Illustration for SEO marketing skills
SEO skill · v0.2.0

SEO content brief skill

A competitive brief for one article: intent, outline, sections, entities, questions, internal links and the CTA.

Free · MIT licence · Copy needs a free sign-in

Category
SEO
Works with
Claude, Codex, Cursor, any agent
Format
SKILL.md · 1,696 words
Version
v0.2.0
Price
Free · MIT

The SEO content brief skill file

cmo-content-brief/SKILL.md1,696 words · MIT
---
name: cmo-content-brief
description: A competitive brief for one article: intent, outline, sections, entities, questions, internal links and the CTA.
---

Give a writer (human or Maggie) everything needed to produce one page that deserves to beat what ranks now: who is searching and why, what the top results cover and miss, the outline, what new value this page adds, the trust signals, internal links and the call to action. Maggie grounds every section in what the business actually offers, and can set a planned CMO.so post's title, description and keywords from the brief.

When to use

  • "Content brief", "outline for", "brief for this keyword", "what should this post cover".
  • Before Maggie writes a planned post on an important keyword.
  • Improving an existing page: a brief of what to keep, strengthen and add.
  • Not for: choosing which keywords to target (use cmo-keyword-research), deciding the page type when results are mixed (use cmo-search-intent), or line-editing a finished draft (use cmo-page-seo).
Sign in to see, copy and download the whole skillIt's free. Copying also upvotes and saves it, so you'll find it again under Saved.
Preview: the workflow, output, example, quality bar and guardrails unlock when you sign in.

Adapts open work by TheCraigHewitt/seomachine (MIT).

Everyday usage

How people use SEO content brief day to day

Ask in plain words. The agent picks this skill, asks for anything it needs and hands back the result. Words in a highlight are yours to change.

Most common · also on the SEO page

Brief your next article

An outline, the questions to answer, entities to cover and internal links, based on what ranks today.

Ask your agentWrite an SEO brief for 'best birthday cakes in Manchester'.
  • A brief: intent, competitor table, gaps, outline with per-section guidance, meta tags, information gain, trust signals, internal links and the CTA
  • Or an outline only, when that is all the user wants
  • The planned post's title, description and keywords updated in CMO.so (after approval)

More things to ask

  • Write a content brief for [keyword]
  • Outline a post that can outrank the top results
  • Brief for improving this page
  • What should this article cover?
  • Set up Maggie's next post around this keyword
  • Just give me an outline
How it works

From input to output

  1. 1You give it
    • The target keyword or topic (new page), or a URL (improve an existing page)
    • The business profile: what it offers, for whom, its CTAs and proof (from CMO.so or the user)
    • Optional: a planned CMO.so post to attach the brief to
  2. 2It works through the method
    • Asks what's missing, one question at a time
    • Follows the workflow step by step
    • Checks the result against its quality bar and guardrails
  3. 3You get
    • A brief: intent, competitor table, gaps, outline with per-section guidance, meta tags, information gain, trust signals, internal links and the CTA
    • Or an outline only, when that is all the user wants
    • The planned post's title, description and keywords updated in CMO.so (after approval)
Why a skill

The skill against the alternatives

Do it yourselfHire helpSEO content brief skill
CostYour own timeAgency or freelancer feesFree, MIT licence
Time to a first resultHours, every timeDays to weeks, plus revisionsMinutes, in your agent
ConsistencyDepends on remembering every stepAs long as the retainer lastsSame steps and checks every run
The methodIn your headTheir process, often hiddenWritten down: read it, change it
Who does the workYou, from scratchSomeone learning your businessYour agent, following the skill
FAQ

Questions about the SEO content brief skill

What it does, what it needs and how to use it with your agent.

Still not sure?Try it free on your own website and see the first posts before you decide.
Start free
What is the SEO content brief skill?

A competitive brief for one article: intent, outline, sections, entities, questions, internal links and the CTA.

It's one of cmo.so's open SEO skills: a SKILL.md file that tells an AI agent when to use it, what to ask you first, the steps to follow, the checks to pass and what to hand back, so the job is done the same careful way every time.

When should I use it?

Reach for it when you'd otherwise say something like “Write a content brief for [keyword]”, “Outline a post that can outrank the top results”, “Brief for improving this page”. Your agent reads the skill's description and picks it for requests like these, so you don't need to name it.

If a request is close but not quite right, the skill says so and points to the related skill that fits better, instead of forcing a poor answer.

What do I need to give it?

It works best with the target keyword or topic (new page), or a URL (improve an existing page); the business profile: what it offers, for whom, its CTAs and proof (from CMO.so or the user); and optional: a planned CMO.so post to attach the brief to.

You don't have to prepare everything up front. The skill asks for missing pieces one at a time and says plainly when it's working from an assumption instead of your data.

What do I get back?

You get a brief: intent, competitor table, gaps, outline with per-section guidance, meta tags, information gain, trust signals, internal links and the CTA; or an outline only, when that is all the user wants; and the planned post's title, description and keywords updated in CMO.so (after approval).

Every result comes from a written method with a quality bar, so numbers name their source, claims are checked and the output is ready to use or share rather than a rough draft.

Is it free?

Yes. The skill is open source under the MIT licence, so you can use it, change it and share it, including for client work.

Seeing, copying and downloading the whole file on cmo.so needs a free sign-in. Copying also upvotes and saves it, so you can find it again under Saved on the skills page.

Which AI agents can use it?

Claude Code installs it from the cmo.so marketplace. Any agent that reads SKILL.md folders, such as Codex or Cursor, can use it once the folder is in its skills directory.

You can also paste the copied skill into ChatGPT, Claude or any assistant at the start of a conversation and ask it to follow the skill.

How do I install it?

In Claude Code, run /plugin marketplace add AI-Marketing-OS-LTD/cmo-so-skills, then /plugin install cmo-so-seo@cmo-so. That installs this skill together with the rest of the SEO group.

For other agents, sign in, press Copy or Download above and put the file in your agent's skills folder as SKILL.md inside a folder named after the skill.

Do I need a cmo.so account to use it?

No. The skill works on its own with whatever your agent can already see and do: your files, the pages you share and the data you paste in.

With cmo.so connected it can go further, using tools such as plan_update, brand_get, posts_list through the MCP server. Every change is previewed and confirmed before it happens.

Which skills work well with it?

It pairs well with Blog planner; and On-page SEO. The agent can hand over from one to the next in the same conversation, for example research first, then the plan, then the writing.

Each of them has its own page with what it needs and what it returns, linked below.

Can I change it to fit my business?

Yes. It's a plain Markdown file, so you can edit the steps, add your own checks and examples, and keep your version in your own repo. The MIT licence allows it.

If your change would help others too, suggest it on the skills page or open a pull request on GitHub, and it may be folded into the library for everyone.

Where does the method come from?

It's written by cmo.so and adapts open work by others, credited on this page: TheCraigHewitt/seomachine (MIT).

Only permissively licensed work is adapted; copyleft repos are used for ideas only and repos without a licence aren't used at all.

Is my data sent to cmo.so when the agent uses it?

No. The skill only guides your own agent; your files, documents and data stay wherever your agent and its tools keep them.

cmo.so only sees what you connect to cmo.so. Your votes and saves on this page are stored against your cmo.so sign-in.

Ready when you are!

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Enter your website. Maggie uses the same playbooks to plan, write and publish your marketing every day.

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  • You decide what goes out
  • Cancel any time

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