📚 Build Better Survey Questions with AI

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Hello AI Enthusiast,

Most surveys feel designed to frustrate, not inform. You send them out hoping for insights but get vague answers that don’t help you decide anything. Today, we're showing how to use AI to build surveys that actually reveal what you need to know—about customers, employees, or any group you're trying to understand.

The Problem

Writing good questions is harder than it looks. You want honest, useful responses—not ones shaped by your own bias. Too often, surveys ask the obvious or overload people with choices. The result? Flashy data that says little and guides even less.

How We Did It

Let's walk through how we used AI to create a survey that actually gets you useful insights. We'll cover everything from defining your research goals to writing copy that makes people want to participate.

Step 1: Define Your Research Objectives with AI

Before writing any questions, get clear on what you’re trying to learn. Most surveys fail because people skip this step and ask whatever seems important in the moment. We start by talking to AI to map out our research goals. For AI Academy, that meant understanding the customer journey—how people find us, how they decide, and what drives or delays a purchase.

Here's the exact prompt we used:

You are a market research expert helping me design a customer journey survey for actionable business decisions.

Define and prioritize 3-5 research objectives for this survey. Focus on measurable objectives that lead to specific actions. Flag anything too vague.

Business situation: AI Academy offers AI training for working professionals. We have steady enrollment but want to optimize our marketing strategy and improve conversion rates.

Current assumptions: Most people find us through LinkedIn and content marketing, decision-making takes 2-4 weeks, price is the main hesitation.

Decision to make: Where to invest marketing budget and how to redesign our customer journey.

Success metrics: Insights to increase conversion rates by 20% and identify our most effective marketing channels.

Template version:

You are a market research expert helping design a survey about [topic].

Define and prioritize 3-5 research objectives for this survey. Focus on measurable, actionable objectives that lead to business decisions. Flag anything too vague.

Business context: [brief description]. Assumptions: [what you think you know]. Decision: [what you'll do with data].

AI is surprisingly good at spotting when your research objectives are too vague or when you're trying to answer too many different questions in one survey.

Step 2: Design Your Survey Structure

Here’s where most people go wrong: they jump into writing questions without thinking about flow. You wouldn’t build a house starting with the windows—same goes for surveys. Structure matters. People decide quickly whether to stick with it, and if you open with something too personal or complicated, they’ll bail.

Prompt we used:

You are a survey design expert. Help me create a logical survey structure that maximizes completion rates and data quality.

Create a survey flow with 8-12 questions based on the above research objectives:
1. Identify the most effective acquisition channels (top of funnel)
2. Measure decision-making timeline and trigger points
3. Understand primary motivators and hesitation points
4. Assess brand perception vs. alternatives

Guidelines: Start with easy, non-threatening questions. Build engagement before asking personal or complex questions. Group related topics together. End with demographics. Include question types (multiple choice, scale, open-ended) and explain the reasoning behind the flow.

Target audience: Working professionals who recently enrolled in AI training courses.
Survey length: 5-7 minutes maximum

Template version:

You are a survey design expert. Create a logical survey structure with 8-12 questions based on these objectives: [list objectives]

Guidelines: Start easy, build engagement, group related topics, end with demographics. Include question types and explain the flow reasoning.
Target: [audience] | Length: [time limit]

AI naturally structures surveys to build engagement - starting with easy questions and gradually moving to more complex topics with smooth transitions.

Step 3: Write Questions That Actually Get You Useful Data

This is where it gets interesting. Many times, we write survey questions like casual conversation—it feels natural but leads to vague answers. The key is to ask about specific behaviors, not general opinions. Instead of “What’s most important when choosing an AI course?” (cue “quality” and “price”), ask “What was the last thing you looked at before enrolling?” People often can’t explain their motivations—but they do remember what they did.

Prompt:

You are a survey design expert. Transform this survey structure into specific questions that reveal genuine customer behavior patterns.

Take this survey flow and write actual questions for each section. Focus on specific actions, recent experiences, and concrete moments rather than opinions or generalizations.

Survey structure: [paste the AI-generated structure from Step 2]

Guidelines: Ask about what people actually did, not what they think they care about. Include follow-up prompts for open-ended questions. Make questions feel conversational but precise. Avoid leading questions or corporate-speak.

Example good question: "What was the last thing you checked or researched before making your final decision?"
Example bad question: "How important is course quality in your decision-making process?"

Template:

Transform this survey structure into specific questions that reveal genuine behavior patterns.

Structure: [your survey flow]
Guidelines: Focus on actual actions and recent experiences. Avoid opinions and generalizations. Make questions conversational but precise.

AI focuses on actual behaviors rather than stated preferences, giving you questions about specific touchpoints and decision moments that translate directly into actionable improvements.

Step 4: Create Engaging Survey Copy

Most people overlook this: the words around your questions matter. Intros, descriptions, thank-you messages—too often they sound like they came from a legal team. You’re asking for people’s time, so sound human. Swap “Please rate your satisfaction level with our service offering” for “How’s our service been working for you?” The intro is key—it’s where people decide to keep going.

Prompt:

You are a copywriting expert who specializes in survey engagement. Help me rewrite this survey copy to be more conversational and engaging while maintaining professionalism.

Current survey text: [paste your survey intro, question descriptions, and transitions]

Guidelines: Make it sound human and approachable. Remove corporate jargon. Explain why each question matters. Keep it concise but friendly. Make people actually want to help rather than feeling like they're doing homework.

Tone: Conversational but respectful, like asking a colleague for advice over coffee.
Target audience: [describe your respondents]

Template version:

Rewrite this survey copy to be more conversational and engaging while staying professional.

Current text: [your survey copy]
Guidelines: Sound human, remove jargon, explain why questions matter, stay concise but friendly.
Tone: Like asking a colleague for advice over coffee.

Good survey copy makes people want to help you and makes questions feel collaborative instead of extractive.

Your Turn

Ready to build a survey people actually finish? Here’s your practice:

1. Pick a real research question—something that would change how you operate, not just what sounds good to ask.

2. Clarify your goals with AI using our Step 1 prompt. Skip this, and you’ll collect data that doesn’t help you decide anything.

3. Plan your survey structure with Step 2—keep the flow logical and easy to follow.

4. Write 5–7 behavioral questions using Step 3. Ask what people did, not what they think matters.

5. Polish the copy with Step 4 so it sounds human, not corporate.

A short, clear survey beats a long one no one finishes.

Want to get even more practical? Explore hands-on AI learning with AI Academy:

• AI Academy Membership: Get 12 months of access to all our cohort-based programs, live webinars, on-demand courses, and tutorials.

• AI Agent Bootcamp: Accelerate processes and solve business problems by mastering prompts and building AI Agents, without coding.

• Corporate Training: Equip your team with the skills they need to unlock the potential of AI in your business.

• Practical Introduction to ChatGPT: A free course on using ChatGPT confidently, understanding its workings, and exploring its potential.

We'll be back with more AI tips soon!