A content brief template with every field filled for a sample article: queries, intent, the two-sentence answer, sources, question headings, links and CTA.
LLaunchScaler·Published ·8 min read
A content brief template lists what one article must do before anyone writes it: the primary and secondary queries, the search intent and who is searching, the answer in two sentences, the facts and sources to use, the questions to answer as headings, and the internal links and single call to action. Filled in, it lets a writer, an editor or an AI tool produce the same article you had in mind.
Below is the template, then the same template filled in for a real sample article, then the fields that matter most for search snippets and AI answers.
What is a content brief?
A content brief is a one-page specification for a single article. It fixes the decisions that make an article rank and get cited, so the draft does not have to guess them: which query it answers, for whom, with what answer, backed by which facts, in what structure. Everything a reader will not see, but the article depends on, goes in the brief.
A brief is most useful when someone other than the planner writes the draft, and that now includes AI drafting tools. A model given only a title fills the gaps with generic claims; a model given a brief with facts and sources has much less to invent. The brief is also what the editor checks the draft against.
What should a content brief include?
A content brief should include eight fields. Four define the target: the queries, the intent, who is searching, and the answer. Four define the build: the facts and sources, the question headings, the internal links, and the call to action. A word range is optional and should never be the goal, since Google says it has no preferred word count.
Field
What to write
Why it matters
Primary query
The one search this article must answer
Every other field serves it
Questions, answered
What people ask about this
01
What is a content brief?
A content brief is a one-page instruction for a single article: which search it answers, who is searching, the answer itself, the facts and sources it must use, the questions it covers as headings, and where it links. A writer, an editor or an AI drafting tool works from it.
They go in headings and body, not separate articles
Intent and searcher
What the searcher wants to do, and who they are
Decides depth, tone and format
The answer
Two sentences that fully answer the primary query
Becomes the opening; the passage most likely to be quoted
Facts and sources
Specific facts the piece must state, each with its source
Stops generic filler and invented details
Question headings
The questions to answer, as H2s
Matches how people search and ask
Internal links
Pages to link to, with anchor text, and pages that should link here
Connects the article to its cluster
Call to action
The one next step for the reader, with its URL
One destination, not three
What does the content brief template look like?
Copy the block below into a document or your project tool, one copy per article. Fill it top to bottom; if you cannot fill the answer field, stop and research before writing anything else.
CONTENT BRIEF
Primary query:
Secondary queries:
Intent:
Who is searching:
Answer (two sentences):
Facts the piece must use (with source for each):
Questions to answer as H2s:
Must not say:
Internal links out (anchor text -> URL):
Pages that should link here:
Call to action (text -> URL):
Word range (guide only):
Review checks:
"Must not say" is worth keeping even though it is not in most templates. It is where you list claims that are tempting but wrong: an old price, a feature you removed, a statistic nobody can source.
What does a filled-in content brief look like?
Here is the template filled in for a sample article, "Striking distance keywords: find the queries ranking 4 to 20 in Search Console." Every fact listed comes from Google's own documentation, with its source, which is the standard to hold every brief to.
Field
Sample value
Primary query
striking distance keywords
Secondary queries
positions 4 to 20 search console; keywords on page 2 google
Intent
How-to: find these queries and decide what to do with them
Who is searching
A founder or marketer with Search Console access and a small blog, looking for quick wins
Answer (two sentences)
Striking distance keywords are queries where your site ranks in positions 4 to 20 in Search Console. Export the Queries table, filter it to those positions with meaningful impressions, then improve the page that already ranks for each.
Facts to use
The Performance report table shows at most 1,000 rows (Search Console Help, troubleshooting data discrepancies). The Search Analytics API returns up to 25,000 rows per request (Search Analytics API reference). Anonymized queries are left out of the table (Search Console Help, dimensions). Collected data is usually available in 2 to 3 days (Search Console Help, troubleshooting data discrepancies).
Questions as H2s
What are striking distance keywords? How do you find queries ranking 4 to 20? How do you filter the export? Why can't you filter by position directly? How do you match each query to its page? How do you pull more than 1,000 queries?
Must not say
Any click-through rate by position (no source we trust); that position filters exist in the filter bar
Internal links out
"turning Search Console queries into a content plan"; "keyword cannibalization"; "content refresh strategy"
Pages that should link here
The SEO content strategy hub; the Search Console queries guide
Call to action
One link to the product page that does this for the reader
Word range
1,500 to 2,000, a guide only
Review checks
Opening answers the query in two sentences; every number has a source; each H2 opens with a 40 to 60 word answer
Write the answer first because it tells you whether you know what the article is for. If you cannot answer the primary query in two sentences, the outline will wander, and so will the draft. Once the answer exists, the headings become the questions a reader asks next, and each section supports the answer instead of circling it.
The two sentences also become the opening of the article, which matters for search. Google says snippets are "primarily created from the page content itself" and are designed to preview "the page content that best relates to a user's specific search." A direct answer in the first two sentences gives Google that passage without the reader scrolling for it.
Which brief fields matter most for AI answers?
The fields that matter most for AI answers are the two-sentence answer, the question headings and the facts with sources. Google says AI Overviews and AI Mode have no extra requirements beyond normal SEO: a page must be indexed and eligible to show with a snippet, and you do not need new machine-readable files or special schema. What helps is text an answer can quote.
Google's own list of SEO basics for AI features maps onto the brief:
Google's guidance for AI features
Brief field that covers it
Make important content available in textual form
Facts to use, written into the text, not only in images
Make content easy to find through internal links
Internal links out and pages that should link here
Make sure structured data matches the visible text
Review checks: markup describes what the page says
Create helpful, reliable, people-first content
Intent, searcher, answer and facts with sources
A passage an AI answer can lift has to stand on its own: the heading asks a question, and the first 40 to 60 words under it answer it without "as mentioned above." Put that rule in the brief's review checks. Writing content that AI answers cite goes deeper on passage structure.
Can a content brief generator do this for you?
A generator can do the research half of a brief: list what the top results cover, suggest related terms and questions, and collect sources. Frase, for example, says it studies what already ranks for a topic before drafting, and Clearscope's plans include a monthly allowance of topic explorations. Treat that output as input to the brief, not the brief itself.
The fields a generator cannot fill are the ones that make the article yours: the two-sentence answer in your own words, the facts about your product, the "must not say" list, and the one call to action. Those take a person who knows the product, and a few minutes per brief.
How do you use a brief once it is written?
Use the brief twice: once to write the draft and once to review it. The writer or AI tool gets the whole brief, not just the title. The editor then checks the draft field by field before it publishes, which turns review into a checklist instead of a matter of taste.
Give the full brief to whoever drafts, person or tool.
Check the draft's first two sentences against the answer field.
Check every fact against its listed source, and the "must not say" list against the whole draft.
Check the headings, links and call to action against the brief, then publish.
Get briefed drafts from your own data
LaunchScaler's content engine plans a month of articles from your own Search Console queries, the searches you already rank for just off page one, and writes one a day from your product: what it does, who it is for, how it works, with no invented facts and no borrowed examples. Every draft lands in your workspace for you to rewrite, trim or scrap, which is where your review checks go, and by default each draft waits there until you approve it. Approved drafts go to WordPress, Webflow, Ghost, Shopify, Notion, Medium or a signed webhook. It is $99/mo per website, 3 days free. Start the engine and spend your time on the review instead of the blank page.
The primary and secondary queries, the search intent, who is searching, the answer in two sentences, the facts and sources to use, the questions to answer as headings, the internal links, and the one call to action. Add a word range only as a rough guide.
03
Why write the answer before the outline?
Because the answer decides everything after it. If you cannot state it in two sentences, you do not know what the article is for yet. Those two sentences also become the article's opening, the passage a search snippet or an AI answer is most likely to quote.
04
What makes a content brief work for AI answers?
Google says AI Overviews and AI Mode need no special markup; a page must be indexed and eligible for a snippet. So the brief should ask for a direct answer at the top, question headings with a self-contained answer under each, and specific facts with sources, all in text on the page.
05
Can a tool generate a content brief?
Tools can draft the research part. Frase studies what already ranks for a topic, and Clearscope's plans include monthly topic explorations. The answer, the product facts and the call to action still come from you.
Refresh posts that lost clicks over the last 3 months first, then posts ranking 4 to 20. How to find both in Search Console and what an update must change.
Content ROI = (value of signups a post brings − what it cost) ÷ its cost. How to fill in each number from GA4, and why to judge at 90 days and 12 months.
