Check the answer, the evidence, the example, and the finished page. AI can prepare a draft that reads smoothly while still containing weak explanations, broken links, or claims you cannot verify. This checklist helps a solo WordPress publisher decide whether a draft is ready.
Use it on one article at a time. The pass condition is a useful, accurate page for a specific reader—not a particular word count or an SEO score.
1. Can you state the reader’s question in one sentence?
Write the question above your draft. Then read only the introduction. If the introduction does not answer it, replace the generic opening with the answer and the conditions that matter.
For a question such as “Why did my automation create two WordPress drafts?”, an opening about the history of artificial intelligence adds little. Start with the possible repeat request, show how to check the created post IDs, and explain what remains uncertain.
2. Can you account for every consequential claim?
Use a claim log while editing. Keep original notes separate from text generated by AI.
| Claim type | Evidence to collect | If evidence is missing |
|---|---|---|
| A setting or API field exists | Current official documentation or a screenshot from the stated version | Verify the field or remove the instruction |
| A workflow saved time | Your measured baseline, sample, and result | Describe the intended benefit without inventing a number |
| A tool costs a certain amount | The current pricing page and relevant plan conditions | Link to current pricing instead of guessing |
| A method is reliable | Tests, failure cases, and the limits you observed | Label it as a proposal or illustrative example |
Read the source itself. A generated citation, plausible URL, or search snippet is not enough to establish what a document says. When two sources disagree, explain the difference rather than choosing whichever sounds more confident.
3. Did you run the example you describe?
If the article presents a tested procedure, reproduce it in the stated environment and record the result. Note the relevant software version and any prerequisites. Show an error case as well as the successful path when the error would change the reader’s next action.
If you have not run it, call it an illustrative example. Do not write “I tested” or invent screenshots, time savings, client outcomes, or traffic growth. A modest but accurate explanation is more useful than a confident fictional case study.
4. Does the page work in WordPress?
- Preview the actual saved post, not only the text in your writing tool.
- Check that headings follow a useful order and describe the sections.
- Open every reference and internal link.
- Inspect code blocks for changed quotes, missing indentation, and accidental formatting.
- View the page on a narrow screen; tables and long URLs should not make the whole page scroll sideways.
- Give meaningful images useful alternative text and avoid decorative images that slow the page without explaining anything.
- Check the title and excerpt: both should match what the article actually delivers.
5. Is the human contribution visible?
Give the article a real author and a link to their background. Explain substantial AI assistance where readers would reasonably want to know how the material was produced. State limitations beside the relevant claim, not only in a footer.
Google’s people-first content guidance discusses original value, authorship, experience, and explaining how content was made. E-E-A-T is a way to think about quality and trust; it is not a score you can raise by adding badges or repeating “expert” in a biography.
A compact go / no-go checklist
Keep the post in draft if any essential item is unresolved:
- The page answers one clear question.
- Important claims have evidence that you personally checked.
- Examples are tested or clearly labelled as untested.
- Your explanation adds something beyond a summary of other pages.
- Links, formatting, and mobile presentation work.
- The named author accepts responsibility for the final text.
After publication, keep a short correction log for meaningful changes. Update a date because the substance changed, not simply to make an old article appear new.
For the handoff before this checklist, read how to keep AI-generated WordPress posts in draft until review.
Editorial note: this checklist was prepared with AI assistance. It is an editorial framework, not a report of measured ranking improvements or production tests.
About the author: Bankole Emmanuel (Mrbarnk) has developed software since 2016. His background includes WordPress, backend applications, and APIs. Contact Bankole with a correction.