AI SEO Content Engine

SEO Content Engine

An automated content generation pipeline that produces SEO-optimized SaaS review articles on a schedule, publishes to a Hugo blog, and tracks everything in Google Sheets.

Problem

Building organic search traffic requires consistent, high-quality content. Manually researching, writing, and publishing SEO articles is time-consuming. Most SaaS review sites need 2-4 articles per week to compete — that's hours of work daily.

This engine automates the entire pipeline: topic selection, article generation, blog publishing, and tracking.

What It Does

1. Topic Selection — Randomly selects from 18 SaaS tools and 4 content types (reviews, comparisons, best-of guides, how-to guides)
2. AI Article Generation — Uses OpenAI GPT-4o to write 1,500-2,500 word SEO articles with proper headings, pros/cons, pricing, and recommendations
3. Hugo Formatting — Adds frontmatter (title, date, categories, tags, affiliate links) for Hugo static site publishing
4. Blog Publishing — Pushes the formatted post to a Hugo blog via admin API
5. Sheet Tracking — Logs every published article (slug, date, category, tool, status) in Google Sheets
6. Owner Notification — Sends email alert when a new article is published for review

Included Workflows

Architecture

Schedule Trigger (every 12 hours)
    |
    v
Keyword & Topic Selector
    |  (random SaaS tool + content type)
    v
OpenAI GPT-4o Article Generator
    |  (1500-2500 word SEO article)
    v
Hugo Post Formatter
    |  (add frontmatter, categories, tags)
    v
Publish to Blog (Admin API)
    |
    +------+------+
    |             |
    v             v
Track in       Notify Owner
Google Sheets  (email alert)

Supported Content Types

Supported SaaS Categories

CRM, Project Management, Email Marketing, Automation, Database, Communication, Issue Tracking, Hosting, CDN & Security, Backend, Payments — covering 18 tools including HubSpot, Notion, Pipedrive, ClickUp, ConvertKit, Zapier, Make, n8n, Airtable, Supabase, Stripe, and more.

Required n8n Credentials

Configuration Placeholders

Quick Start

1. Prerequisites

• n8n v2.4+ (self-hosted)
• OpenAI API key (GPT-4o access)
• Hugo blog with an admin API (e.g., blog-admin service)
• Google Sheets OAuth2 credentials

2. Environment Variables

NICHE_BLOG_ADMIN_API_KEY=your-blog-admin-api-key

3. Create Tracking Sheet

Set up a Google Sheet with columns: slug, source, date, category, tool, status. Use appendOrUpdate matching on slug + source to prevent duplicates.

4. Import & Configure

Import the workflow JSON into n8n. Replace all YOUR_* placeholders. Connect your OpenAI and Google Sheets credentials.

5. Activate

Activate the workflow. It runs every 12 hours by default — adjust the schedule trigger as needed.

Companion Skills

For cross-posting generated articles to LinkedIn, Dev.to, Hashnode, and other platforms, see the multi-platform-crosspost skill.

Use Cases

1. Affiliate marketing sites — Auto-generate SaaS review content with affiliate link placeholders
2. Niche blogs — Build organic SEO traffic with consistent publishing
3. SaaS comparison sites — Automated tool comparisons and best-of lists
4. Content agencies — Generate first drafts for human editors to refine
5. Personal blogs — Keep publishing cadence without daily writing

Customization

• Tools list — Edit the Code node to add/remove SaaS tools and categories
• Content quality — Adjust the system prompt and temperature for different tones
• Schedule — Change trigger frequency (daily, twice daily, weekly)
• Blog API — Modify the HTTP Request node for any blog admin API
• Affiliate links — Add affiliate URLs in the frontmatter affiliate_links field

Requirements

• n8n v2.4+ (self-hosted recommended)
• OpenAI API account (GPT-4o, ~$0.01-0.03 per article)
• Hugo blog with admin API endpoint
• Google Sheets OAuth2 credentials