diff --git a/frontend/messages/de.json b/frontend/messages/de.json
index 28fb6f67..2ab6edc6 100644
--- a/frontend/messages/de.json
+++ b/frontend/messages/de.json
@@ -503,7 +503,7 @@
 	"doc_details_more_receivers": "+{count} weitere",
 	"transcription_mode_label": "Transkribieren",
 	"transcription_mode_stop": "Fertig",
-	"transcription_block_placeholder": "Text hier eingeben...",
+	"transcription_block_placeholder": "Text eingeben — mit @Name eine Person aus dem Archiv verknüpfen",
 	"transcription_block_save_saving": "Speichere...",
 	"transcription_block_save_saved": "Gespeichert",
 	"transcription_block_save_error": "Nicht gespeichert",
diff --git a/frontend/messages/en.json b/frontend/messages/en.json
index 1d811734..0a39a394 100644
--- a/frontend/messages/en.json
+++ b/frontend/messages/en.json
@@ -503,7 +503,7 @@
 	"doc_details_more_receivers": "+{count} more",
 	"transcription_mode_label": "Transcribe",
 	"transcription_mode_stop": "Done",
-	"transcription_block_placeholder": "Type text here...",
+	"transcription_block_placeholder": "Type text — use @name to link a person from the archive",
 	"transcription_block_save_saving": "Saving...",
 	"transcription_block_save_saved": "Saved",
 	"transcription_block_save_error": "Not saved",
diff --git a/frontend/messages/es.json b/frontend/messages/es.json
index 06b805e8..29e50e9f 100644
--- a/frontend/messages/es.json
+++ b/frontend/messages/es.json
@@ -503,7 +503,7 @@
 	"doc_details_more_receivers": "+{count} más",
 	"transcription_mode_label": "Transcribir",
 	"transcription_mode_stop": "Listo",
-	"transcription_block_placeholder": "Escriba el texto aquí...",
+	"transcription_block_placeholder": "Escriba el texto — use @nombre para vincular a una persona del archivo",
 	"transcription_block_save_saving": "Guardando...",
 	"transcription_block_save_saved": "Guardado",
 	"transcription_block_save_error": "No guardado",
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/PersonMentionEditor.svelte.spec.ts b/frontend/src/lib/components/PersonMentionEditor.svelte.spec.ts
index 15f04f7d..0a15169c 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/PersonMentionEditor.svelte.spec.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/PersonMentionEditor.svelte.spec.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import { cleanup, render } from 'vitest-browser-svelte';
 import { page, userEvent } from 'vitest/browser';
 import PersonMentionEditorHost from './PersonMentionEditor.test-host.svelte';
 import type { components } from '$lib/generated/api';
+import { m } from '$lib/paraglide/messages.js';
 
 type Person = components['schemas']['Person'];
 type PersonMention = components['schemas']['PersonMention'];
@@ -393,6 +394,10 @@ describe('PersonMentionEditor — placeholder behavior', () => {
 			expect(inner!.hasAttribute('data-placeholder')).toBe(false);
 		});
 	});
+
+	it('transcription_block_placeholder contains @ mention trigger for discoverability', () => {
+		expect(m.transcription_block_placeholder()).toContain('@');
+	});
 });
 
 // ─── Touch target (WCAG 2.2 AA) ──────────────────────────────────────────────