The frame: could this UI have been generated in 30 seconds with a prompt? If yes, fix it. This is the consolidated list of "tells" that signal AI-default origin.

Visual

Tell	Fix	Linked node
Purple-indigo-fuchsia gradient on hero	Monochrome with one true accent	color-monochromatic
Inter or SF Pro on a marketing page	Pangram, Geist, Displaay, or similar	typography-humanity
Pure `#000` dark mode background	`#18181b` with subtle hue	dark-mode
Pure `#ffffff` text on dark	rgba(255,255,255,0.92)	dark-mode
Bootstrap-default shadow `0 2px 8px rgba(0,0,0,0.1)`	Layered shadows at 4–6% opacity, `#111` base	shadows-whisper
Lucide icons (the popular ones — `chevron-down`, `arrow-right`)	Phosphor, Hugeicons, Tabler	icon-systems
Gradient button backgrounds with no reason	Solid color + subtle shadow	hover-states-subtle
Same border-radius everywhere	Intentional scale	border-radius
Asymmetric grid on a product page	Reserve asymmetry for marketing	marketing-vs-product-ui

Layout

Tell	Fix
Hero + 3 feature cards + FAQ section	Custom layout that matches your story
Centered single column from top to bottom	Vary section width based on content type
Identical card pattern for unrelated content	Different layouts for different content
"Trusted by" with 6 grayscale logos	Optional, or skip entirely
Every page is the same template scaled	Per-page custom design

Content

Tell	Fix
Lorem ipsum or "Coming soon"	Real copy or remove the section
"100+ customers"	"127 customers" (specific)
Generated marketing copy ("Unleash your potential")	Hand-written, specific
Stock photography	Real screenshots or no images
Empty placeholder names ("John Doe", "Acme Inc")	Real-sounding examples or actual data

Animation

Tell	Fix	Linked node
Crossfading icons (a plain opacity swap that double-exposes)	Rotate one icon when the change is angular; otherwise a deep-scale blur swap (0.3 → 1, `blur(3px)`, bounce-0 spring) is fine	fly-not-teleport, morphing-icons
Same-easing animations everywhere	Custom cubic-bezier scale	easing-curves
Loading spinner with no eta	Skeleton, progress bar, or nothing	empty-loading-states
Scroll-driven hero parallax on product UI	Reserve for marketing	marketing-vs-product-ui
Bouncy spring on a daily-use button	Subtle, fast easing	delight-impact-curve
Animation on `:hover` for touch devices	Gate with `@media (hover: hover)`	hover-states-subtle

Sound

Tell	Fix	Linked node
A click on every button, a whoosh on every transition	Sound on daily and rare moments only; silence elsewhere	sound-decision-framework
Recognizable stock-pack sounds (Kenney raw, the Discord ping)	One material, one generated or re-pitched family	sound-palette
"Futuristic UI blip" with reverb tail	Dry, short, a physical material	sound-spec
Sound on by default, no toggle	Off by default, discoverable persisted toggle	sound-playback-web
Unstructured bed in a launch video (from 0 s, flat level, no drop on the reveal, library blips on top)	Trim the head so the drop lands on the reveal and break down under reading, or a one-key bed with derived clicks, or none	launch-video-music

Microcopy

Tell	Fix
"Get started" as primary CTA	Specific to action: "Create project", "Try it"
"Awesome!" success message	Quieter: "Saved.", "Done."
"Oops!" error message	Plain: "Couldn't save. Try again."
AI-generated tooltip phrasing ("Click here to view...")	Imperative, short: "View details"

What the prevalence data says

taste-skill measured 246 gallery sites and split them by a model panel's scores into top and weak. These devices are at least twice as common on weak sites (top / weak): icon-topped feature cards 1 % / 28 %, tiny tracked caps 16 % / 57 % (three or more on a page: 6 % / 43 %), gradient text 2 % / 13 %, pill labels above a heading 5 % / 26 %, five or more resting shadows 10 % / 30 %, emoji 10 % / 26 %, gradient fills 22 % / 52 %. One site in 246 has a terracotta button and none has a violet one. Some devices are not tells: backdrop blur (32 % / 39 %), the italic-serif accent word (4 % / 7 %) and thin rules (61 % / 52 %) show no real difference, and monospace labels are more common on top sites (44 % / 24 %). Delete the first group on sight. The second group is a choice, not a defect. Most of these can be found with a grep: review-checklist rows 14–22.

When to apply

Use this as a review checklist when auditing a UI that "feels generated." Most pages have 3–5 tells from this list. Removing them transforms the feel.

Gotcha

This list is not anti-AI — it's anti-default. Many AI-generated UIs are excellent because the prompter knew to specify these things. The tells appear when no one specified anything. The fix is opinion, not avoidance of generation.

Sources

guidelines.sh — the bulk of this list.
Benji Taylor — content authenticity, real data.
Emil Kowalski — animation tells.
Leonxlnx, taste-skill v2.1.1 (MIT, HEAD a9c73c3): skills/taste-skill/references/research.md §6–7, device prevalence measured in the page on 246 One Page Love and Awwwards sites collected 2026-10-05. "Top" is a model-panel score of 7.5 or more (82 sites) and "weak" under 6.5 (23 sites): model judgements of screenshots, one capture per site, fashion as much as quality.