> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.sageseo.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.sageseo.ai/getting-started/content-calendar.md).
# AI Content Suggestions Engine
The Content Calendar is where article topics enter Sage. It's not a generic "give me 10 blog ideas about X" prompt — Sage analyzes the client's existing site, their current Google rankings, and search demand patterns to suggest topics with **real measurable upside**. Then it helps you turn that pile of ideas into a scheduled 6-month publishing plan in a couple of clicks.
{% hint style="info" %}
**Key Takeaways**
* Suggestions are grounded in 3 data sources: client website, live GSC rankings, and competitive search demand
* Each suggestion ships with a target keyword, content brief, and reasoning so you know *why* it's worth writing
* Accept/reject suggestions one at a time — Sage replaces each rejection with a fresh one
* Build a 6-month publishing calendar by picking cadence + days; Sage handles the slot allocation
* Articles flow from Calendar → Generation → Ready for Review → Published with zero copy-paste
{% endhint %}
## What makes Sage's suggestions different
Generic "AI blog idea" tools just rephrase your input. Sage's suggestions come from three layered inputs:
```mermaid
flowchart LR
A[Client website
homepage + service pages] --> D[Sage Suggestions Engine]
B[Live Google Search Console
keywords + rankings] --> D
C[Competitive search demand
related queries + gaps] --> D
D --> E[Brand-aligned
topic suggestions]
E --> F[Each suggestion includes:
title, target keyword, brief, reasoning]
classDef input fill:#F0F6FF,stroke:#0052CC,color:#091E42
classDef engine fill:#EAE6FF,stroke:#6554C0,color:#091E42
classDef output fill:#E3FCEF,stroke:#006644,color:#091E42
class A,B,C input
class D engine
class E,F output
```
Every suggestion is **ranked by potential upside**: how much search demand exists, how poorly the client currently ranks (room to grow), and how aligned the topic is with the client's existing offering. You get ideas that should rank *and* that the client can credibly own.
## Getting your first article ideas
When you first open the Content Calendar for a domain, you'll see a blank board. To populate it:
1. Click **Get Article Ideas**
2. Sage analyzes:
* The client's website (homepage + service pages)
* Current Google Search Console rankings (anything they're ranking for, especially position 5–20 — the "almost there" cohort)
* Search demand around their core topics
3. Within \~10–20 seconds you'll see your first **15 suggestions** populate
Each suggestion includes:
| Field | What it tells you |
| ------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Title** | The proposed article headline |
| **Target keyword** | The primary search query this article aims to rank for |
| **Description** | One-paragraph summary of the article's angle and value |
| **Reasoning** | *Why* Sage picked this — usually ties to a specific GSC opportunity or content gap |
You can read the reasoning before accepting an idea — useful for understanding which suggestions are "this is in your ranking sweet spot" vs "this is a new topic worth exploring."
## Managing suggestions
Three actions per suggestion:
| Action | What happens |
| ----------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **+ Accept** | Moves the article into your **Unscheduled** queue and replaces it with a new suggestion |
| **× Reject** | Discards the suggestion and replaces it with a new idea |
| **Drag-and-drop** | Drag suggestions directly into the Unscheduled section to accept them |
Each accepted article reduces your **Remaining Suggestions** counter for the month. Once you exhaust the batch, you can request a fresh round (tier-dependent how often you can do this).
{% hint style="info" %}
**Tip:** Don't accept every suggestion. The point of seeing 15 at a time is to **curate** — Sage's job is to over-generate, your job is to pick the ones that actually fit the client's strategic direction.
{% endhint %}
## Building a content calendar
Once you have a queue of accepted ideas, the next step is scheduling them:
```mermaid
flowchart LR
A[15 suggestions] --> B[Accept 6-10]
B --> C[Unscheduled queue]
C --> D[Click 'Create Article Schedule']
D --> E{Choose cadence}
E --> F[1x/week, Mondays]
E --> G[2x/week, Tue + Thu]
E --> H[Monthly: 4 articles/month]
F --> I[Sage allocates 6 months of slots]
G --> I
H --> I
I --> J[Drag articles into slots]
J --> K[Calendar publishes on schedule]
classDef phase fill:#F0F6FF,stroke:#0052CC,color:#091E42
class A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K phase
```
To set up the schedule:
1. Click **Create Article Schedule**
2. Pick **publishing frequency** (1x/week is most common, 2-3x/week for high-volume clients)
3. Pick **which day(s) of the week** to publish on
4. Sage generates a 6-month calendar with empty slots on the right days
5. Drag articles from **Unscheduled** into open slots, or use **Schedule for Month** to bulk-assign
The calendar visually shows progress (e.g., "3/4 articles scheduled for April") so you can tell at a glance whether a month is on track.
## What happens to scheduled articles
Once an article is in a calendar slot, it's queued for generation. What happens next depends on your mode:
| Mode | What happens |
| ------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Autopilot ON** | On the article's scheduled date, Sage automatically generates + publishes it. You see notifications in the Activity panel, nothing else needed. |
| **Review-first** | On the scheduled date, Sage generates the article and lands it in **Ready for review**. You preview, optionally edit, and click Publish when ready. |
| **Manual trigger** | You can also click **Generate now** on any scheduled article to skip the wait and produce it immediately, regardless of its scheduled date. |
See [Sage AI Writer](/getting-started/ai-writer.md) for what happens during generation, and [Publishing Articles to WordPress](/getting-started/publishing.md) for what happens at publish time.
## Editing scheduled articles
Before generation runs, you can:
| Option | What it does |
| ----------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- |
| **Edit title** | Refine the headline before it gets generated |
| **Edit description** | Tweak the angle or focus of the article |
| **Move between months** | Drag to a different slot to change the publish date |
| **Delete** | Remove from the calendar — frees up the slot |
After generation runs, the same article moves to **Ready for review** (or **Published** if autopilot is on) and you edit it from there.
## How this fits into Sage's bigger picture
```mermaid
flowchart LR
A[Content Calendar
topics enter] --> B[Kanban Board
track in-flight work]
B --> C[Sage Writer
7-stage generation]
C --> D[Publishing
push to WordPress]
D --> E[Google Index
track what Google does]
E --> F[Performance Dashboard
see what's actually working]
F --> A
classDef phase fill:#F0F6FF,stroke:#0052CC,color:#091E42
class A,B,C,D,E,F phase
```
The calendar is **step 1** of the operational loop. Once articles flow through to performance data, that data feeds the next round of suggestions — Sage gets smarter about which topics work for each client over time.
## Frequently asked questions
### What if I run out of AI suggestions?
Each account has a monthly suggestion budget based on tier. When you exhaust the current batch, you can request another batch — frequency varies by tier (Starter: every 30 days; Agency: weekly; Enterprise: on-demand).
### Can I skip scheduling and just save ideas?
Yes — articles can sit in **Unscheduled** indefinitely. The calendar is for organizing *when* to publish; the unscheduled queue is a parking lot for accepted-but-not-yet-planned ideas.
### Can I manually edit an article's publish date?
Yes — drag any scheduled article between months, or within a month to reorder. The publish date auto-updates.
### What if I want to suggest topics manually?
You can — click **Add Custom Topic** to insert your own title + target keyword. Sage will generate the brief automatically and treat it like any other suggestion.
### Does Sage learn from which suggestions I reject?
Not yet on a per-rejection basis, but Sage tracks which articles you actually publish + which ones perform. Future iterations will weight suggestions toward topics in the cohort that's been working.
### Can I generate articles outside the calendar schedule?
Yes — **Generate now** on any scheduled or unscheduled article triggers immediate generation. The calendar is the default cadence engine, not a hard gate.
## Related
* [Sage AI Writer](/getting-started/ai-writer.md) — what happens during the 7-stage generation pipeline
* [Kanban Content Pipeline](/getting-started/kanban.md) — visual tracking of in-flight articles
* [Publishing Articles to WordPress](/getting-started/publishing.md) — what happens after generation
* [Autopilot](/reference/autopilot.md) — when generation + publishing run automatically