Guide
How to write an SEO content brief with AI
ChatGPT or Claude can write an SEO content brief in minutes, and the brief is where AI helps most: the writer gets the research, and the page is still written by someone who knows the subject. Give it one query, the reader, what you sell and the titles and headings of the results that rank now. Ask for the intent, a two-to-three-sentence answer to open the page, an outline built from what ranks plus one or two things none of those pages has, and the questions and terms a complete answer covers, with a [verify] mark on every number it couldn't check. Google's guidance is that using AI is fine and pages made mainly to game rankings aren't, so the brief asks for material only you have: your own data, a worked example, a template.
Short answer
- One query, one intent per page.
- The answer opens the page.
- Cover what ranks, then add what it lacks.
- [verify] on every number until it's checked.
The brief to copy
SEO content brief
"Write a content brief for the query [query]. Reader: [who]. We sell: [what].
Top results now: [paste titles and headings]. If you can't see live results, say so and mark the outline [not checked against live results].
Give: the intent (informational, commercial, transactional or navigational) and what share of results follow it; a 2 to 3 sentence answer to open the page; 5 to 8 headings, each written as the question or claim it answers, covering what 3 or more results cover, plus 1 or 2 things none of them covers well; 5 to 8 questions searchers ask; the terms a complete answer names; a title under 60 characters and a meta description under 155; 3 to 5 internal links to pages that exist, otherwise [confirm URL].
List the data and examples the page needs, with a source or [verify: what and where]. A word range only as a guide; never pad."
A worked example
Illustration: a made-up business. Shutterbook, a booking tool for photographers, wants a page for "how to price wedding photography packages". The marketer pastes the top five results: three guides with formulas and two lists of price ranges. The brief, in part:
Brief: how to price wedding photography packages
Intent: informational. A photographer wants a method and an example to price this season's packages; 3 of 5 results are guides with formulas. Checked against live results: titles and headings, pasted on 5 November.
Answer first: Price a wedding package from your cost of doing business. Add up a year's costs and the pay you want, divide by the weddings you can shoot, then price each package by the hours it includes for shooting, editing and travel. [verify: typical editing hours for a full-day wedding]
Title: How to price wedding photography packages (worksheet)
Headings, in part: 1. What does a wedding cost you to shoot? 2. How many weddings can you take a year? 3. Price each package from the hours it includes. 4. When should the deposit and the balance be paid? 5. Copy the pricing worksheet (the gap none of the five fills).
Terms: cost of doing business, deposit, retainer, second shooter, album, travel fee.
Proof: median editing hours per wedding [verify: from Shutterbook's anonymized booking data, if we can share it].
Notes for the writer: mention Shutterbook once, where the worksheet can be used. Don't publish any line still marked [verify].
The worksheet and the editing-hours figure are what the five ranking pages don't have. The writer, a former wedding photographer, fills them in from her own bookings.
What stays with you
- Paste the real results, or let the brief say it wasn't checked.
- Add what only you have: your data, your examples, your template.
- Clear every [verify] before the page goes live.
- Link only pages that exist.
- Someone who knows the subject writes or edits the page.
Next step: save the brief
Briefs come every week, so keep this one with your other marketing prompts. ChatGPT prompts for marketing, saved so you don't paste shows where your brand voice, campaigns and repeated tasks each go.
Skills for this
- MarketingSEO content brief for one queryWrites a content brief for one search query: intent, the answer to open with, H2s from what ranks, questions, entities, links, word range.
- MarketingBrand voice guide and rewriteExtracts a voice guide from 3 to 5 sample texts (traits with do and don't pairs, a word list, mechanics) and rewrites a draft in it.
- MarketingSocial posts from an articleTurns one article into a LinkedIn post, an X thread, and a short post, each hooked on the article's most specific point.
- MarketingLanding page copy reviewReviews landing page copy with 6 concrete tests (headline, so-what, opposite, proof, CTA, one job per section) and returns ranked line edits.
Questions
Can ChatGPT write an SEO content brief?
Yes. Give it one query, the reader, what you sell and the titles and headings of the results that rank now, and ask for the intent, an answer to open the page, an outline, questions, terms and internal links. If it can't see live results, the brief should say so. Anything it couldn't verify carries a [verify] mark for the writer to clear before publishing.
Does Google penalize AI-written content?
Not for being written with AI. Google's February 2023 guidance says appropriate use of AI or automation isn't against its guidelines. Using it to generate content with the primary purpose of manipulating rankings is against its spam policies, and so is publishing many unoriginal pages that help no one (scaled content abuse).
What should an SEO content brief include?
The target query and its intent, a two-to-three-sentence answer for the opening, an outline of five to eight headings drawn from what ranks plus what none of it covers, the questions searchers ask, the terms a complete answer names, a title and meta description, internal links, and the data or examples the page needs, each with a source or a [verify] mark.
AI skill
Have your AI write the SEO brief for one search query
Put this skill in AI Skill Pod and everyone on your team gets it in their Claude, Cursor or ChatGPT (Pro, Business, Enterprise): one invite link, free to start. SEO content brief for one query has your AI write a brief for one query: the intent checked against what ranks, the answer for the first paragraph, an outline that covers what's expected and adds what the ranking pages lack, questions and terms to cover, internal links only to pages that exist, and a [verify] mark on every number it couldn't check.
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Sources
- Google Search Central: Google Search's guidance about AI-generated content (8 February 2023) — "Appropriate use of AI or automation is not against our guidelines"; using automation, including AI, to generate content with the primary purpose of manipulating ranking violates the spam policies (read 2026-11-05)
- Google Search Central: Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content — "Does the content provide original information, reporting, research, or analysis?" (read 2026-11-05)
- Google Search Central: Spam policies for Google web search — scaled content abuse: many pages generated for the primary purpose of manipulating search rankings and not helping users (read 2026-11-05)
- Google Search Central: Influencing title links — a title that describes the page, without repeated keywords (read 2026-11-05)