> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.surgerank.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# AI Content Engine: Publish Citation-Ready Articles Fast

> Generate citation-ready articles grounded in your AI visibility data and publish them directly to WordPress or Shopify without leaving SurgeRank.

Knowing where you're losing citations is only half the battle — the other half is publishing content that earns them back. The AI Content Engine closes that loop. It takes your gap analysis and competitor intelligence and turns them directly into structured, factual, citation-optimised articles that you can edit and publish without ever leaving SurgeRank. Every article is grounded in real visibility data, not guesswork.

## How it works

<Steps>
  <Step title="Select a target prompt">
    Choose a prompt where competitors are outranking you. The engine pre-fills suggestions from your Gap Analysis, sorted by the prompts where your share-of-voice deficit is largest. You can accept a suggestion or type in any custom prompt you want to target.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Generate a brief">
    With the target prompt confirmed, click **Generate brief**. SurgeRank produces a structured article brief that includes a recommended title, a proposed heading structure (H1 through H3), the key claims and facts the article should include, the recommended schema type (for example, `Article` or `HowTo`), and a target word count based on competitor cited pages for that prompt.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Draft the article">
    Click **Draft article** to generate a full first draft. The draft is optimised for citation from the ground up: it uses factual, entity-clear language; structures information under discrete, scannable headings; and incorporates the claims identified in the brief. Generation typically takes under 60 seconds.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review and edit">
    The draft opens in SurgeRank's built-in editor. As you write or revise, the editor displays a **Citation Readiness Score** in real time (see below). Sections flagged as weak are highlighted in amber — click any flag to see a specific suggestion for improving that section's factual density or structure.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Publish">
    When you're happy with the article, publish it directly to **WordPress** or **Shopify** using the built-in integrations, or export as HTML or Markdown to paste into any other CMS. Once published, SurgeRank automatically begins monitoring the article for citations.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Citation readiness score

The Citation Readiness Score is a 0–100 number displayed in the top-right corner of the editor. It updates in real time as you write and is calculated from five signals:

* **Factual density** — the proportion of sentences that make specific, verifiable claims rather than vague assertions.
* **Heading structure** — whether headings divide the article into discrete, extractable topics that an AI can quote independently.
* **Schema recommendations** — whether the article's content type (how-to, FAQ, comparison, etc.) matches the schema type recommended for citation.
* **Entity signals** — consistency and clarity of brand name, product name, and category terms throughout the article.
* **Estimated crawlability** — a prediction of whether AI crawlers will be able to access and parse the published page based on your current site health audit results.

A score of 75 or above is generally sufficient for a competitive citation opportunity. The editor will prompt you if a score falls significantly below that threshold before you publish.

## Content pipeline

Every article you create in the Content Engine is tracked in the **Pipeline view** (Content → Pipeline). Articles move through three stages:

| Stage         | Description                                                            |
| ------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Drafting**  | Article is being written or is awaiting your review.                   |
| **In review** | Article has been marked ready for review by a teammate or stakeholder. |
| **Published** | Article has been published and is being monitored for citations.       |

Once an article moves to Published, SurgeRank links it to your Cited pages dashboard so you can see at a glance whether it's earning citations and for which prompts.

## Publishing integrations

SurgeRank publishes directly to two platforms:

* **WordPress** — connect via the SurgeRank WordPress plugin or an API key generated in your WordPress admin. See [WordPress integration](/integrations/wordpress) for setup instructions.
* **Shopify** — connect via the Shopify integration using your store URL and an access token. See [Shopify integration](/integrations/shopify) for setup instructions.

For any other platform, use the **Export** button to download the article as clean HTML or Markdown.

<Tip>
  Target decision-stage prompts first — queries like "SurgeRank vs \[competitor]" or "best \[category] tool" — because these have the highest conversion impact when you earn a citation. A single citation on a high-intent prompt can send qualified buyers directly to your site.
</Tip>