Using Gemini Gems for faster approval of social content

The “Digital Guardian” assistant is built for a specific client using Gemini Gems and, in effect, it serves as an AI sub-editor for the social team.

The number one use of generative AI in marketing teams is for content generation. And yet there are obvious risks in doing so, particularly when it comes to social or community-focused activity.

“Social is about creativity, authenticity, and humans - so there’s lots we can’t automate,” says Eimile Kerrigan, Head of Social at CTI Digital.

But one use case that Kerrigan and her team have operationalised, and one that plays to the strengths of gen AI, is what they term the “Digital Guardian”.

This assistant is built for a specific client using Gemini Gems and, in effect, it serves as an AI sub-editor for the social team.

If you’re not familiar with Gems, they’re similar to CustomGPTs – or as Google puts is, “your custom AI experts for help on any topic.”

Gems are suitable for repeatable tasks that draw on highly detailed prompts. And, crucially, you can give your Gem context to digest.

One Gemini Product Manager offers a consumer-focused example of what these tools can do, saying “you can create a Gem to act as a positive, upbeat running coach who’s made a training plan just for you.”

So, what does the ‘Digital Guardian’ Gem do?

“Some clients have large ‘rulebooks’,” says Kerrigan. “Legal restrictions, trademarking, complex regulatory requirements, brand voice – they’re all incredibly important and that’s why historically we’ve spent a lot of time cross-referencing PDFs, double-checking assets and navigating ‘legal review loops’.”

This creates an understandable bottleneck, not just on the client-side, but within creative teams, where senior employees most familiar with a particular project are needed to do multiple reviews of content.

The Digital Guardian however, knows the client's voice, rules, and preferences inside out. No more guessing, and no more digging through manuals.

Kerrigan’s team upload a collective ‘source of truth’ – everything they know about the brand, including guides, and previously approved or flagged work (note: Gemini is being used here in an Enterprise Google Workplace, with interactions and Gem usage remaining within the organization and not being used to train models or being reviewed by humans). 

Then they write a system prompt telling the AI exactly how to behave, with words to avoid, for example, and desired content formats (drawing on a central spreadsheet).

“We feed the Gem our lessons learned. If a client doesn’t like a specific tone or pushed back on a hashtag three months ago, the Gem remembers it so we don't repeat the mistake,” says Kerrigan.

What have been the benefits of the Digital Guardian Gem?

Kerrigan’s team so far put the time savings at 4-6 hours per month, per planner. This not insubstantial figure comes from:

• Reduced document hunting: Eliminating manual cross-referencing across scores of pages of brand, messaging, and performance guidelines.
• Automated compliance: Instantly applying approved claims, formatting trademarks, and including sources or footnotes where required.
• Faster internal approvals: Reduced rejection rates and revision loops, freeing up more time for more strategic or analytical work.

Of course, there’s lots more that Gems, agentic workflows proper and internal LLMs are achieving across CTI and for clients. From first-draft or straw-man UI prototyping to an integrated HR Slackbot designed to help answer many of our most common people-related questions.

But each use case is guided by CTI’s AI policy and the needs of teams and clients. For Kerrigan and the social team, it’s clear that responsible AI can facilitate approval-safe brainstorming, team flexibility and designer-ready briefs – all without encroaching on the purview of human creative expertise.

It’s also worth noting that though there are discussions across many industries about the impact of AI on junior roles, in this case AI can be used as an important guiding hand for execs that are still gaining experience in their field.

Get in touch if you'd like to learn more about CTI's social & influencer or AI strategy and implementation services.

(This article was first published via CTI Digital's LinkedIn newsletter)