The Pre-Publish Checklist for AI-Assisted Content (Using Originality.ai)

Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links. If you buy Originality.ai credits or a plan through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.

Before you publish anything written with AI help, check four things: is it original, is it accurate, is it readable, and does it contain enough of you? Originality.ai covers the first three in one scan (plagiarism, fact checking, readability and grammar) and its AI score gives you a useful signal on the fourth. The rest is a short human edit.

This checklist is the step that follows drafting. If you write with an AI assistant, our Rytr blog-writing workflow covers how to get a good draft; this guide covers how to make sure it's safe and worth publishing. You'll need an Originality.ai account↗ (opens in a new tab); the free daily scans are enough to try the AI check.

Why check AI-assisted content at all?

Using AI to write isn't the problem. Publishing unchecked AI text is, for four reasons:

1. Accuracy. AI tools state wrong facts confidently. One invented statistic can cost you credibility, or worse in health, finance or legal topics.
2. Originality. AI can reproduce phrasing from existing pages, and freelancers sometimes copy. Plagiarism can get you de-indexed, sued or embarrassed.
3. Value. Google's guidance is that it rewards helpful content regardless of how it's made, and acts against content made mainly to rank. Generic AI text with nothing new in it rarely ranks.
4. Trust. Readers increasingly notice, and skip, text that sounds machine-made.

The checklist

1. Run a plagiarism check

Paste the final draft into Originality.ai and run the plagiarism checker. Review every match it highlights:

• Quotes and common phrases ("according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics") are fine.
• Sentences or paragraphs closely matching another page need rewriting or a proper quote and citation.
• Large matches in a freelancer's work are a conversation to have before you pay the invoice.

2. Fact-check every claim

Run the fact checker to flag claims that look doubtful, then verify by hand anything that matters:

• Numbers, statistics, prices and dates.
• Names, titles, product features and quotes.
• Anything in a "your money or your life" topic: health, finance, legal, safety.

Link to primary sources where you can. If you can't verify a claim, cut it. The fact checker is a safety net, not a substitute for checking yourself.

3. Check the AI score, with a sensible allowance

Run the AI checker and decide in advance what you'll do with the result. A reasonable policy for most blogs:

• AI-assisted is fine (outlines, first drafts, rewrites) as long as a human has substantially edited and added to it.
• A high "Likely AI" score on a final draft usually means the edit wasn't deep enough: little personal experience, generic phrasing, no original examples.

Originality.ai's AI allowance setting lets you match the scan to your policy instead of treating any AI involvement as a failure. Remember the score is a confidence level, not a percentage of AI-written text, and false positives happen. Our guide to Originality.ai accuracy and false positives covers how to read it.

Don't chase a 0% AI score by running text through "humanizer" tools. Originality.ai detects paraphrased text, and humanizers tend to make writing worse. Improve the content instead (step 5).

4. Fix readability and grammar

Use the readability checker and grammar checker to catch:

• Long, complex sentences (split them).
• Walls of text (add subheadings, lists, short paragraphs).
• Typos and grammar slips.

Aim for writing your target reader can skim on a phone.

5. Add what only you can add

This is the step that turns acceptable content into content that ranks and gets shared. Before publishing, make sure the post has at least two or three of:

• A personal experience, test or result ("we tried this on our own site and...").
• Original photos, screenshots or data.
• A specific example, case study or customer story.
• A clear opinion or recommendation, with reasons.
• An expert quote you actually obtained.

Re-run the AI check afterwards. Genuinely edited, experience-rich drafts usually read as much more human, because they are.

6. Final SEO and publishing pass

• Title and meta description written and checked.
• Internal links to related posts, and from older posts to this one.
• Image alt text, a clean URL slug, and sources linked.
• A shareable Originality.ai report saved with the post, if you work with clients or editors.

Using it with freelancers

If you buy content, build these checks into your process:

1. Tell writers up front what your AI policy is and that you check plagiarism, facts and AI usage.
2. Scan every delivery before approving it. Pro's team features and tagged scans keep this organized.
3. Share the report when something needs revising, so the writer sees exactly what was flagged.
4. Talk before you reject. A high AI score is a reason to ask questions (and to look at a Google Docs Writing Replay), not automatic proof.

For bigger teams and full-site audits, see our guide to auditing a site and your writers.

How many credits will this use?

One credit covers 100 words, per type of check. A 1,500-word post is 15 credits for each check you run on it. Running AI and plagiarism on four posts a month is roughly 120 credits, comfortably inside the Pro plan's 2,000 monthly credits, which also covers fact checking, readability and site scans. If you only publish occasionally, the $30 pay-as-you-go pack (3,000 credits, valid for two years) is better value. Full plan details are in our Originality.ai review.

Frequently asked questions

Will Google penalize AI-generated content?

Google says it rewards helpful, people-first content however it's produced, and penalizes content created mainly to manipulate rankings. Edited, accurate, experience-rich content is fine; mass-produced unedited AI text is the risk.

What AI score is acceptable before publishing?

There's no universal number. Set a policy that matches your site (for example, AI-assisted drafts allowed if substantially edited), use Originality.ai's AI allowance to reflect it, and treat a high AI score as a prompt to improve the content rather than a hard rule.

Should I use an AI humanizer to lower the score?

No. Originality.ai detects paraphrased AI text, and humanizers usually make writing worse. Adding real experience, examples and editing is both more effective and better for readers.

Do I still need to fact-check if I use the fact checker?

Yes. It flags likely problems and saves time, but you should verify any important claim against a primary source.

Make it a habit

Five minutes of checking protects hours of work and your site's reputation. Set up Originality.ai↗ (opens in a new tab), save this checklist next to your drafts, and run it on every post before you hit publish.