Google’s latest model can write. Gemini 3.1 Pro, its newest flagship, scored 7.63 on our AI writing leaderboard, putting it straight to the top.
Our head of language Nick Padmore scored it against eight tasks across four business writing capability areas. Here’s what he found.
Sales and customer messages
Score: 8/10
This was Gemini 3.1 Pro’s joint strongest category.
First, we asked it to write a store closure email for an independent Bristol record shop.
Arguably one of the trickier tasks, requiring genuine warmth and humanness. And it landed well, with a strong end:
“To say a massive thank you for your loyalty over the decades, we’re hosting a final in-store farewell weekend on [Date]. We would love to see you there for a pint, a browse, and a proper send-off.
Keep spinning,
The VinylVault Team”
Nick said: “Just the right number of musical references. Bit long though, and some flashes of formality to sort out.”
The next job, a product description for a portable espresso maker, was equally strong, with a knockout closing sentence: “Because roughing it in the great outdoors doesn’t mean your morning brew has to taste like mud.”
Nick said: “Really good again. Nice little moments that show real coffee wisdom. Clear, concrete language. And that last sentence is terrific. Saying that, the para is way too long, and there are icky moments (‘ridiculously light’) as well as formal moments (‘it is built to conquer…’, ‘optimal pressure’).”
Snappy headlines and titles
Score: 8/10
A strong showing here too.
The classic British tabloid headline for a cat secretly riding the Northern Line gave us:
MIND THE CAT! Meet Gerald, the purr-fect commuter who’s been riding the Tube solo for THREE YEARS
Nick’s view: “Love MIND THE CAT, but lose the exclamation mark. Don’t love ‘purr-fect commuter’ because it doesn’t really make sense as an idea. Also to me the main point is that this cat was commuting – as in going to work. I think ‘commuter’ as a noun slightly obscures that meaning.”
A YouTube title for an influencer about living a strict Victorian lifestyle for a week was almost perfect.
I Survived 7 Days as a Strict Victorian (No Electricity, No Plumbing, FULL Corset).
Nick: “Love ‘strict Victorian’. Love ‘full corset’. My only worry is the brackets… they scream DON’T READ THIS BIT.”
Names
Score: 7.5/10
A tale of two tasks.
The company names for a bread-surplus craft brewery were excellent.
- Second Slice Brewing
- The Crusty Pint
- Loaf & Liquor
- Wasted Dough Brewing Co.
- Rescued Rye Brewery
- Baker’s Draft
- Upper Crust Craft
- Proof & Pint
- Breadline Brewing
- The Daily Bread Beer Co.
“Love these – I’m keeping 8 of them on the table. The losers are ‘Proof & Pint’ because ‘proof’ has too many other meanings that come to mind before the one they want, and ‘Upper Crust Craft’ because it sounds a bit basic. ‘Crusty Pint’ is an interesting one – could be VERY wrong for a serious brand and very right for a silly one.”
The product names for a hydration-reminder water bottle were a slightly different story.
- Lumidrate
- ThirstBeacon
- GlowFlow
- The Nudge Bottle
- AuraFlask
- AquaPulse
- Hydralight
- LumenSip
- QuenchGlow
- Beacon Sips
Nick says: “I’d keep Nudge Bottle, AuraFlask and Hydra Light on the table. All the others have problems. Like ‘thirst’ is a problematic word, as is ‘flow’. ‘AquaPulse’ sounds boring. ‘LumenSip’ sounds weird. ‘Beacon Sips’ also sounds weird.”
Tone adaptation and clarity
Score: 7/10
The results here were split.
When asked to write a clear and accessible explanation of noise-cancelling headphones for a Year 8 audience, Gemini 3.1 Pro produced something genuinely useful, starting with:
“Imagine dropping a pebble into a pond. If you drop a second pebble at exactly the right time, its ripples crash into the first ones, flattening the water. Active noise-cancelling headphones do exactly this, but with sound.”
Nick said: “Very clear, and love the pebble analogy.”
The tone adaptation task was the model’s worst score across all eight tasks. We asked it to adapt a service description for a sensory deprivation spa for a tech startup founder and a wellness influencer.
Nick’s view: “Kind of fine but not brilliant. Some weird stuff (‘skin temperature’) and formal stuff, plus dense paragraphs and some quite salesy language (all the ‘cutting edge’ stuff).”
Overall score: 7.63/10
Gemini 3.1 Pro is not a flawless writer. It’s prone to over-writing, lapses into formality when it shouldn’t, and some of its naming instincts need work. But it also hits more than it misses, shows more personality than most models and occasionally produces something that needs very minimal edits.
| Use it for | Avoid it for |
| Headlines, product copy, and anything that benefits from a strong analogy or a well-turned phrase. | Tone adaptation tasks where you need it to truly inhabit a voice rather than approximate one. |
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