> 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/reference/article-pipeline.md).

# How Sage Writes an Article

Sage's article pipeline isn't one giant "write this for me" prompt. It's seven distinct steps, each with a specific job. The result is a structured, researched, polished article — not a wall of AI text.

## The seven steps

1. **Brief** — Sage expands your topic idea into a structured plan: target word count, tone, audience, key questions the article should answer, suggested outline. This is the equivalent of an editorial assistant turning a one-line pitch into a brief.
2. **Keywords** — primary keyword + 2–5 secondary keywords. Pulled from your existing GSC rankings, competitive analysis, and topical relevance.
3. **Research** — Sage's writer fetches real sources — recent studies, statistics, expert articles — related to the topic. This is what separates Sage from a generic AI writer. Generic AI recycles training-data content; Sage incorporates fresh, citable material.
4. **Writing** — the article itself, built against the brief + keywords + research. Sage's writer prompt requires specific structural elements: Key Takeaways box near the top, at least one table, at least one ordered + unordered list, FAQ section, one-sentence direct answers under question headings, and "skim lines" opening each section.
5. **Image** — an editorial illustration generated specifically for this article, in your brand colors. The image is selected via a two-step prompt: first identifies the most concrete photographable concept from the article, then renders it in the editorial style of NYT/Atlantic opinion sections — not generic stock-vector SaaS imagery.
6. **Enriching** — adds Key Takeaways, FAQs, charts, internal links. See [Article Enrichment](/reference/article-enrichment.md) for what each piece does.
7. **Publishing** — if autopilot is on, the finished article goes straight to your WordPress site. If review-first, it lands in `ready_for_review` for your approval.

## Why each step exists

| Step       | What goes wrong without it                                                     |
| ---------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Brief      | Article wanders — no clear narrative, no purpose, vague tone                   |
| Keywords   | Article ranks for nothing — no consistent topical signal to Google             |
| Research   | Article reads like recycled AI text — same generic facts as everyone else      |
| Writing    | (this is the obvious one — no article)                                         |
| Image      | Post looks unfinished, gets ignored on social, fails featured-image SEO checks |
| Enriching  | Article ranks but doesn't get cited by AI Overviews or featured snippets       |
| Publishing | Manual hand-off bottleneck — defeats the point of automation                   |

## What we DON'T do

* **No "one big prompt that does everything"** — those produce wall-of-text, generic, structurally-bad output. The seven-step pipeline produces fundamentally different quality.
* **No copying competitors verbatim** — research pulls factual citations + recent context, not phrasing. The writing step generates original prose against the brief.
* **No keyword stuffing** — keywords inform the brief, the H2 structure, and the natural placement of phrases. They are not artificially repeated.

## Total time per article

Roughly 4–5 minutes end-to-end. Research is the most variable step — slow web responses can stretch it. Writing is the longest single stage (1–2 minutes for a 1,500-word article).

## Tier-aware cost

Each article costs roughly $1.50–2.00 in AI inference. Tier caps in Sage's pricing exist because high-volume usage at that cost adds up. Customers running serious volume often switch to BYOK (bring your own API key) to bypass the caps.

## Related

* [Autopilot](/reference/autopilot.md) — when the pipeline runs automatically
* [Article Enrichment](/reference/article-enrichment.md) — what happens in step 6
* [How Sage Publishes Articles](/reference/publishing-mechanics.md) — what happens in step 7