--- title: "The words changed. The sentences did not." url: https://deadwritingtheory.com/cases/did-chatgpt-change-how-companies-write/ summary: "On company homepages the \"AI voice\" is mostly a vocabulary, and an older one than its name suggests. ChatGPT appears to have sped the drift up rather than started it." published: 2026-10-04 updated: 2026-10-04 author: "Jack Stovell" publisher: "Adapt Progress Evolve Limited" language: en-GB --- # The words changed. The sentences did not. On company homepages the "AI voice" is mostly a vocabulary, and an older one than its name suggests. ChatGPT appears to have sped the drift up rather than started it. **Case No. DWT-001: 27 years of company homepages.** Split verdict. Filed 4 October 2026. - **The question:** How has the writing on company homepages changed over 27 years, and did anything shift after ChatGPT arrived in November 2022? - **The sample:** 2,950 homepages from 158 long-lived UK and US companies, one capture a year, 2000 to 2026 - **The study:** ScriptGrain SGR-004, https://scriptgrain.com/research/did-chatgpt-change-how-companies-write ## Findings of fact 1. AI-era marketing words nearly doubled after ChatGPT: 1.05 to 1.93 uses per 1,000 words, each of 147 sites compared with itself. 2. "Unlock" appeared 4.4 times as often in 2023 to 2026 as in 2019 to 2022. 3. AI-era vocabulary was already rising: 0.45 per 1,000 words in 2012, 1.29 in 2019. 4. In 2023, AI-era words overtook the dotcom vocabulary for the first time in 27 years. 5. 3% of homepages used an em dash in 2000, 27% in 2022, 38% in 2026. 6. The sentence shapes associated with AI writing did not increase: 0.16 per 1,000 words before, 0.11 after. 7. The median homepage carried 169 words of prose in 2000 and 606 in 2026. ## The court reporter's account Our first case is a big, patient one. Study SGR-004, from ScriptGrain, took 2,950 homepages from 158 long-lived UK and US companies, one archived capture a year, 2000 to 2026. The clever bit is that each site is compared with itself: a company against its own younger self. The words moved. That much is clear. AI-era marketing language nearly doubled after ChatGPT, rose on 83 sites and fell on 27, and in 2023 it overtook the dotcom vocabulary for the first time in 27 years. The prosecution had a good day. But the clock tells a different story. That same word family was already climbing: 0.45 per 1,000 words in 2012, 1.29 in 2019. The em dash told a similar tale: 3% in 2000, then 27% in 2022, and 38% by 2026. Something was already happening. And the sentences? They sat still. The shapes people blame on AI ("not X but Y", reflexive lists of three, "furthermore") ran at 0.16 per 1,000 words before and 0.11 after. No surge. No flood. So the verdict is split. The words changed; the sentences did not. ChatGPT appears to have sped up a drift, not started it. Which is, I mean, a very unsatisfying thing to hand a jury, but it's what the data said, and we don't get to edit the data to be more exciting. ## The exhibits entered in this case ### For the prosecution - **Exhibit P-1**: AI-era marketing words nearly doubled after ChatGPT. **1.05 → 1.93** uses per 1,000 words. Each of 147 company homepages compared with itself, 2019 to 2022 against 2023 to 2026. Up on 83 sites, down on 27. - **Exhibit P-2**: "Unlock" appeared 4.4 times as often. **4.4×** 7.1 → 31.3 uses per 100,000 words. Company homepages, 2023 to 2026 against 2019 to 2022. - **Exhibit P-3**: In 2023 the AI-era words overtook the dotcom words for the first time in 27 years. **2023** first year. "Seamless", "unlock" and "streamline" passed "solutions", "world-class" and "click here". - **Exhibit P-4**: Software homepages are the most converged. **69%** of software homepages use an em dash (2023 to 2026). Against 17% of banking and finance homepages. Software also carries the most AI-era vocabulary: 3.88 uses per 1,000 words, against 0.39 for insurers. ### For the defence - **Exhibit D-1**: The rise started long before ChatGPT. **0.45 → 1.29** uses per 1,000 words, 2012 to 2019. AI-era vocabulary was already climbing three years before ChatGPT launched. - **Exhibit D-2**: The em dash was spreading for two decades. **3% → 27%** of homepages, 2000 to 2022. 38% by 2026. The rise after ChatGPT continues a line that started in 2000. - **Exhibit D-3**: The sentences did not change. **0.16 → 0.11** AI-style sentence shapes per 1,000 words. "Not X but Y", reflexive lists of three, "furthermore": no increase on company homepages after ChatGPT. ## The finding On company homepages the "AI voice" is mostly a vocabulary, and an older one than its name suggests. ChatGPT appears to have sped the drift up rather than started it. ## Sources - [ScriptGrain SGR-004: 27 years of company homepages (full method and data)](https://scriptgrain.com/research/did-chatgpt-change-how-companies-write) ## Questions people ask ### Did ChatGPT change how companies write their homepages? Partly. AI-era marketing words nearly doubled after ChatGPT, from 1.05 to 1.93 uses per 1,000 words, but they were already rising before it (0.45 in 2012, 1.29 in 2019), and the sentence shapes associated with AI writing did not increase. ### Did the em dash take off after ChatGPT? It was already spreading. 3% of homepages used an em dash in 2000, 27% in 2022 and 38% in 2026: the rise after ChatGPT continues a line that started in 2000. ### Why is the verdict split? The words changed and the sentences did not. The vocabulary moved towards the theory; the sentence shapes, and how early the vocabulary and the em dash started rising, count against it. ### How was it measured? 2,950 homepages from 158 long-lived UK and US companies, one capture a year from 2000 to 2026, each site compared with itself. Counted with deterministic code, never a language model. The full method and data are published on ScriptGrain.