AI Genogram Prompts That Just Work
GenogramAI's built-in AI can build an entire family genogram from a single sentence — or a whole pasted case study — and then edit it as you talk to it. The trick is knowing what to say. Below are copy-paste prompt templates for the most common jobs: your immediate family, three-generation class assignments, blended and complex families, clinical intakes, and quick edits. Swap the [BRACKETED] placeholders for real names, birth years and details, then paste into the AI assistant (the purple sparkle button on the right edge — the Edit tab builds and revises your genogram; the Chat tab answers questions about genograms). Each prompt includes a one-line tip for the best result. Every AI request costs 1 credit, and the Free plan gives you 5 a month, so a little specificity goes a long way.
Basics: Your immediate family
Start here. These prompts build a clean, correct core family in one paste — the fastest way to see what GenogramAI's AI can do before you add complexity.
Your household
Build a genogram of my immediate family. I'm [YOUR NAME], born [YEAR]. My partner is [PARTNER NAME], born [YEAR]. We have [NUMBER] children: [CHILD NAME, birth year] and [CHILD NAME, birth year].
Include birth years so the AI orders children oldest-to-youngest and stacks the generations correctly.
Parents and siblings
Create a genogram centered on me, [YOUR NAME] ([BIRTH YEAR]). Add my parents [FATHER NAME, year] and [MOTHER NAME, year], and my siblings [NAME, year] and [NAME, year]. Make me the index person.
Naming the index person tells the AI who to center the layout around and marks them with the index-person outline.
Add grandparents
Add both sets of grandparents. On my mother's side: [NAME] and [NAME]. On my father's side: [NAME] and [NAME]. Mark [NAME] as deceased in [YEAR].
Say "deceased in [year]" and the AI draws the X-through-symbol and age-at-death for you automatically.
Genders and details
Set up my family and record each person's details: [NAME] is [gender], works as [occupation], lives in [city]. [NAME] is [gender]... Do the same for everyone.
State gender, occupation and location up front — the Display Labels menu can then surface any of them on every symbol at once.
Multi-generation class assignments
Most school and social-work assignments ask for three generations. These prompts build a full tree fast so you can spend your time on the analysis, not the drawing.
Three-generation family
Build a three-generation genogram for a class assignment. Generation 1 (grandparents): [NAMES, birth years]. Generation 2 (their children, including my parent): [NAMES, birth years]. Generation 3 (me and my siblings/cousins): [NAMES, birth years].
List people generation by generation with birth years so the AI cleanly stacks all three tiers and auto-arranges them.
Marriages and in-laws
Add marriages across the family: my aunt [NAME] married [NAME] in [YEAR] and they have [CHILDREN]; my uncle [NAME] married [NAME] in [YEAR] with [CHILDREN].
State who married whom and the year — marriage years help the AI order couples and place their children correctly.
Show a family pattern
Across three generations several relatives share [trait or condition, e.g. diabetes / a career in medicine]: [NAME], [NAME] and [NAME]. Build the genogram and record this for each of them.
After it builds, turn on the matching label (Medical, Occupation, etc.) from the Display Labels menu to make the pattern visible at a glance.
Fill a big tree fast
Here is my whole extended family — build it and then auto-arrange: [paste your full list of people and how they're related].
The AI auto-arranges after a bulk add; you can always ask it again to "tidy up" or "auto arrange" if the layout gets crowded.
Blended & complex families
Step-parents, half-siblings, divorces, twins, adoption. The wording here matters — say the relationship out loud and the AI builds the right structure.
Blended family
Create a blended family. [NAME] and [NAME] are married now. [NAME] has two children from a previous marriage to [EX-NAME]: [CHILD] and [CHILD]. [NAME] has one child from a previous relationship: [CHILD]. Together they have [CHILD].
The phrase "from a previous marriage" is what tells the AI to build the half-sibling and step-family structure instead of one merged sibling group.
Divorce and remarriage
[NAME] and [NAME] married in [YEAR] and divorced in [YEAR]. [NAME] then remarried [NAME] in [YEAR]. Their children are [NAMES].
Give both the marriage and divorce years so the AI draws the correct marriage, separation and divorce line notation.
Half-siblings
My mother [NAME] had me with my father [NAME], then later had my half-brother [NAME] with [OTHER PARTNER NAME].
Naming the two different parents is what makes the AI connect half-siblings to the one shared parent only.
Twins, adoption or foster
Add twins to [PARENT NAME]: [NAME] and [NAME], born [YEAR] — they are [identical/fraternal]. Also, [CHILD] was [adopted/fostered] by [PARENTS] in [YEAR].
Say identical or fraternal and adopted or foster explicitly — the AI uses the matching twin notation and parent-child line type.
Clinical & therapy use
For intakes, case studies and treatment planning. Paste your notes and let the AI do the structure — then refine emotional dynamics in plain language.
Genogram from intake notes
Build a genogram from this intake: [paste your intake summary or session notes].
Paste the full text — the AI reads names, ages and relationships straight out of prose; on the Clinical plan real names are anonymized before anything reaches the AI.
From a case study text
Here is a case study — build the family genogram it describes: [paste the case study].
The more explicitly the text states who is related to whom, the more accurate the build; fix any gap afterward in the Edit tab.
Trauma & addiction patterns
Build [CLIENT]'s family. Note where [addiction/trauma/mental health] appears: [NAME] struggled with [X], [NAME] with [Y]. Add emotional relationships: [NAME] and [NAME] are cut off; [NAME] and [NAME] are conflictual.
Name each emotional relationship explicitly (cutoff, conflict, close, fused) and the AI draws it from its 38 emotional-line types.
Couples therapy
Set up a couples genogram for [NAME] and [NAME]. Include each partner's parents and siblings, and mark the dynamics: [describe closeness, conflict or distance between them and their families].
You can stack multiple emotional lines between the same two people (e.g. close and conflictual) to capture a complicated bond.
Editing commands (sidebar Edit tab)
Already have a genogram open? Open the AI assistant's Edit tab and just describe the change. No need to hunt for tools — talk to it in plain language.
Add a person
Add [NAME], born [YEAR], as the [relationship, e.g. wife / son / cousin] of [EXISTING PERSON].
Reference an existing person by name so the AI connects the newcomer in exactly the right spot.
Change a relationship
Change [NAME] and [NAME] from married to divorced. And mark [NAME] and [NAME] as estranged.
Editing lives in the Edit tab of the sidebar — describe the change in plain language and the AI applies it to the current genogram.
Mark deceased or add details
Mark [NAME] as deceased in [YEAR]. Set [NAME]'s occupation to [JOB] and location to [CITY].
Added details stay on the person even when hidden — use the Display Labels menu to show or hide them without ever deleting the data.
Reorganize the layout
Auto-arrange the whole genogram and center it on [INDEX PERSON].
Auto-arrange preserves generations, and Undo/redo covers layout too, so you can always step back if you don't like the result.
Frequently asked questions
Do AI prompts cost credits?
Yes — each AI request costs 1 credit, whether it's building a whole family or making one small edit. The Free plan includes 5 AI credits per month and resets monthly, so you can build and refine a genogram end-to-end. Pro ($12/mo) and Clinical ($29/mo) plans include unlimited AI.
Can the AI read a case study or intake notes?
Yes. Paste the full text straight into the AI assistant and ask it to build the family it describes. It pulls names, ages and relationships out of ordinary prose and constructs the genogram, then you can correct anything in the Edit tab. On the Clinical plan, real client names are anonymized before any text is sent to the AI.
Can it edit a genogram I've already built?
Yes. Open the AI assistant (the purple sparkle button on the right edge) and switch to the Edit tab, then describe the change — "add a sister," "mark them as divorced," "auto-arrange." It applies the edit to your existing genogram; you don't have to start over.
What if the AI gets something wrong?
Use the "Undo last AI change" button in the AI sidebar to roll back the most recent AI action in one click, then rephrase your prompt more specifically (birth years and explicit relationships help most). The main Undo/redo controls and a 30-day Trash with edit history are there as extra safety nets.