Existing Content

Existing Content reviews blog posts already published on your website and updates them when there is a clear, sourced improvement. It is part of Pro, lives under Site Optimizers → Existing Content, and works through your connected CMS (the system that runs your blog, such as WordPress).

Why it helps

• Quick wins first. A post already on page 1 or 2 of Google has shown it can rank. Improving it is often faster than starting a new article from zero.
• Current, trustworthy pages. Outdated facts and thin answers are updated using sources, so readers and AI answers get accurate information.
• Better links between your pages. Updates can add links to relevant pages on your own website.
• Nothing moves. The post keeps its URL and stays the same post in your CMS, and you can undo an update.

These are improvements, not guarantees: an update can help a page, but no tool can promise rankings or traffic.

Before you start

• A Pro plan.
• A supported CMS connected in Auto Blog → Integrations: WordPress, WordPress.com, Shopify blogs, Ghost, Webflow, Wix Blog or Framer. A custom publishing webhook cannot read or update existing posts, so it cannot be used here. See Connect your tools.
• Optional: Google Search Console, which adds each post's Google clicks, impressions and average position. Without it, Review next and Autopilot can still use your ranking research. See Connect Google Search Console.

What it costs:

A review is reused for 30 days unless the post changes in your CMS.

Set it up

1. Connect your CMS in Auto Blog → Integrations.
2. Open Site Optimizers → Existing Content. With one CMS connected, an empty library loads your posts automatically.
3. If it doesn't, choose Sync articles, pick your site under Choose your CMS, then choose Load articles. Syncing is free and does not start a paid review.
4. Choose how you want to work: leave the switch on Manual, or turn on Autopilot (see below).

Only published blog posts from your CMS are imported. Contact pages, landing pages and website crawl results are not.

Manual or Autopilot

Work manually

1. Choose Review next (for example Review next 5) for a small batch picked for you, or tick articles and choose Review selected. The button shows the maximum cost.
2. Open an article with its title or View details to see the result.
3. If an update is recommended, choose Prepare refresh, then check the changes and choose Update existing post.

Turn on Autopilot

1. Click the Manual / Autopilot switch at the top of the page.
2. In Keep your articles up to date, set Articles per week (1 to 20).
3. Read the maximum weekly cost, then choose Enable Autopilot.

Enable Autopilot only works once a supported CMS is connected. To change the number later, choose Weekly limit. To stop, switch back to Manual: no further automatic reviews or website changes are made, and turning it off and on again does not start an extra batch. Your account's credit balance and spending limits still apply.

How articles are picked

Each week, Autopilot syncs your CMS first, then picks a small batch, roughly in this order:

1. Posts whose Google clicks dropped noticeably (needs Search Console).
2. Posts already ranking on page 1 or 2 of Google, about positions 4 to 20, for a search people actually make. These are the quickest wins.
3. Posts ranking further back, about positions 21 to 50.
4. Posts that have never been reviewed.

Positions come from Search Console when it is connected and from your brand's ranking research, so this works without Search Console too. Review next in Manual mode picks posts in the same order.

Some posts wait:

• A post reviewed or refreshed in the last 30 days is skipped.
• A reviewed post with no new search signal waits 90 days for its next check. Age alone never justifies rewriting.
• Excluded posts are always skipped.

Fewer eligible posts means fewer reviews, and fewer credits used.

Review and update an article

1. Open the article. The window shows Google clicks, Impressions and Average position when Search Console is connected. Expand Read current article to see the post as it is now.
2. Choose Review article (2 credits). A review publishes nothing. It ends with one of:
   • Up to date: "This article may not need an update." Healthy posts are left alone.
   • Refresh recommended: "What could be improved", with each suggested change, why it helps and the evidence behind it.
   • More information needed.
3. To update, you can type a note in Optional: tell us what you want improved, then choose Prepare refresh (15 credits). Or choose Find internal links (included) to add links only.
4. Compare the proposal using the Changes, Before and After tabs. Research and sources used lists your Google data and the pages read.
5. Choose Update existing post and confirm. Or choose Dismiss, or Download HTML to copy the changes yourself.

What changes on the page

• Specific paragraphs are rewritten where sources support a better answer. Healthy sections are not touched.
• Short new sections can be added after an existing paragraph.
• Links to your own pages can be added from your Website library. Each new link is checked again just before the update. Find internal links adds links without changing any wording. Turning internal links off in Article style stops new links here too.
• New facts need a source. If a changed claim cannot be matched to its source, the update is not applied automatically.
• If one suggested change cannot be matched safely to the current article, it is left out and the proposal says so. The other changes are still shown.

What stays the same: the URL, the post itself in your CMS, its title, and your existing formatting and links. If a post's layout cannot be updated safely, the article says so, and you can still review it and download the proposed HTML.

If someone edits the post after the review, the update stops with Website changed so nothing is overwritten. Prepare a new proposal from the current version.

Undo an update

1. Open the updated article.
2. Choose Restore previous version and confirm.

outwrite.ai only restores if the post has not changed on your website since the update, so later edits are never overwritten. Restoring is included. A restored article is excluded from future updates; choose Include article when you want it reviewed again.

How to tell it's working

The top of the page shows Articles in library, Refreshed and Recommended updates. With Autopilot on, it also shows the Next batch date. Filter the list with All, Needs updating, Refreshed and Excluded.

Under the status, Search opportunity means search data suggests a review, and Ready for a review means it is due for one. In an article's Activity, use Continue saved review to resume a stopped review, Dismiss stopped review to clear it, or Check website result when outwrite.ai could not confirm whether an update reached your site.

Existing Content or SEO Agent?

Existing Content does not need the SEO Agent script. See SEO Agent.

Common questions

Why are some of my pages missing?

Only published blog posts from your connected CMS are imported. Contact pages, landing pages and pages found by crawling your website are not. A custom publishing webhook cannot be used.

Why did Autopilot review fewer articles than my weekly limit?

Only eligible posts are reviewed. Posts checked in the last 30 days, reviewed posts without a new search signal and excluded posts wait.

A review recommended changes, but nothing was published. Why?

In Manual mode, you publish with Update existing post. Autopilot only publishes changes that pass the source check on a post whose layout can be updated safely; anything else waits for you as a ready proposal.

Do I need Google Search Console?

No. It adds your own clicks, impressions and positions. Without it, missing traffic is shown as unknown, not zero.

Will an update change my URL?

No. The post keeps its URL and stays the same post in your CMS.

Related guides

• SEO Agent
• Connect your tools
• Connect Google Search Console
• Your Brand
• Credits and usage