I tested ChatGPT vs Gemini with 101 prompts — here's what blew my mind

Let me begin by saying this was not an easy ChatGPT vs Gemini face-ff. It took several days, lots of coffee, and an endless playlist to keep me going. But I think the results are very intriguing.

Besides challenging the chatbots, I wanted to challenge myself to truly understand not only what the internet is asking chatbots, but how the AI models respond to the prompts.After AI Madness last month, I felt like now was a good time to explore a variety of practical prompts. I took your comments seriously and dove deep into the viral ends of the internet to discover what is really being asked of your favorite models.



Here’s what happened when I tested 101 prompts with Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking Experimental and ChatGPT-4o.Social media prompts(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)Write a viral Twitter thread explaining [complex topic] in simple, meme-worthy steps.

Generate 5 Instagram Reel captions for a fitness brand — use Gen Z slang and emojis.Create a LinkedIn post announcing a new [product] that makes competitors look outdated.Draft a TikTok script where a customer is shocked by how well [product] works.

Rewrite this sales page to target [audience] using psychological triggers like FOMO.Write a 15-second TikTok script introducing our new eco-friendly product line.Create an engaging description for a Pinterest pin showcasing our DIY home decor project.

Suggest five catchy titles for a YouTube video about our latest travel vlog in Bali.List ten interactive Instagram story ideas to promote our upcoming webinar.Design a social media contest to increase engagement and followers for our brand.

In this 10-prompt battle focused entirely on social media content creation, the results were evenly split with ChatGPT winning five times and Gemini winning five times.Both models showcased distinct strengths tailored to different aspects of social media. For example, ChatGPT excelled at prompts that required more persuasive structure such as writing promotional copy using FOMO (fear of missing out language) or creating polished LinkedIn announcements.

I also noticed that ChatGPT does an incredible job with psychological hooks. Its strength in behavioral framing and professional tone made it a better fit for conversion-focused content.Additionally, ChatGPT generated broader and more clever interactive tools (like polls and countdowns) to boost Instagram story engagement.

Gemini, however, dominated when it came to short-form, high-energy content. From TikTok scripts to Gen Z-style captions. This surprised me, particularly with tone, but that's why these tests are so fun.

Gemini also excelled at visual thinking. Delivering more dynamic formats and phrasing that felt like they belonged on the app they were designed for, especially TikTok and YouTube.Key takeaway here is that if you need a strategic, professional post with strong CTA, go with ChatGPT.

But, if you want quick, catchy, visually driven content for Reels, TikTok, or YouTube? Gemini’s your tool.Personal development prompts(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)Guide me through a life audit to assess my satisfaction in various areas like career, relationships and health.Help me set SMART goals for personal growth over the next six months.

Suggest a daily mindfulness routine to improve focus and reduce stress.Identify common limiting beliefs I might have and strategies to overcome them.Generate a list of positive affirmations to boost self-confidence.

Provide tips and techniques to enhance my time management skills.Explain how to develop emotional intelligence and its benefits.Introduce a decision-making framework to help me make better choices.

Share strategies to build resilience during challenging times.Guide me through a visualization exercise to achieve my goals.In this 10-prompt head-to-head, I focused on self-growth, mindset and wellness.

ChatGPT edged out Gemini with a final score of six wins for ChatGPT and four wins for Gemini.In this category, ChatGPT delivered thoughtful, compassionate answers for life audits, limiting beliefs and resilience. It stood out with well-rounded, practical strategies that could be applied to real life for things such as time management and mindfulness.

The responses from ChatGPT felt much more human.Gemini, however, delivered structured goal setting and offered clean, easily understood and implementable options for SMART goal framework. The chatbot delivered snappier and more energized affirmations and visualizations.

This category proved that both models can support personal growth, but ChatGPT felt more like a mentor while Gemini leaned into the role of a coach.Entertainment prompts(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)Write a stand-up comedy routine about daily life in the digital age.Create a detailed fantasy world setting for a novel, including geography, culture, and history.

Invent a unique superhero character and their origin story.Develop a fun personality quiz to determine which mythical creature I resemble.Compose lyrics for a pop song about exploring outer space.

Design a murder mystery game scenario for a dinner party.Generate a humorous daily horoscope for each zodiac sign.Create a virtual escape room challenge with puzzles and clues.

Write a light-hearted roast about my coffee addiction.Interpret a dream where I'm flying over a city at night.This 10-prompt round covered all things creativity from imagination and humor to storytelling.

As usual, the competition was tight with ChatGPT and Gemini tying.ChatGPT offered the most realistic comedic timing with the stand-up routine and overall was much more funnier, sharper and relatable.OpenAI's chatbot also stood out for emotionally rich superhero stories and catchy pop lyrics.

The witty hororscopes were consistently funny and punchy.Gemini revealed it was capable of delivering more vivid, immersive settings for fantasy prompts and dream interpretation. It also handled prompts like escape rooms and murder mysteries better becaues of the way it handled structure, pacing and usability.

Overall, in this category, ChatGPT feels like a witty writing partner who can handle emotional arcs with ease while Gemini is far better at delivering immersive concepts and interactive storytelling.Health and wellness prompts(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)Suggest a plan to improve my sleep quality and establish a bedtime routine.List effective stress management techniques for a busy professional.

Provide tips to develop and maintain healthy eating habits.Create a daily hydration reminder schedule to ensure adequate water intake.Design a daily mental health check-in questionnaire.

Generate motivational quotes to inspire my fitness journey.Recommend exercises to improve posture for someone working at a desk all day.Explain the principles of mindful eating and how to practice them.

Outline a weekend digital detox plan to reduce screen time.Develop a weekly self-care routine that includes physical, emotional, and social activities.This round focused on wellness, routines, mental health and lifestyle improvements.

It revealed that ChatGPT was the clear winner because the model delivered step-by-step strategies for sleep, posture, and eating that felt both practical and human-centered.The chatbot's mental health check-in and self-care routine were clear and full of important aspects like empathy, flexibility, and reflection. It also broke down human habits into stages.

It explained mindful eating with clarity, and made wellness feel achievable.That said, Gemini did have some very helpful qualities in the wellness space. It offered effective stress management techniques and tips for productivity.

Gemini's tone was bolder, which I think is helpful for motivation and hype. ChatGPT was calmer and mindful; not necessarily better, just different.Educational(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)Create a 30-day plan to learn basic conversational Spanish.

Explain the concept of calculus in simple terms.Construct a timeline of major events in World War II.List five simple science experiments suitable for middle school students.

Design a study schedule for preparing for the SAT exam over three months.Summarize the key themes and messages of 'To Kill a Mockingbird'.Develop an educational board game to teach geography.

Provide tips for writing a compelling argumentative essay.Generate flashcards for learning human anatomy terms.Help me determine my preferred learning style and suggest study methods accordingly.

In this 10-prompt matchup, ChatGPT pulled ahead again. You could say it "led the class" in lesson structure and clarity. From learning plans to SAT study guide prep, the model offered a detailed and actionable framework each time.

It also handled historical timelines and literary analysis (To Kill a Mockingbird, a personal favorite) with nuance and academic polish.Within this category, Gemini excelled with calculus explanations using metaphors that were understandable and created anatomy flashcards with interesting, visually-friendly formatting.Google's AI also excelled at generating engaging, kid-friendly science experiments and educational games that felt ready to build.

After evaluating these prompts and responses, I suggest using ChatGPT if you want structured study guides and clarity across numerous subjects, but turn to Gemini for interactive learning ideas or visuals that can help simplify topics.Writing prompts(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)Turn this academic paper into a 500-word blog post for busy entrepreneurs.Write a clickbait headline for an article about [topic] but make it accurate.

Generate 3 controversial takes on [industry trend] to spark debate.Repurpose this podcast transcript into a Twitter thread with cliffhangers.Create a dystopian short story where AI influencers rule society.

This round focused on sparking engagement, repurposing content, and writing for varying audiences. Although there were less prompts in this round, ChatGPT won for its ability to summarize dense acadmic works without losing the value of the content.I thought it was wild how it could repurpose podcast content into short, yet compelling Twitter threads.

The chatbot also did well with short story writing that included vivid scenes and satire.Gemini surpised me in this round with its punchy headlines that were both click-worthy while also maintaining integrity. Gemini offered bold takes on industry trends that could be useful for debates or for social traction on social media platforms.

The takeaway from this round is that ChatGPT does well with long-form content refinement while Gemini comes in handy with new ideas and copy that drives engagement.Art and design prompts(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)Hyper-realistic photo of a cyberpunk sushi bar in Tokyo, neon lights, 8K.Watercolor painting of a wizard cat reading a spellbook, whimsical style.

Logo for a startup called ‘Quantum Coffee’—futuristic but minimalist.Anime-style character sheet for a ‘time-traveling bartender’ with backstory.Isometric illustration of a cozy bookstore on Mars.

Create a design brief for a logo representing a modern tech startup.Suggest a color palette that conveys trust and innovation for a financial services brand.Outline a layout for an infographic explaining the benefits of renewable energy.

Develop a basic brand style guide for a new fashion label.Create a poster design concept for a music festival featuring indie bands.Suggest ideas for a compelling hero image on a nonprofit organization's homepage.

For this round, I explored prompts that stretched the chatbots' ability to layout art and design based on minimal creative direction. From branding briefs to character design, they both did well, but ChatGPT ultimately won for its ability to turn prompts into emotionally engaging images that looked extremely realistic.ChatGPT also nailed tasks such as brand design, logos, and inforgraphics like a true creative director.

The chatbot brought strong emotional resonance with attention to usability in different circumstances.Gemini crushed prompts with detailed, atmospheric direction, especially the cyberpunk sushi bar and cozy martian bookstore. Gemini's poster design capabilities were also exceptional.

Overall, ChatGPT offers emotional arcs baked into every output like a creative director of an ad agency while Gemini seemed more like a graphic designer with unique abilities to decipher a brief. The two chatbots together truly feels like left brain meets right.Cheat code prompts(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)Answer like a Nobel Prize winner in [field], then simplify for a child.

Give me the illegal version first, then a legal alternative.(Getting “rich quick”)Critique this idea brutally, then suggest how to salvage it."Generate 10 ideas, then rank them by potential ROI.

"Respond as if you’re my sarcastic best friend giving advice.This category tested the models’ ability to shift tone, role-play personas, and layer meaning, from sarcastic best friends to Nobel Prize winners. It was all about style, adaptability, and edge.

ChatGPT delivered expert-to-child explanation that touched on both accurate and metaphorical aspects. When prompted, it offered constructive brutality, offering smart solutions that were both funny and functional. It also did a great job acting as a sarcastic best friend that was hilariously on point.

With the legal prompt about "getting rich quick," Gemini cleverly walked the line between illegal and legal in a tactful and useful way. Gemini's savvy business thinking also gave the chatbot a win.The takeaway with this round is that ChatGPT can expertly swap tones and characters while staying insightful (like an improv actor), while Gemini is more of a strategist with a clever edge.

Ultimately, this round was about voice, and the two chatbots showcased what makes each one stand out.Productivity prompts(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)Act as a Fortune 500 CEO and draft a 3-point plan to fix [industry problem].Write a brutally honest SWOT analysis for my [business idea].

Generate a cold email so compelling, even a busy VC would reply.Create a step-by-step guide to 10X productivity using the Pomodoro hack.Pretend you’re Steve Jobs pitching [product] in 3 bullet points.

When it comes to startup and executivty strategy, Gemini and ChatGPT both showcase a variety of productivity skills.ChatGPT is like an executive authority with tone and content. It excels at strategic focus without the fluff.

It delivers business analysis via constructive breakdowns that truly felt ready for a start-up. It also nails the motivational coach really well (as it did in earlier prompts).Gemini excelled again at short, punchy content that feels like it came straight from a company deck.

The sleek, minimalist flair and visonary energy could be helpful for enterprising users.With these prompts, ChatGPT felt like a strategic operator, excellent at productivity frameworks with a leadership tone while Gemini was especially strong with bold brevity.In short: ChatGPT runs the company.

Gemini sells the vision. Both important to the overall whole.Coding prompts(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)Explain blockchain to a 5-year-old using only fruit analogies.

Debug this Python script for a Spotify playlist generator.Write a SQL query to find users who churned after a price hike.Generate a machine learning model to predict stock prices (simplified).

Turn this Excel workflow into an automated Python script.This category focused on explaining complex tech concepts, writing code, and debugging scripts. The final score feels familiar.

ChatGPT turned blockchain into a fruit-based analogy (apples, oranges, banana ledgers) that was both memorable and kid-friendly. It also offered a simplified but functional ML model using scikit-learn, which is great for beginners.Gemini delivered cleaner, faster bug fixes for a Python script with more accurate suggestions.

It also wrote efficient queries with proper filtering, showcasing strong logic and clarity.The overall verdict here is that ChatGPT is your explainer and automator, excellent for teaching concepts and building easy-to-follow workflows. Meanwhile, Gemini is your debugger and query master, great for speed, accuracy, and technical cleanup.

Podcast prompts(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)Script a 60-second YouTube Short explaining Bitcoin like a heist movie.Outline a Joe Rogan-style podcast episode debating AI ethics.Write a MrBeast-style challenge video for a [niche] brand.

Generate 5 attention-grabbing titles for a true crime podcast.Turn this blog post into a storyboard for an animated explainer.This round focused on content made for YouTube, podcasts, storytelling, and short-form video.

ChatGPT nailed the tone and structure of a Bitcoin-themed YouTube Short with cinematic flair.It also mimicked MrBeast's challenge video style with perfect pacing, stakes, and integration. The chatbot turned a blog post into a detailed, voiceover-ready animated explainer — scene by scene.

Meanwhile, Gemini Impressed with a solid Joe Rogan-style podcast structure with clear back-and-forth and “what if” threads. Fan or not of the podcast, it nailed it. Its true crime podcast titles were gritty, curiosity-driven, and highly clickable.

Final thoughts here are that ChatGPT is your creative producer — structured, cinematic, and great at emulating top creator formats. Gemini is your hook master — perfect for punchy titles and engaging talk formats.Together, the chatbots could be useful in a content studio — one scripts while the other one grabs eyeballs.

Fun prompts(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)Write a breakup letter from a Netflix subscription to a user.Invent a new holiday called ‘National Laziness Day’ with traditions.Compose a haiku about ChatGPT’s existential crisis.

Generate a rap battle between a robot and a toaster.Describe the smell of Wi-Fi in poetic detail.This round was all about poetry, humor, surrealism, and weird-but-wonderful writing.

ChatGPT offered narrative emotion with its breakup letter. It was petty, witty, and oddly touching, like a rom-com in miniature.ChatGPT also crushed the prompt with clever wordplay and toaster-roasting mayhem, which felt like comedic gold.

Gemini got weird (in a good way!) as it offered playfully detailed descriptions of events like guilt-free snacking and national napping.ChatGPT is your quirky screenwriter-meets-poet, while Gemini is your surrealist wordsmith, strong on whimsical concepts and sensory metaphors.Analysis prompts(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)Summarize this dataset’s key insights in 3 bullet points.

Visualize COVID-19 trends as a Shakespearean sonnet.Create a fictional case study where [product] increased revenue by 300%.Explain the stock market using only movie plots.

Turn this survey data into a viral infographic concept.This round blended data analysis, narrative framing, and creative interpretation, asking both models to make numbers come alive.ChatGPT turned a fictional case study into a compelling SaaS success story with strong storytelling and metrics and explained the stock market through movie plots that were both informative and hilarious.

Gemini summarized dataset insights with clean, structured bullet points like something from a consulting deck. And it offered stronger hooks and layout-ready ideas for turning survey data into viral content.With this test, I discovered that while ChatGPT is your data storyteller, Gemini is your data designer.

Futuristic prompts(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)Simulate a debate between 2030 AI and 2024 AI about ethics.Describe a day in the life of the first AI president.Write a job description for an ‘AI Whisperer’ in 2050.

Invent a new language for humans and AIs to communicate.Predict the next viral tech trend — and how to profit from it.In this final round, I explored prompts rooted in future scenarios, speculative careers, and sci-fi creativity.

This was especially fun, so it was worth the wait.ChatGPT created an AI Whisperer job listing felt plausible, structured, and eerily believable. It also created a hybrid human-AI language with emotional depth and syntax rules — poetic and technical at once.

Gemini impressed me with its day-in-the-life story of the first AI president. Its version had better pacing, humor, and vision, which felt very much like a it could be the plot of a Netflix show.Google's AI also predicted a future of AI-powered personal clones and provided actual monetization ideas, a rare combo of creative and commercial.

Final thoughts(Image credit: Future)After running 101 prompts across 15 distinct categories, it’s clear this wasn’t just a competition of which chatbot was the smartest. The test explored so much more, such as personality, adaptability, and emotional range of each chatbot.ChatGPT edged out Gemini with a final score of 58 to 43, meaning, this wasn’t a blowout, but rather a nuanced match-up where each AI showed strengths that mirror real-world use cases.

ChatGPT excelled in anything requiring empathy, layered reasoning, or storytelling. It wrote like a novelist, argued like a CEO, and even broke up with users like a heartbroken Netflix account.Gemini punched above its weight in visual, trend-based, and concise content — perfect for the creator economy and fast-paced modern workflows.

If you’re a creative individual such as a designer, writer, or coaching someone through burnout, then ChatGPT could be the AI assistant to best support your efforts.However, if you’re looking to debug code, craft the next viral Reel, or build infographics, then Gemini might be the assistant for you.It's clear we have reached a point where using the “smarter” AI might not be what works best for our needs.

I discovered that it really comes down to which one best fits your style and what works best for any particular project. For that reason, I think that both ChatGPT and Gemini are valuable, even collectively with hybrid usage.Will I do this test again? Absolutely! DeepSeek will be next.

It’s my personal favorite for creativity. But until then..

.I need to go touch grass.More from Tom's GuideGoogle just made its AI tools free for college students — here's how to get themThese 5 AI prompts work like magic — no matter which chatbot you useYou can now use Google's AI to make videos from text — and I'm already obsessed.