An AI draft can read smoothly while still being wrong, derivative or awkward to approve. Treat it as unverified material rather than finished copy. Check evidence and reasoning first, add something the source material did not already provide, and only then spend time polishing sentences. Otherwise, editing can make a weak claim sound more trustworthy without making it true.

Pass 1: Verify every material claim

Highlight names, dates, numbers, quotations, research findings, legal statements, prices and product capabilities. Open the primary source for each claim and confirm that it supports the exact wording.

Watch for three common failures:

  • a real source that does not support the conclusion;
  • an outdated fact presented in the present tense;
  • a specific quotation or statistic that cannot be located.

Remove a claim when reliable support is unavailable. Do not preserve it merely because it improves the narrative.

Pass 2: Test the reasoning

Read only the topic sentences and conclusions. Does each conclusion follow from the evidence, or has the draft turned correlation into causation, a possibility into certainty, or one example into a general rule?

Replace absolute language such as “always,” “guarantees” and “the best” unless the evidence genuinely justifies it. State important conditions and uncertainty.

Pass 3: Add a reason for the page to exist

Generic generated copy often summarizes familiar information. Add something defensible and useful:

  • a comparison made with stated criteria;
  • a worked example;
  • a decision tree;
  • original measurements;
  • an interview or expert review;
  • a checklist derived from the evidence.

Never convert generated prose into a claim of first-hand testing. If the product was not tested, describe the article as source-led research.

Pass 4: Rewrite the parts that could belong anywhere

Look for repeated transitions, suspiciously balanced lists, inflated adjectives, vague benefits and conclusions that simply repeat the introduction. Replace phrases such as “in today’s rapidly evolving landscape” with the specific context the reader needs.

Vary sentence length, use concrete nouns and prefer a clear verb to a stack of abstractions. Read the article aloud. If several paragraphs could be moved to another article unchanged, they probably need rewriting or deletion.

Pass 5: Protect voice and authorship

Compare the draft with the publication’s style guide. Keep terminology, capitalization, point of view and level of formality consistent. Add the editor’s genuine selection and arrangement rather than relying only on prompt output.

The U.S. Copyright Office’s 2025 report says AI-assisted work is not automatically excluded from copyright, but protection depends on sufficient human-authored expression; prompts alone do not provide that control. The exact legal position varies by jurisdiction, so obtain legal advice for important rights questions.

Pass 6: Perform the publication check

Before approval, confirm:

  • one descriptive H1 and logical subheadings;
  • an accurate title and meta description;
  • useful internal links;
  • descriptive link text and image alternative text;
  • sources that readers can open;
  • correct author, dates and disclosures;
  • structured data that matches the visible page;
  • a readable mobile layout.

Google specifically includes titles, meta descriptions, structured data and image alt text in its guidance on AI-generated content. SEO fields need the same accuracy review as the body.

Read it once as the publisher

Ask four questions:

  1. What does this page claim?
  2. What evidence supports those claims?
  3. What did a human contribute that a generic summary would not?
  4. Who accepts responsibility for publishing it?

If an answer is unclear, send the draft back to the relevant review pass. Publication should be the result of a decision, not the default end of a generation workflow.

Sources