Review generated copy before publication

This is the review that stands between a generated draft and your published site. It is specific to written copy; the general obligations are in Review AI output responsibly.

Work through it in order. The sequence matters, because there is no point polishing a paragraph you are about to delete.

1. Read it once without touching anything

Read the whole piece as a reader would. You are looking for two things only:

• Does it say anything? Generated copy is fluent by construction, and fluency disguises emptiness. If you finish a section unable to state what it claimed, it claimed nothing.
• Does it repeat itself? Multi-section and multi-page runs generate each part independently, so the same point can appear three times in different words.

Both are structural problems. Fix them by cutting whole passages, not by editing sentences.

2. Cut the padding

Delete on sight:

• opening sentences that restate the heading;
• "it's worth noting that", "importantly", "let's explore", "in today's world";
• closing paragraphs that summarise what the reader has just read;
• lists whose items are the same point rephrased;
• adjectives standing in for facts — "innovative", "cutting-edge", "world-class".

A generated draft that loses 20–30% at this stage is normal.

3. Verify every specific

Treat each of these as unverified until checked:

• prices, discounts, minimums, delivery times, availability;
• dates, opening hours, addresses, phone numbers;
• names of people, products, certifications, standards, partners;
• statistics, percentages, comparisons, rankings;
• links — plausible URLs that do not exist are common.

Generated text states numbers with total confidence and no source. Confidence is not evidence.

4. Check the claims you are allowed to make

• Nothing implies certifications, awards, memberships or client relationships you do not have.
• Nothing invents company history, size, founding date or track record.
• Superlatives and comparative claims are substantiable.
• Health, financial, safety, environmental and guarantee claims have been approved by someone qualified to approve them for your business.
• Testimonials and reviews are real. Never publish generated social proof.

5. Make it yours

This is the step that distinguishes a usable page from a generic one, and no tool performs it.

• Add a real example, a real number from your own work, a real customer situation.
• State an opinion the generated text would not risk.
• Add the caveat you would give a customer in person.
• Rewrite the first paragraph in your own words.

If a competitor could publish the page unchanged by swapping the company name, it is not finished.

6. Check structure and accessibility

• Heading hierarchy is correct and sequential.
• Headings describe their content instead of teasing it.
• Link text makes sense out of context — not "click here".
• Paragraphs are short enough to scan.
• Any generated table or list is genuinely tabular or genuinely a list.

7. Check consistency with the rest of the site

• Terminology matches what the rest of the site uses.
• Product and service names are exactly as they appear elsewhere.
• Tone matches neighbouring pages, particularly for a single regenerated page.
• No contradiction with existing pages on price, scope or process.

8. Practical WordPress checks

• Rename anything titled AI generated — the page and landing tools use that as a placeholder.
• Set the slug deliberately.
• Write the excerpt and meta description yourself, or shorten a generated version. See Shorten text.
• Set the featured image, categories and tags.
• Preview on mobile.
• Leave it as a draft until every box above is ticked.

Who signs it off

Name a person, not a role, for each of:

• factual accuracy;
• regulated or legal claims;
• brand voice.

On a site where several people generate content, this is the control that actually works. A checklist without an owner gets skipped under deadline.

If the draft needs more work than it saved

That happens, and it is worth noticing rather than pushing through. The usual causes are a thin business description, an over-long prompt, or a target word count far above what the topic supports. Fix the input and regenerate; do not rescue a bad draft sentence by sentence.