A Practical Review Checklist for AI-Generated Marketing Images

Why AI images fail after they look “fine”

On a laptop thumbnail, a creative can look polished. On a phone in bright light—the way customers actually see Instagram and Facebook—the problems show up:

• Letters that almost form Hindi or English but do not
• Prices that do not match the rate card
• Logos that are almost yours, or still someone else’s
• Hands with extra fingers, jewellery that melts into skin
• “Customers” who look like stock models from another country and category
• Festival props that clash with a serious medical or B2B message

None of these are rare. They are normal first-pass AI outputs. Your job is not to praise the model; your job is to reject what you would not hang on the shop door.

The checklist: run it every time

Print this or keep it on a sticky note next to the approve button.

1. Faces and people

• Is there a face? If yes, is it a real person you have permission to show, or an AI invention?
• Never present an AI face as your doctor, stylist, tutor, or happy customer.
• Prefer no face, a back-of-head crop, hands only, or a real photo from your media library.
• Reject distorted eyes, teeth, or jewellery. Customers notice even when you are busy.

2. Text inside the image

• Read every character at 100% zoom on your phone.
• Reject garbled English, broken Devanagari, or mystery scripts.
• Prefer captions in the post text and clean visuals—or festive/offer templates with editable type—over AI-baked headlines.
• If the image must include text (price, date, “open today”), proof it like a menu reprint.

3. Prices, offers, and dates

• Match INR amounts to what a walk-in can get today.
• Delete “limited time” unless the end date is real and written somewhere you control.
• Festival discounts: only if the till and the staff know them. AI loves inventing Diwali packages.
• Batch dates for tutors and coaches: confirm the classroom calendar, not the model’s guess.

4. Logo, brand colours, and watermark

• Apply your current brand watermark—the file you print on invoices and the board outside.
• Reject creatives that invent a second logo or stretch the mark.
• Check colour against the shop: if your brand is navy and mint, a neon purple splash is not “on brand” just because it is festive.
• See also brand watermark for Instagram and Facebook.

5. Foreign watermarks and stock tells

• Look in corners and along edges for leftover watermarks or site marks from training-style artefacts.
• Reject images that look like another city’s mall or a product you do not sell.
• If the scene could belong to any business after you crop the logo, add your mark or replace the image.

6. Category honesty

• Clinics: no miracle-before/after that you cannot defend clinically.
• Restaurants: food should resemble what leaves the kitchen—not a fantasy plating you never serve.
• Ecommerce: SKU colour and pack size should match stock photos or the warehouse.
• Repair shops: do not show tools or brands you do not service if the caption implies you do.

7. Platform crop and readability

• Check Instagram feed crop and Facebook mobile crop.
• Important text should not sit in the bottom fifth where UI chrome eats it.
• High-contrast beats pretty fog. Older customers and bright daylight both punish soft grey type.

8. Caption–image match

• If the caption says “Gota, Ahmedabad” and the image looks like a generic beach, fix one of them.
• If the caption says “no offer this week” and the image screams SALE, regenerate.
• Hashtags never rescue a misleading creative.

Only after all eight passes should you place the post on the Content Planner. Pair this image pass with the wider AI social post review checklist.

Templates vs AI images (when the checklist says “skip”)

You do not have to win every creative with AI. Festive greetings, hours cards, and simple offer stickers are often safer as templates with editable text and your watermark. Use AI images when atmosphere or product angle matters and you are willing to regenerate until the checklist clears.

On Diwali and Holi weeks, many Indian SMBs should default to templates for greetings and hours, then use carefully reviewed AI or real photos for proof posts. That mix is covered in festive vs evergreen for Indian SMBs.

A ten-minute owner workflow

Busy owners do not need a design review meeting. They need a ritual:

1. Generate or pick a creative in the AI Post Creator.
2. Open the preview on your phone (or zoom until it matches phone width).
3. Run faces → text → prices → watermark → edges → category → crop → caption match.
4. Fail any one item: regenerate once with a clearer brief, or switch to template/photo.
5. Approve only what you would show a sceptical uncle who knows your real prices.

Two regenerations with a sharp brief beat ten regenerations with “make it nicer.” Coin and credit budgeting is covered in what PixiCoins are and on pricing. Kick Starter’s 14-day free trial with 100 PixiCoins is for learning this ritual—not for infinite festival art.

Briefs that reduce checklist failures

Most bad images start as bad briefs. Improve the input:

• Name the product or service exactly as sold
• Name the city or area if locality matters
• Say “no people / no faces” when you do not have model releases
• Say “no text in the image” when type will live in the caption
• Say “watermark space bottom-right” if your mark needs a clean corner
• Attach or reference a real reference photo from the media library when colour must match

Ask Pixi and image tools follow gaps with invention. Empty price fields become fantasy offers. Empty location fields become nowhere.

Team and agency handoff

If a family member or freelancer publishes for you, send them this checklist as non-negotiable. You remain the publisher of record on Facebook Pages, Instagram professional accounts, and LinkedIn. Pixipie drafts; you approve. Do not outsource the price check. Do not let anyone publish “just this once” with garbled text because the festival is tomorrow—schedule a simpler template instead.

For Google reviews, keep social proof honest too: quote reviews only with permission and without fake star graphics that imply platform ratings you did not earn. Never invent star badges or rating markup on creatives.

Common Indian SMB failure examples (fix before publish)

• Salon: AI poster says “Global Hair Spa ₹999” but the menu is ₹2,499. Fix price or delete offer.
• Dental clinic: Smiling AI patient used as “our case.” Replace with anonymised real photo or no face.
• Tutor: Board in the image shows wrong exam year. Prefer caption text and a clean template.
• Ecommerce: Saree colour in the AI image is not in stock. Use catalogue photo.
• AC repair: Logo of a brand you are not authorised for appears in the background. Crop or regenerate.

Each of these is a five-minute catch. After publish, they become comment threads and lost trust.

What to do when you are unsure

If you hesitate, do not publish. Options in order:

1. Template with watermark and caption-only offer text
2. Real photo from the shop, plate, shelf, or classroom
3. One regeneration with a stricter brief
4. Skip the slot—empty is better than wrong

Automation should not remove judgment. Background on responsible scheduling: social media automation for small businesses. Solo ₹499/mo is the plan many owners use once the trial habit is solid; the checklist stays the same on every plan.