You check an AI text on twelve points: answer in the first paragraph, facts about the business, figures and sources, prices, form of address, Swiss spelling, clichés, punctuation, promises, internal links, FAQ section and title. For a good draft, the check takes a few minutes and catches the typical AI mistakes: invented services, German spelling, inconsistent form of address and figures with no source. Whatever fails is corrected in the brief, not just in the text.
An AI text is written quickly, and just as quickly wrong. The mistakes are rarely spelling errors. They're statements that sound plausible but aren't true: a service the business doesn't offer, a price in euros, a study that doesn't exist. This checklist works through twelve points you need to check before approval, showing what the typical mistake looks like at each one.
The twelve checkpoints
1. Does the first paragraph answer the question in the title?
Read the title and first paragraph, nothing else. If the paragraph explains why the topic matters instead of answering the question, the post fails. Typical mistake: "A heat pump is a future-proof investment" instead of "A heat pump for a detached house usually costs …".
2. Are the statements about the business correct?
Services, opening hours, catchment area, team, certificates. Everything the text claims about your business must be true. Typical mistake: the text promises a 24-hour emergency service that doesn't exist.
3. Does every figure have a source or a label?
Figures with no origin are removed or marked as an example calculation. Typical mistake: "Studies show homeowners save up to 40 percent." Which study? None.
4. Are prices correct and in the right currency?
Language models like to carry over German price levels in euros. Every price is checked against your price list or converted into a labelled range.
5. Is the form of address consistent throughout?
Search the text for "du", "dein", "Sie", "Ihr". Typical mistake: main text in "Sie", FAQ section in "Du". Du or Sie in the company blog covers which form of address suits your business.
6. Swiss spelling?
No ß, "Velo" instead of "Fahrrad", "Parkplatz" instead of "Stellplatz", CHF instead of euros, an apostrophe as the thousands separator. Swiss High German in the blog lists the most common deviations.
7. Clichés removed?
"In today's world", "let's dive in", lists grouped in threes, "holistic", "tailor-made". You'll find a list of alternative phrasing under Spotting AI clichés.
8. Punctuation?
Dashes used as punctuation are the clearest sign of an unedited AI text. Replace them with a comma, full stop or colon. Use guillemets for quotation marks: «like this».
9. Does the text promise something you won't deliver?
Guarantees, deadlines, results: "We're on site within 30 minutes", "guaranteed no follow-up costs". Anything that could be used against you in a dispute is softened or removed.
10. Do internal links lead to pages that actually exist?
Click every link. Typical mistake: links to pages that don't exist, or generic links to the homepage. Internal linking shows how to set internal links up sensibly.
11. Does the FAQ section raise genuine follow-up questions?
The FAQ must not repeat the main text. Good FAQs answer what a customer would still ask after reading. Typical mistake: "What is a heat pump?" at the end of a post that already explained it in detail.
12. Does the title match the search intent?
The title must contain the question someone would actually google, not a marketing line. "Heat pumps in older buildings: what they cost and what matters" instead of "Your path to a sustainable future".
Typical AI mistakes at a glance
| Mistake | Example from the draft | Correction |
|---|---|---|
| Invented service | "We'll also handle the building permit for you" | Remove, and add non-services to the brief |
| Figure with no source | "Studies show savings of 35 percent" | Remove, or change to "Example calculation: …" |
| German spelling | "The renovation costs 2,500 euros" | "The renovation costs around CHF 2'500" |
| Form of address changes | "Sie sparen …" and later "Du solltest …" | Consistent, set this in the briefing |
| Empty introduction | «In a world that's constantly changing …» | First sentence is the answer |
| Guarantee | «Guaranteed the cheapest solution» | «In many cases the cheaper solution» |
| Dead link | Link to /leistungen/waermepumpe/, page doesn't exist | Link to an existing page |
What happens after the check
Every mistake you spot during the check has two possible causes: the text and the briefing. If you only correct the text, you'll find the same mistake again next week. If you update the briefing (for example: «We don't offer building permits», «Prices always in CHF with an apostrophe»), you reduce the checking effort from post to post. After a few weeks, usually only the fact check remains of the twelve points, and that takes three minutes. How approval fits into a business's workflow without getting stuck on Monday morning is described in Approval in the blog process.
Frequently asked questions
How long should checking an AI post take?
For a draft based on a clean briefing, just a few minutes for the twelve points. If the check regularly takes longer than twenty minutes, the problem isn't the text, it's the briefing. In that case, it's worth improving the briefing rather than patching up each post individually.
Do I need to read every AI post in full?
At the start, yes, at least the first ten to twenty posts. After that, you'll know the weak points in your briefing and can check specifically: facts, figures, form of address and the first paragraph. Spot checks on the rest are fine once nothing's come up for weeks.
What should I do if the AI states a figure I can't back up?
Delete it or rephrase it as an example calculation. «Studies show» without a source doesn't belong on a company website. If you know the figure from your own experience, phrase it like this: «In our projects, the share is usually around …».
Can I delegate the checking itself to an AI?
Partly. A second AI can reliably spot spelling, form of address, stock phrases and punctuation. What it can't do: check whether the services, prices and projects are correct, because it knows your business just as little as the first one did. Those points are down to you.