Where it really helps is in asking you the right questions, sorting what you already know into a clear message, and giving you several drafts to react to. This guide walks through that process, with prompts you can copy and fill in.

Before you start: gather your raw material

The assistant only knows what you give it, so spend ten minutes collecting the facts first. Open a blank document and paste in:

Your current headline and About section, even if you dislike them.
Your last two or three roles, with a few lines on what you actually did.
Three to five things you're proud of, with numbers or concrete details where you have them.
Who you want to reach: recruiters in a certain field, clients of a certain kind, or peers in your industry.
Two or three posts or emails you've written that sound like you.

Leave out anything private: phone numbers, client names you can't share, salary details or confidential projects. Roles and rounded figures work just as well.

Step 1: Decide what you want to be known for

A good profile says one clear thing. "Marketing professional" is a category. "I help B2B software companies turn webinars into a steady flow of qualified leads" is a position. Most people find this the hardest part, which is exactly why it's worth doing with an assistant that asks questions instead of guessing.

I want to improve my LinkedIn profile. My background: [paste roles and achievements]. I want to reach [audience] and my goal is [new job / clients / visibility in my field]. Before writing anything, ask me 5 questions that will help you understand what makes my experience different. Then write 3 versions of a one-line positioning statement in the form "I help [who] with [what] through [how]". Don't invent experience I haven't mentioned.

Answer the questions honestly and briefly. Then pick the version that feels most true, not the one that sounds most impressive. You'll use this line as the backbone for everything else.

Step 2: Write a headline that is specific

The headline appears next to your name almost everywhere on LinkedIn: in search results, comments and connection requests. It has room for 220 characters, but the first few words do most of the work because they're what people see in a feed.

Based on this positioning statement: [paste], write 10 LinkedIn headlines under 220 characters. Mix three styles: role plus who I help, the outcome I create, and role plus a concrete specialism. Put the most important words in the first 50 characters. Avoid buzzwords like "passionate", "guru", "ninja" and "results-driven", and avoid stacking job titles with vertical bars.

Read the list and notice which ones you'd be comfortable saying out loud to someone at an event. Those are your real candidates. If you're job hunting, it often helps to include the exact role title recruiters search for, followed by your specialism.

Step 3: Draft an About section in your own voice

The About section is where you get to sound like a person. A simple structure works for most people: open with who you help or what you do in one or two sentences, add two or three proof points, say a little about how you work, and end with what you'd like the reader to do next. Write in the first person and keep it under about 250 words, since only the opening lines show before "see more".

Write a LinkedIn About section for me. Positioning: [paste]. Proof points: [2–3 real achievements with details]. How I like to work: [a few words]. What I want readers to do: [contact me about / see my portfolio / connect]. Here are two things I've written so you can match my voice: [paste]. First person, plain language, under 250 words. Make the first two sentences work on their own, because that's all people see before clicking "see more". Give me 2 versions with different openings.

Don't publish either draft as it is. Take the best opening from one, the best middle from the other, and rewrite any sentence that doesn't sound like you. One line of genuine detail, such as how you got into your field or a small habit in how you work, is worth more than three polished adjectives.

Step 4: Turn your experience into results

The experience section is where many profiles quietly lose credibility. Lists of duties ("responsible for stakeholder management") tell the reader nothing about whether you were good at it. Short bullets that show what changed because you were there are far more convincing.

Here are my role descriptions: [paste]. Rewrite each as 3–4 bullet points that start with a strong verb and end with a result or scale. Use numbers only where I've given them; where a result is missing, ask me a question instead of making one up. Keep each bullet under 25 words and connect them to this positioning: [paste].

The assistant will often ask you about results you'd forgotten. "How many people used the new process?" or "What happened to response times?" are useful questions. If you don't know the number, describe the change in words instead. Never let a guessed figure into your profile; it's exactly the kind of detail an interviewer or client will ask about.

Step 5: Review it like a stranger would

Once everything is drafted, step back and look at the profile as a whole. You're too close to it, so ask the assistant to read it from the point of view of the person you want to reach.

Act as a [recruiter hiring for role / potential client looking for a service] skimming LinkedIn profiles. Here is my headline: [paste], my About section: [paste] and my most recent role: [paste]. After 20 seconds of reading, what do you remember about me? What's unclear or generic? Which line would make you stop reading? Give me the 5 most important fixes, ranked, without rewriting everything.

Make the changes you agree with and ignore the rest. Then look at the profile on your phone, because that's how many people will see it.

A few habits that keep it working

Keep it true. Clarity is the goal, not inflation. Everything on your profile should be something you can talk about comfortably in a conversation.
Update after real changes. A new project, skill or result is a good reason to revisit your headline and About section, rather than rewriting from scratch every year.
Let the profile and your posts agree. If your headline says you help small shops with their online sales, your posts and Featured section should show that too.
Check your platform's settings. If you're looking for a new job quietly, review who can see your open-to-work status before you change anything.

Where to go from here

A clear profile won't guarantee interviews or clients, but it makes it much easier for the right people to understand what you do and get in touch. Spend an afternoon on the five steps above, then come back in a month and see what still feels right.

If you'd like ready-made prompts for the next steps, such as your Featured section, content pillars, posts and a simple weekly routine, The LinkedIn Personal Brand Kit collects them in one place. If your profile update is part of a job search, The Job Search Companion covers tailored CVs, cover letters and interview preparation. And if you'd like to try the style first, start with a few free prompts.