AI content review gates checklist
Four pass, hold, or kill gates for any AI-assisted page: thin-page risk, facts verified, first-party block, owner signed. Print one per URL.
One sheet per URL, not per batch. If you are publishing 20 pages from one prompt, review a hand-picked sample and write the stop rule at the top.
Run the gates in order. If gate 1 fails, stop. Do not fact-check a page that should not exist.
Record pass, hold, or kill for each gate with initials and a date. A single “approved” box hides which gate failed.
flowchart LR
T["Thin-page risk"] --> F["Facts verified"]
F --> E["First-party block"]
E --> O["Owner signed"]
O --> P["Publish"]
Page record
- Target URL and primary query
- Link to the completed brief (no brief, no review)
- Where AI was used: research, outline, draft, edit, metadata
- Single page or part of a batch? If a batch, how many pages and which one is this?
Gate 1: Thin-page risk
| Test | Pass looks like | Result (pass / hold / kill) |
|---|
| Reader and moment | A named person and a decision they face this week | |
| Deletion test | You can name who would miss the URL if it were gone | |
| Sibling test | No live page already owns this intent | |
| Volume test | Not one of many near-identical pages from one prompt | |
- In one sentence: why does this URL exist beyond matching a keyword?
- What does it add that the current top results lack?
- Closest existing URL on our site and why this is not a duplicate
Gate 2: Facts verified
Highlight every number, date, product name, price, limit, quote, and “Google says.” Each one needs a primary source link, an Observed label, or a cut.
| Claim | Source link or label | Date checked | Checked by |
|---|
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
- Google facts checked on Search Central. Vendor facts checked on current vendor docs
- Observed, Sourced, Framework, Hypothetical labels were written by a person who ran or read the thing
- Title, meta description, image alt text, and structured data reviewed
- First-use abbreviations spelled out in the body and in standalone FAQ answers
- Every internal and external link opens and says what the anchor text promises
Gate 3: First-party block present
- Block type (screenshot, test, process, failure, permissioned client fact)
- Minimum detail recorded: date, conditions, what it does not prove
- A person confirmed this block was in the page before the last AI pass and survived it
- If none exists: hold the page or merge the useful parts into a page that has one
Gate 4: Owner signed
- Owner (one name, gets the email when the page is wrong)
- Reviewer (not the person who prompted the model)
- Byline and author page are accurate
- Decision on a “how this was made” note for readers, and where it goes
- Review-by date on the calendar
- Page is linked from at least one live page and links to a cornerstone or sibling
Outcome
- Final: pass, hold (with fix and date), or kill
- One lesson for the prompt, the brief, or the process