AI Content QA Checklist (2025): 60 Must‑Pass Checks for Accurate, Compliant, and Search‑Ready Content

Use this end‑to‑end QA to ship AI‑assisted content that is factual, safe, compliant, on‑brand, accessible, and SEO‑ready. Each item includes pass criteria and a quick “why it matters.”

Legend:

• [MP] = Must‑pass before publish
• [R] = Recommended enhancer

0) Scope & Roles

• [MP] Assign an accountable editor/reviewer. Pass: One human owner signs off with name and timestamp in your CMS. Why: Clear ownership reduces errors and supports audit trails (see the governance emphasis in the NIST AI Risk Management Framework, 2023).
• [MP] Capture the use case and audience. Pass: Target persona and intent documented in the brief. Why: Aligns with people‑first content principles from Google’s creating helpful content guidance (2023).

1) Pre‑generation Inputs & Guardrails

• [MP] Define the factual source set. Pass: Link list of primary sources (gov/standards/journals/docs) in the brief. Why: Reduces hallucinations; supports citations.
• [MP] Set disclosure/compliance flags (industry, geography). Pass: Brief notes if regulated (health/finance), and applicable regimes (GDPR, CCPA). Why: Prevents legal exposure; see ICO’s GDPR guide and CA AG’s CCPA overview.
• [MP] Choose model + parameters. Pass: Record provider, model/version, temp/top_p. Why: Traceability aligns with the NIST GenAI Profile draft (2024).
• [MP] Log prompt template and context. Pass: Store prompt ID/text, RAG on/off, retrieval snapshot timestamp. Why: Supports reproducibility and audits under ISO/IEC 42001:2023 overview.
• [MP] Exclude PII by design. Pass: Prompts forbid personal data; input docs scrubbed. Why: Privacy obligations under GDPR/ICO guidance and CCPA/CPPA resources.
• [R] Add banned‑claims list. Pass: Brief enumerates prohibited promises (e.g., medical cures). Why: Prevents deceptive/unsafe statements.

2) Draft Accuracy & Safety QA

• [MP] Verify every statistic and named entity against a primary source. Pass: Each fact has an inline descriptive anchor to the original (e.g., gov standard, official doc). Why: E‑E‑A‑T and user trust; see Google AI‑generated content guidance (2023).
• [MP] Cite the year and publisher in prose when using data. Pass: Year + source named around the link. Why: Context clarity and credibility.
• [MP] No orphan claims. Pass: Facts without sources are removed or supported. Why: Reduces misinformation risk.
• [MP] Run a hallucination/fact spot‑check. Pass: Human checks at least one fact per ~500–800 words and all critical claims. Why: Humans catch edge cases better than automation (aligned with NIST risk controls).
• [MP] Originality check. Pass: Similarity ≤ ~15% (excluding quotes/refs) with manual review of matches. Why: Avoids plagiarism; see definitions in the Harvard plagiarism policy.
• [MP] Quote and paraphrase ethically. Pass: Verbatim text in quotes; paraphrases substantially rephrased with attribution. Why: Academic and journalistic integrity; see Purdue OWL preventing plagiarism.
• [MP] Unsafe content filters. Pass: No incitement, hate, self‑harm instructions, or illegal guidance. Why: Safety and policy compliance (reflecting NIST RMF risk treatment focus).
• [MP] Health/finance caution. Pass: Add disclaimers and avoid diagnostic or individualized financial advice; escalate to SME review if needed. Why: Mitigates harm and liability.
• [R] Bias and inclusivity scan. Pass: Screen for stereotypes and demeaning phrasing; correct or balance. Why: Fairness and brand risk reduction.

3) Legal, Disclosure, and IP

• [MP] Disclose material connections/ads. Pass: Clear, conspicuous disclosure proximal to the claim in plain language. Why: Required by the FTC Endorsement Guides (2023) and detailed in “.com Disclosures” guidance.
• [MP] Label synthetic/deepfake media where users could be misled (EU contexts). Pass: Clear labeling and, where applicable, model/source info. Why: Transparency obligations under the EU AI Act, 2024 Official Journal and noted by the European Parliament’s adoption brief (2024).
• [MP] Copyright compliance for AI‑assisted works. Pass: Declare human authorship scope; don’t claim copyright on purely AI‑generated portions. Why: Policy from the U.S. Copyright Office AI guidance (2023).
• [MP] Respect third‑party licenses and attribution. Pass: Follow Creative Commons TASL (Title, Author, Source, License) and indicate changes. Why: License compliance per Creative Commons license overview.
• [MP] Remove/redact PII unless consented. Pass: No names/emails/phone/IPs, etc., without documented consent; log consent scope/date. Why: Privacy law compliance via ICO GDPR guide and CCPA resources.
• [MP] Health examples: de‑identify. Pass: Apply HIPAA Safe Harbor (remove 18 identifiers) or Expert Determination for any public case/timeline. Why: Required under HHS OCR HIPAA de‑identification guidance.
• [MP] Payments data examples: mask and avoid storage. Pass: PAN displayed as first 6 + last 4, never store sensitive auth data. Why: PCI obligations per the PCI DSS Quick Reference Guide and PCI SSC e‑skimming guidance.

4) Brand Voice, Style, and Readability

• [MP] Confirm brand voice/tone. Pass: Matches voice guide; banned words avoided. Why: Consistency and trust.
• [MP] Reading level appropriate to audience. Pass: Target grade range documented (e.g., 8–10 for broad audiences) and measured. Why: Comprehension and engagement.
• [MP] Clear structure. Pass: Logical H1–H3 hierarchy; short paragraphs; scannable bullets. Why: Page experience and accessibility foundations.
• [R] Inclusive language check. Pass: Avoids ableist, gendered, or exclusionary terms; replaces with neutral alternatives. Why: Audience respect and brand equity.

5) SEO & E‑E‑A‑T Essentials

• [MP] People‑first intent match. Pass: Title/intro directly answer the searcher’s problem; no fluff. Why: Aligned with Google’s helpful content guidance (2023).
• [MP] Transparent authorship. Pass: Visible author name and, when applicable, bio/credentials page. Why: Supports E‑E‑A‑T signals.
• [MP] Article structured data. Pass: Valid Article schema with author, headline, datePublished, dateModified, and image. Why: Eligibility for rich result features per Google Article structured data docs.
• [MP] Canonical URL set. Pass: Self‑canonicalized primary URL; avoid duplicate paths. Why: Consolidation best practice from Google canonicalization guidance.
• [MP] Internal links to authoritative pages. Pass: At least 2–4 relevant internal links with descriptive anchors. Why: Topical authority and navigation.
• [MP] External links to primary sources only. Pass: Link to original publisher/study/gov docs; no low‑quality blogs. Why: Trust and verifiability.
• [MP] Page experience and Core Web Vitals. Pass: LCP ≤ 2.5s, CLS < 0.1, INP < 200 ms. Why: Web performance signals per Google Core Web Vitals overview (2024) and INP replacing FID (2024).
• [R] Refresh cadence documented. Pass: Set update frequency for time‑sensitive topics. Why: Freshness and accuracy.

6) Accessibility (WCAG 2.2 AA Basics)

• [MP] Alt text for all meaningful images. Pass: Accurate, concise alt; decorative images marked appropriately. Why: Required by WCAG 2.2 – 1.1.1 Non‑text Content.
• [MP] Color contrast. Pass: Normal text ≥ 4.5:1; large text ≥ 3:1. Why: WCAG 2.2 – 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum).
• [MP] Link text clarity. Pass: Descriptive anchors convey purpose in context. Why: WCAG 2.2 – 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context).
• [MP] Heading hierarchy and landmarks. Pass: Single H1; logical H2/H3; page title set. Why: WCAG 2.1 – 2.4.2 Page Titled.
• [MP] Keyboard operability and focus. Pass: All interactive elements usable via keyboard; visible focus indicator. Why: WCAG 2.2 – 2.1.1 Keyboard and 2.4.7 Focus Visible.
• [R] Target size minimum. Pass: Tap targets ≥ 24×24 CSS px or exceptions satisfied. Why: WCAG 2.2 – 2.5.5 Target Size (Minimum).
• [R] Hover/focus content behavior. Pass: Dismissible and persistent per guidelines. Why: WCAG 2.2 – 1.4.13 Content on Hover or Focus.

7) Link Hygiene & Citation Format

• [MP] Descriptive, in‑sentence anchors. Pass: Wrap the fact phrase, not “here.” Why: Improves clarity and meets accessibility/SEO conventions.
• [MP] Canonical, primary source links only. Pass: Link to official docs/data; strip tracking params. Why: Reliability and longevity.
• [MP] Surface key metadata. Pass: Include year/publisher near the link in text. Why: Reader trust and context.
• [R] Archive critical sources. Pass: Archive link captured for volatile pages. Why: Link rot mitigation; see Internet Archive help.

8) Images, Media, and Assets

• [MP] Licensing verified for all assets. Pass: Stock/custom/CC license documented; TASL for CC. Why: IP compliance; see Creative Commons license basics.
• [MP] File size optimized. Pass: Images compressed; modern formats where possible. Why: Helps meet Core Web Vitals.
• [R] Captions and context. Pass: Provide captions when they add meaning. Why: Accessibility and comprehension.

9) Performance & Delivery Readiness

• [MP] Image weight budget. Pass: ≤ specified KB/MB per page; defer offscreen images. Why: LCP improvement per Core Web Vitals.
• [MP] Script/CSS hygiene. Pass: Remove unused libraries; minify; lazy‑load non‑critical assets. Why: Faster INP/LCP.
• [R] Validate with Lighthouse. Pass: No critical accessibility/SEO/performance errors in report. Why: Quick safety net using Lighthouse.

10) Governance, Logging, and Audit Trail

• [MP] Record generation metadata. Pass: Prompt text/ID, model/version, parameters, timestamps, retrieval snapshot. Why: Traceability aligned with the NIST GenAI Profile (2024 draft) and ISO 42001 overview.
• [MP] Reviewer approvals captured. Pass: Human editor ID, decision, and timestamp logged. Why: Accountability per NIST AI RMF (2023).
• [MP] Tool QA results attached. Pass: Plagiarism, accessibility, and SEO scan summaries stored with thresholds and pass/fail. Why: Evidence for audits and continuous improvement.
• [R] Incident and feedback log. Pass: Issues, user complaints, and remediations tracked. Why: Supports RMF monitor‑improve cycle.

11) Pre‑publish Final Gate

• [MP] Policy compliance attestation. Pass: Editor confirms compliance with AI use, privacy, and disclosure policies. Why: Reduces regulatory risk (FTC, GDPR/CCPA, AI Act contexts).
• [MP] AI involvement disclosure when expectations warrant. Pass: Brief note if AI assistance is material to user understanding. Why: Transparency aligns with Google’s AI content guidance (2023) and FTC deception avoidance.
• [MP] Technical SEO sanity check. Pass: Title/meta unique, H1 present, canonical set, indexability open, schema valid. Why: Prevents avoidable crawl/index issues per SEO Starter Guide.

12) Post‑publish Monitoring & Maintenance

• [MP] Search Console monitoring. Pass: Weekly checks of Performance and Enhancements/Rich Results; validate fixes. Why: Visibility into indexing and SERP features per Google Search Console docs.
• [MP] Core Web Vitals tracking. Pass: LCP/INP/CLS monitored; regressions triaged. Why: Page experience health per Core Web Vitals overview.
• [MP] Broken link and redirect scan monthly. Pass: Fix 404s and long chains. Why: User experience and crawl efficiency.
• [MP] Fact refresh cadence. Pass: High‑change pages re‑verified quarterly; update dateModified. Why: Accuracy; aligns with freshness guidance in Google’s docs.
• [R] User feedback loop. Pass: Comments/support tickets reviewed weekly; corrective edits logged. Why: Continuous improvement per RMF mindset.

Quick Tool Hints (use what fits your stack)

• Fact/accuracy: RAG with document IDs; manual spot‑checks; citation‑required prompts.
• Plagiarism: Similarity scanners (interpret with judgment against quotes/refs).
• SEO: Search Console; structured data validator; crawler for internal links.
• Accessibility: WAVE, axe, Lighthouse combined with manual keyboard checks.
• Governance: CMS workflows; versioning; observability for logs.

One‑page Publishing Gate: 10 Critical Must‑Pass Items

Use this as your final go/no‑go before hitting Publish:

1. Facts verified with primary sources and inline descriptive anchors present. [MP]
2. Material connections disclosed; AI‑synthetic media labeled when applicable. [MP]
3. PII removed or consent documented; HIPAA/PCI specifics applied if relevant. [MP]
4. Originality check completed; quotes and attributions correct. [MP]
5. Author visible; Article schema valid with dates and image. [MP]
6. Canonical set; internal/external links are clean and relevant. [MP]
7. Alt text, contrast, and link text pass WCAG 2.2 AA basics. [MP]
8. Core Web Vitals within thresholds (LCP/INP/CLS). [MP]
9. Generation/logging metadata captured; human approval timestamped. [MP]
10. Search Console and refresh cadence added to monitoring queue. [MP]

—

Cited standards and guidance include Google Search Central on helpful content and AI (2023), WCAG 2.2 AA criteria (W3C/WAI), FTC Endorsement Guides and .com Disclosures (2023), EU AI Act transparency obligations (2024), GDPR/CCPA privacy resources, HIPAA de‑identification, PCI DSS, U.S. Copyright Office AI policy, and NIST/ISO governance frameworks. Follow the links above for exact requirements and latest updates.