Before writing a single word, the agent analyzes the target keyword cluster: monthly search volume, keyword difficulty, intent classification (informational vs. commercial), and the current SERP composition. It identifies which competitor articles are ranking in the top 10, what their structure looks like, what they cover well, and where the coverage gap is. The angle for the new article is chosen to exploit the gap — not to produce an identical article to what's already ranking.

The agent writes a complete article — not a brief, not an outline, not bullet points — structured with H2/H3 headings that match the search intent pattern for the target keyword. The draft includes an intro that hooks on the reader's problem, body sections that cover the topic more thoroughly than competing articles, and a CTA section tied to the commercial intent. Target word count is calibrated to the existing top-ranking content: outranking a 1,200-word article with a 700-word piece rarely works. The draft is written to pass editorial review with minimal rewriting.

An article isn't published until it has everything around it: title tag and meta description optimized for CTR, internal link suggestions to relevant existing content, a featured image prompt, and a short-form distribution version for LinkedIn, email newsletter, and Slack. The agent produces all of these alongside the article draft — so editorial review is a single pass on one package, not a series of back-and-forth requests for each asset. Publishing readiness is the goal, not draft delivery.

Articles don't rank once and stay ranked forever. The agent monitors published articles for ranking position changes, traffic trends, and CTR performance against the top 10 competitors in the SERP. When an article drops in ranking or a competitor publishes a new piece that outperforms it, the agent flags it for update with specific recommendations: add a section on topic X that the new competitor article covers, update statistics to 2025 data, adjust the H1 to better match evolving search intent. Content decay is managed proactively, not discovered in a quarterly audit.