Brand Book for humans and AIs: the guide that lets people and AIs create for your brand
The guide that defines how your brand looks, speaks and is described, written for your team and for the AI tools it already uses. For new brands, brands going through a rebrand or brands that already exist: visual and verbal identity, official facts and a ready-to-use package for ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Copilot.
By Guto Bertoncini, founder and lead strategist of FlowupUpdated on 9 min read
5.0 on GoogleSince 2011Proprietary B.I.N.A. Method
A brand book is the document that brings together the rules of a brand: who it is, how it looks and how it speaks. It combines the visual identity (logo, colors, typography, imagery) and the verbal identity: positioning, tone of voice, vocabulary and messages. Its purpose is to let anyone, inside or outside the company, create consistent materials without needing an explanation for every request.
Flowup's brand book goes one step further: it is also written for the AI tools the team uses, with official facts, instructions and examples that an AI can follow.
Brand book, visual identity manual and brand guidelines
| Aspect | Visual identity manual | Brand book | Brand Book for humans and AIs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Focus | Use of the logo and the visual system | The whole brand: visual and verbal | The whole brand, for people and AIs |
| Who uses it | Designers and print shops | Marketing, communications and vendors | The whole team and its AI tools |
| Format | PDF or website | Browsable website, PDF and files for AI | |
| Official facts and descriptions | No | Sometimes | Yes, in three versions |
| Instructions for AI | No | No | Yes, with prompts and a checklist |
"Brand guidelines" is the name most often used in English for the same kind of document. "Brandbook", written as one word, and "brand manual" are also used as synonyms.
In many companies, posts, emails, proposals, presentations and images already go through AI tools. Without a reference, each person describes the brand in a different way, and each AI fills the gaps with assumptions: generic descriptions, off-standard colors, calls to action the company does not use and, sometimes, data with no source.
The traditional brand manual does not solve this, because it was written for designers and in a format that an AI does not use well. The brand book for humans and AIs puts the same rules into language that both people and tools can follow.
What the guide ensures
- Official facts that the AI must not make up
- Approved voice, vocabulary and calls to action
- Colors, fonts and logo in a format that tools can read
- Human review with a checklist before publishing
Deliverables
Three layers in a single guide
The same content, organized for those who create, for those who review and for the tools that help create.
Visual and verbal brand book
Essence, logo, colors with verified contrast, typography, components, imagery, tone of voice, vocabulary and official descriptions of the company and of each service. Delivered as a browsable website and a PDF.
AI package
The main instruction for projects in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Copilot, a brand file in Markdown, tokens in JSON, official prompts for each type of piece, right and wrong examples and a review checklist.
Public semantic layer
A map of the brand's entities, structured data and an official knowledge base for AIs. It is the bridge to GEO work: it helps your brand be understood outside the company as well.
The semantic layer sits next to the GEO service. The brand book governs what your company produces with AI; GEO works on how public AIs talk about your company. Learn about GEO.
Who it is for
For new brands, brands going through a rebrand or brands that already exist
Flowup creates the brand, leads the rebrand or documents the identity you already have. In all three cases, the result is a digital brand book, for people and AIs.
Brand creation
For new companies or companies that have never had a structured identity. Brand platform and visual and verbal identities created from scratch, already documented in the brand book.
Rebranding
For brands that are repositioning, merging or working with an outdated identity. The brand is renewed, and the brand book records the new rules for the team and for the AIs.
Digital brand book for an existing brand
For brands that already have an identity but no guide, or have a PDF that nobody opens. We organize what exists into a digital brand book, with the AI layer.
Who it is for
- B2B, technology and service companies whose teams already use AI in their daily work.
- Brands being repositioned that need to align people, agencies and tools.
- Companies with several people, units or countries producing content.
Brand creation and rebranding follow the method of the Branding and visual identity service. If all you need is a presentation or a single piece, premium presentations are the faster route.
Starting a company? In Flowup Start, the Brand Book comes together with the brand creation, the website and the search foundation, in a single project. Learn about Flowup Start.
Formats
Three formats, from essential to governance
All of them start from the same method. What changes is the depth of the descriptions, of the AI package and of the follow-up.
| What is included | Essential | Complete | Governance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visual and verbal brand book | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Official descriptions | Company | Company and each service | Company and each service |
| AI package | Instruction, brand file and checklist | Complete, with prompts and examples | Complete, with prompts by area |
| Public semantic layer | No | Knowledge base and llms.txt | Complete, with structured data |
| Team training | Usage guide | One session | Quarterly sessions |
| Review of the guide | No | In 90 days | Quarterly |
Investment quoted on request. The price depends on the starting point (new brand, rebrand or existing brand), the size of the brand and the number of products and services. For international projects, the price is defined in a proposal.
Method
How we create your brand book
Each stage ends with a deliverable that you approve before the next one begins.
Diagnosis of the brand and of AI use
Interviews, current materials and the tools the team uses. A first test records how AIs describe the brand today.
Information base
Official facts, descriptions, vocabulary and messages, validated with you. It is layer B of the B.I.N.A. Method.
Visual and verbal system
The identity created, renewed or organized into rules, colors, fonts and components, with right and wrong examples.
AI package
Instructions, files and prompts, with the projects set up in your team's tools.
Proof and delivery
The same test run at the start, now with the guide, plus the team training.
Review
In the Complete and Governance formats, the guide comes back to the table in 90 days or every quarter: what changed in the company goes into the guide, and the test is repeated.
Example
Flowup's own brand book
Our guide is public. It serves as a reference for what you receive and was the basis of the test below.
Flowup's guide is at flowup.agency/brand/ (in Portuguese). It shows logo, colors, typography, components, voice and the AI layer, with the main instruction, the brand file and the official prompts our team uses.
On September 28, 2026, we made the same request to three AIs, Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini, with and without the brand file: a company description, a post, a prompt for a cover image and an email. The table summarizes what changed.
| Criterion | Without the brand file | With the brand file |
|---|---|---|
| Company description | Generic in all three; in one of them, with exaggerations such as "pioneer" and "leader" | Faithful to the official facts in all three |
| Suggested cover image | Colors outside the palette in all three, including a color the brand no longer uses | Only palette colors in all three |
| Promise of results | Appeared in one of the three | None |
| Call to action | Off-standard in all three | Approved in one, close in another: this is the point we are reinforcing in the file |
| List of what to check | None | Present in all three |
A small test, with one round per model, run by Flowup itself. In Gemini, the conversation did not accept the whole file, and the with-file condition used only the main instruction. That is why we keep repeating the test, and every piece still goes through human review.
Brand books created by Flowup
Guides published on client websites, for the team and for the AIs. Open each one to see what the guide covers and its screens.
Brand booksBrand Book MediaLinkGuia de marca para humanos e IAs, com 16 seções e o logotipo redesenhado em vetor.
Brand booksDr. Ana Vega brand bookThe ophthalmologist's brand guide for humans and AIs, with medical advertising rules.
Brand booksDr. Alexander Kopelman brand bookVersion 1 of the visual identity and a brand guide for humans and AIs, with a medical advertising section.
Brand booksHPROJ brand bookA brand guide for humans and AIs, with the engineering firm's standard for technical documents.
Next step
See how the AIs understand your brand today
The B.I.N.A. Diagnosis shows, in 12 questions, the layer that most limits your presence on Google and in the AIs.
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Take the free B.I.N.A. DiagnosisFrequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions about brand books
What people usually ask before getting started.
Is your question not here? Tell us how your team creates today.
Talk about my brandWhat is a brand book?
What is the difference between a brand book and a visual identity manual?
What is a brand book for humans and AIs?
Does it work with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Copilot?
Does the brand book make my company appear in ChatGPT?
Does Flowup create a brand from scratch and handle rebranding?
How much does a brand book cost?
Will AI replace my creative team?
Shall we write your brand's guide for people and AIs?
Tell us how your team creates today. The conversation starts with the diagnosis.
5.0 on Google · Since 2011 · Case studies with stated sources
