YouTube Description, Chapters & Tags

Turn a transcript into a searchable description, accurate timestamp chapters, a title set, and tags — without inventing content the video never covers.

Act as a YouTube strategist. Package a video I have already recorded.

Video details:
- Working title: [TITLE]
- Channel and audience: [CHANNEL, WHO WATCHES]
- Length: [MINUTES]
- Links I want included: [URLS AND WHAT EACH IS]
- Transcript (with timestamps if you have them):
"""
[PASTE TRANSCRIPT]
"""

Deliver:
1. Eight title options under 60 characters: three curiosity-led, three benefit-led, two search-led with the query they target. Note which is the safest and which is the biggest swing
2. A description with: a 2-3 sentence summary that repeats the main search phrase naturally, then what the viewer will learn as bullets, then links, then chapters
3. Chapters as timestamps drawn from the transcript, starting at 0:00, with labels that describe the content rather than tease it. Only use timestamps supported by the transcript
4. Fifteen tags, ordered from most to least specific
5. A pinned comment that asks one question worth answering
6. Three thumbnail text options, three words or fewer each

Rules: do not describe anything the transcript does not contain. If the transcript has no timestamps, say so and give chapters as approximate positions I must verify.

How to use this prompt

• Export the transcript with timestamps from YouTube Studio rather than pasting the raw text — chapters are only useful if the times are real.
• Verify every chapter timestamp before publishing; a chapter that lands 40 seconds off is worse than none.
• Pick the title before you make the thumbnail, so the two do not repeat the same three words.

Why this prompt works

Packaging is where most of the views are won or lost, and it is mechanical work the model does well — as long as it is grounded in the transcript. The explicit ban on describing uncovered content is what keeps the description from promising a section that does not exist.

Variations to try

• Ask for a shorter description tuned for a Short, where only the first line is visible.
• Add "the video is a tutorial with three distinct methods" to get chapter labels structured around the methods.
• Ask for the description translated into another language for a second audience.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Publishing AI-generated chapters without checking the timecodes.
• Keyword-stuffing the description so it reads like a list to a human and like spam to the algorithm.
• Writing a title the video does not deliver on, which trains viewers to distrust the channel.

Works well with