AI-generated content requires systematic quality assurance to ensure it meets editorial standards, passes AI detection tools, and performs well in search results. This workflow walks you through a comprehensive QA process that checks for plagiarism, AI detection flags, readability issues, and SEO optimization gaps. By the end, you'll have publication-ready content that maintains quality standards while leveraging AI efficiency.
This process is essential for content teams using AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, or Jasper who need to ensure their output passes both human editorial review and automated quality checks before publication.
What You'll Need
Active subscriptions to Originality.ai (for AI detection and plagiarism checking), Grammarly (premium preferred for advanced suggestions), SurferSEO (for content optimization), and Hemingway Editor. You'll also need the AI-generated content ready for review, along with your target keyword and any content briefs or guidelines your team follows.
Step 1: AI Detection and Plagiarism Scan
Time: 5-8 minutes | Tool: Originality.ai Log into Originality.ai and navigate to the "Content Checker" dashboard. Copy your AI-generated content and paste it into the text analyzer. Click "Check for AI & Plagiarism" to run the dual scan. The tool will provide an AI detection score (aim for under 50% for most use cases) and flag any potential plagiarism matches. If the AI detection score is above 70%, you'll need to manually rewrite key sections to add more human-like variations in sentence structure and vocabulary. Focus on the highlighted sections that show high AI probability. For plagiarism flags, review each match to determine if it's coincidental phrasing or actual content overlap that needs rewriting. Pro tip: Save the Originality report as a PDF for your content audit trail - many clients and stakeholders want to see these verification documents.
Step 2: Grammar and Style Enhancement
Time: 10-12 minutes | Tool: Grammarly Open Grammarly and create a new document, then paste your content. Set your writing goals by clicking the "Goals" panel - select "Inform" for most SEO content, choose your intended audience level, and set formality to "Neutral" unless your brand guidelines specify otherwise. Work through Grammarly's suggestions systematically, starting with critical issues marked in red. Pay special attention to AI-generated content's common weaknesses: repetitive phrasing, awkward transitions, and overly formal tone. Accept suggestions that improve flow and clarity, but reject any that change your intended meaning or keyword usage. Use Grammarly's "Clarity" suggestions to eliminate wordy phrases that AI tools often generate. The plagiarism checker in Grammarly Premium will provide a secondary verification of originality, giving you additional confidence in your content's uniqueness.
Step 3: Readability and Clarity Assessment
Time: 8-10 minutes | Tool: Hemingway Editor Copy your Grammarly-revised content into Hemingway Editor (hemingwayapp.com). The tool will immediately highlight sentences that are hard to read (yellow) and very hard to read (red). Aim for a reading grade level between 8-12 for most audiences, depending on your content's complexity and target demographic. Focus on breaking down complex sentences that Hemingway flags. AI-generated content often produces unnecessarily complex sentence structures that hurt readability. Look for opportunities to split long sentences, replace passive voice with active voice, and simplify unnecessarily complex words. The tool's color coding makes it easy to prioritize which changes will have the biggest impact on readability. Remember that Hemingway's suggestions are guidelines, not rules - if a complex sentence is necessary for accuracy or SEO purposes, keep it but ensure the surrounding content is easy to read.
Step 4: SEO Content Optimization
Time: 12-15 minutes | Tool: SurferSEO In SurferSEO's Content Editor, create a new optimization for your target keyword. Paste your content into the editor and wait for the analysis to complete. Review the content score (aim for 70+ for competitive keywords) and examine the optimization suggestions in the right sidebar. Check keyword density recommendations and semantic keyword suggestions. AI-generated content often misses important semantic keywords that human writers would naturally include. Add the suggested terms where they fit naturally into your content. Pay attention to SurferSEO's structure recommendations - AI content sometimes lacks the heading hierarchy and section organization that performs well in search results. Use the "Missing Keywords" section to identify gaps in your content coverage. These are terms your competitors are using that you're missing. Integrate 5-8 of the highest-priority missing keywords into your content, ensuring they fit naturally within your existing sections.
Step 5: Final Quality Review and Documentation
Time: 5-8 minutes | Tool: Manual Review Process Conduct a final read-through of your optimized content, checking for factual accuracy and brand voice consistency. AI-generated content can contain outdated information or subtle factual errors that automated tools won't catch. Verify any statistics, dates, or claims against current sources. Create a quality assurance checklist documenting: Originality.ai scores, Grammarly issues resolved, Hemingway reading grade achieved, and SurferSEO optimization score. Note any manual changes made for brand voice or factual accuracy. This documentation helps maintain quality standards across your content team and provides accountability for your QA process. Save the final version with a clear filename indicating it has passed QA review. Many teams use a naming convention like "article-title-QA-approved-date.docx" to track which content has completed the full review process.
Common Pitfalls
- Blindly accepting all automated suggestions without considering context or brand voice requirements
- Ignoring high AI detection scores because the content "sounds good" - search engines are increasingly sophisticated at identifying purely AI-generated content
- Over-optimizing for SurferSEO recommendations at the expense of natural readability and user experience
- Skipping the manual fact-checking step, especially for content in rapidly changing industries or topics requiring current data
Expected Results
After completing this workflow, your content should achieve an AI detection score under 50%, a Grammarly performance score above 85, a Hemingway reading grade appropriate for your audience (typically 8-12), and a SurferSEO optimization score above 70. The content should read naturally while maintaining SEO optimization and factual accuracy. Track these metrics over time to identify patterns and improve your AI content generation prompts for better initial output quality.