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Publishing to WordPress

This page shows how to connect a WordPress site and send an article to it as a draft or as a live post.

SEO-AI never publishes on its own. An article goes to WordPress only when you press the button.

Who can use it

  • WordPress publishing is on the Pro, Agency and Enterprise plans. Other plans can still download the article and copy it into WordPress by hand. See "Other ways to get the text out" below.
  • Connecting a site needs a workspace admin. Sending an article needs an editor or above.
  • Your free article can be read and scored in the app; choose a plan to export, copy or publish it. WordPress publishing comes with Pro and Agency. See Credits and billing.

Connect your WordPress site

You connect one WordPress site to each project. You use an Application Password. This is a separate password for one app, so you never share your main WordPress password.

  1. In WordPress, go to Users, then Profile, then Application Passwords. Create a new one named "SEO-AI". Copy it when WordPress shows it. WordPress shows it once.
  2. In SEO-AI, go to /app/settings?tab=integrations.
  3. Pick the project.
  4. Enter your Site URL (for example https://yoursite.com.au), your WordPress Username and the Application password.
  5. Press Connect.
  6. Press Test connection. The test tells you whether your WordPress site accepted the Application Password.

The password is stored encrypted. Disconnecting a site deletes the stored credentials.

The WordPress user needs to be able to upload files. Author or above works. If WordPress refuses the picture upload, the user is too limited. Your site must also have the WordPress REST API switched on. Some security plugins block it.

If the test fails, see Error messages.

Before you publish

The article must be ready for a reader. Check these:

  1. Read it. Read the whole article and check the facts that matter. See Sources and fact checking.
  2. Resolve links and pictures. The writer can leave placeholders where a link or a picture belongs. While any are left, the article cannot go to WordPress, and the Send button is switched off.
    1. Open the article and go to the Export tab.
    2. A box tells you how many placeholders remain. Press Resolve links and pictures.
    3. Each placeholder becomes a link to one of your own pages or a cited source, one of your own photos, or plain words when nothing fits.
    4. This saves a new version. You can compare or go back in History.
  3. Check the score. A score is not a publishing rule on its own, but blocking checks still matter. See How scoring works.
  4. Sign-off, if your workspace needs it. See below.

Send the article

  1. Open the article and go to the Export tab.
  2. Under "Publish to WordPress", choose As draft or Publish live.
  3. Press Send to WordPress.

Draft is the safer choice. A draft is saved in WordPress but is not visible to your visitors. You can read it in WordPress, make last changes, and publish it there. Publish live makes the post public straight away.

When it works, a link called Open in WordPress appears. It opens the post.

What is sent:

  • The title, the web address ending (slug) and the article text. WordPress shows the title itself, so the main heading is not repeated inside the text.
  • The short description, as the post excerpt. The search title and description are also filled in for Yoast and Rank Math when your site lets other apps write to them.
  • Your photos. They are uploaded to the WordPress media library as WebP files with their alt text. The first photo becomes the featured image.
  • The author box, if the article has a named author.
  • Structured data (schema) for the article.

The first time you publish an article live, it is also set up for tracking, so its results can be read per version. See the Performance tab on the article.

Sign-off before publishing

A workspace admin can switch on Publish only signed-off articles in /app/settings, Team tab. When it is on:

  • An article goes to WordPress only after a reviewer has signed off the version that is current now.
  • If anyone edits the article after the sign-off, it needs another sign-off.
  • The Send button will work only after that. If you try without one, the page says why.

To get a sign-off:

  1. Open the article's Team tab.
  2. Ask a teammate to review it. They need to be an editor or above.
  3. The reviewer, or a workspace admin, reads the article and chooses to sign off or ask for changes. Asking for changes needs a note saying what to change.

Other ways to get the text out

The Export tab also gives you the article as Markdown, HTML or Word, and a "Copy for Google Docs" button. Markdown and HTML files add a small note at the end saying the article was made with SEO-AI, unless your Agency or Enterprise workspace has white-label turned on.

Placeholders are removed from downloads. A list at the end of a Markdown file shows the links and pictures still to add.