Creating posts

Overview

Obsurfable helps you create AEO-ready blog posts in two places:

• /content/new — Start a blank draft or pull in monitoring sources (insights, prompt runs, keywords, queries, conversations, scrapbook) and generate an AI draft.
• /content/[id] — Edit an existing draft or published post: title, slug, description, markdown body, and publish status.

Both pages use a markdown editor with live preview, plus Post content refine to iteratively improve the draft with AI (e.g. add links, adjust tone).

Who it's for

• Content writers turning Monitor gaps into publishable articles
• Product marketers drafting comparison pages, FAQs, and thought leadership from prompt-run data
• Anyone on Pro who wants AI-assisted drafts grounded in real monitoring sources

Prerequisites

1. Pro plan and completed company onboarding.
2. For the Pull in sources flow: at least one of — keywords, use cases, prompt runs, insights, queries, saved queries, conversations, or scrapbook entries.
3. For prompt-run sources: a completed prompt run with AI responses.

Step-by-step

Start a new post

1. From /content, click New post (/content/new).
2. Choose your starting path:

Option A — Start with blank document

1. Click Start with blank document.
2. Optionally enter a topic or idea in the free-text field.
3. Configure generation options (article type, tone, length, CTA, competitors, structure toggles).
4. Click Generate draft or write directly in the editor.
5. Edit title, description, and markdown content.
6. Click Save as draft to open the post detail page.

Option B — Pull in sources

1. Click Pull in sources (/content/new?start=sources).
2. Step 1 — Generation options: Set article type (standard, listicle, how-to, comparison, FAQ, thought leadership), target reader, tone, length, CTA mode, linking behavior, company mention intensity, freshness mode, and structure toggles (comparison table, FAQ, pros/cons).
3. Steps 2–7 — Select sources: Walk through use cases, keywords, prompt runs, insights, queries, saved queries, and scrapbook. Select any combination — at least one source is required before generating.
4. Prompt runs: Pick a run, choose a specific question/response, and optionally select citation URLs to scrape for additional context.
5. Finalize: Review selected sources and adjust generation options if needed.
6. Click Generate draft. The AI streams title, description, and markdown content into the editor.
7. Refine with Post content refine, then Save as draft.

Deep-link from insights or recommendations

• Open /content/new?start=sources&sourceId=<id> to pre-select a specific insight or source item.
• Recommended posts on /content link directly into this flow.

Edit an existing post

1. Open /content/[id] from the post list.
2. Update Title, Slug (URL path), Description (SEO/social preview), and Content (markdown).
3. Use Post content refine to ask for targeted edits without rewriting the whole post.
4. Set Status to draft or published. Publishing sets a publish timestamp.
5. Click Save.
6. Export via Copy, Download Markdown, or Download HTML if you are not using the hosted blog.

Publish to your subdomain

1. Set status to published and save.
2. The post appears on your hosted blog at https://<subdomain>/<slug> once a subdomain is connected and verified.
3. After publishing, a banner suggests re-running prompts to measure visibility improvement.

Tips

• Prompt-run sources work best when the AI already mentioned (or missed) your brand — the generator adapts framing from the stored response.
• Citation scraping is optional but helps when you want the draft to absorb patterns from pages AI cited.
• Source usage counts in the sources flow show how many posts already used a given keyword or insight — avoid over-indexing on the same angle.
• Slug defaults from the title; keep it short and keyword-friendly before publishing.
• Description feeds Open Graph and meta tags on the hosted blog — write a clear 1–2 sentence summary even if the body is long.
• Use ?start=blank or ?start=sources in the URL to bookmark your preferred workflow.

FAQ

Can I create a post without AI generation?

Yes. Choose Start with blank document, skip Generate draft, and type directly in the markdown editor. Save when ready.

What generation options matter most?

Article type and length target shape structure. Company mention intensity controls how prominently your brand appears. Include competitors is useful for comparison content. Linking behavior and Add links control outbound references.

Does generating overwrite my edits?

Generating a new draft replaces title, description, and content in the new-post flow. On the edit page, saves are explicit — use Save to persist changes.

What is Post content refine?

A secondary AI pass on the current markdown. Enter instructions like "add more internal links" or "make the tone more conversational" without re-running the full source-based generation.

Where are sources stored on the post?

Sources used badges appear on the post list and detail view — e.g. Use case: …, Insight: …, Prompt: …. These are saved when you generate from sources or create via the queue.

Can I publish without a connected subdomain?

Yes. Set status to published inside Obsurfable for tracking, or export Markdown/HTML to publish elsewhere. Live URLs on your domain require Connected subdomains.