The SEO score

Quillly gives every blog post, docs page, changelog entry and news story an SEO score from 0 to 100. This page explains what the Quillly SEO score measures, how each content type is weighted, what caps a score, where the minimum publish score of 85 applies, and how to raise a low score.

How the SEO score is calculated#

Each category rates the page from 0 to 100 and carries a weight. The Quillly SEO score is the weighted average of those ratings, rounded. Then the score caps apply: when a foundation is missing, the score can't go above a set number, however good the rest is.

Each category also gets a status: pass, warning or fail. The grade runs from A+ at 95 and above down to F below 40, and 85 is an A-.

Where you see the score#

• In each content list, the SEO column shows the score saved with each page. Sort by it to find the weakest pages.

• In the editor, the SEO pill in the top bar changes as you type. Click it to open the Properties panel at its SEO section: the score, the grade, one row per category with the points it earns, and an Issues list.

• Your AI gets the score back from create_content, update_content and check_blog_seo.

The number turns green at 70. Green doesn't mean a page can go live, though: your AI can't publish below 85 unless you changed the floor.

The categories and their weights#

Quillly has 21 categories. A blog post is scored on 20 of them, a news story on 20, a docs page on 18 and a changelog entry on 17. These 17 apply to every content type:

These four apply only to some content types:

What changes for each content type#

Blog SEO scoring is the strictest profile. The other types drop the checks that don't fit them, and changelog and news weigh some categories less.

Blog posts and docs pages share one length scale: 1,800 words earns 90, 1,200 earns 75 and 800 earns 55.

Score caps#

When several caps apply, the lowest one wins. The editor shows them in red, such as Score can't pass 69 until fixed, with the reason. A missing Web Story never caps a score; it costs its weight and nothing more.

The minimum publish score#

Each website has a minimum publish score, 85 unless you change it. It applies when your AI publishes:

• publish_content refuses the page and names its weakest categories.

• create_content with the status published saves the page as a draft instead.

• bulk_update_content skips each page under the floor and says why.

Autopilot publishes through publish_content, so its drafts need the score too. Choosing Published in the dashboard doesn't check the score.

To publish under the floor anyway, tell your AI to. It passes force: true, which skips the score check and nothing else. To move the floor, ask your AI to set min_publish_score with update_website_settings, from 0 to 100, or null to go back to 85. The dashboard has no setting for it.

Broken links block publishing#

Before a page goes live or is scheduled, Quillly checks every link in it. A broken link stops the page, whether you publish from the dashboard or your AI calls publish_content, and force doesn't skip this check. A link counts as broken when:

• another site answers 404 Not Found or 410 Gone, its domain doesn't exist, or it refuses the connection;

• it points at one of your own pages that was deleted.

Slow sites, logins and bot walls count as working, and links inside code aren't checked. A broken link also caps the score at 69 until it's gone from the page. Quillly re-checks the outside links on your pages every 14 days, so a page that was fine at launch can pick up the cap later. Internal links and broken links shows how to find and fix them.

Raise a score#

Your AI does this best, because it can read the fixes and rewrite the page in one go.

1. Get the fixes#

   Ask your AI for the SEO patches, for example: "Get the SEO patches for the pricing page and apply them." It calls get_blog_seo_patches, which lists the failing categories, biggest gain first, with suggestions for each, then the passing categories still below 90.

2. Apply them in one update#

   The AI writes the edits itself and applies them all in one update_content call. The suggestions describe what to change; they aren't ready-made text. The response carries the new score and any cap still in force.

3. Check again#

   check_blog_seo scores the page again and saves the result. If it's still under the floor, clear any cap first, because the points each fix promises ignore caps. Then take the next biggest gain.

   

   Without an AI, open the page in the editor, click the SEO pill and work through the Issues list. The score updates as you type.

   Open your blog

Common questions#

Why did a score change when nobody edited the page?#

The score also reads things outside the text: a link that broke since the last check, a Web Story you published or took down, and changes to the scoring itself. When the scoring changes, a daily job re-scores older pages. On 24 September 2026, changelog entries moved to their own profile, so their scores rose.

Can I publish under 85 from the dashboard?#

Yes. The score floor applies only when your AI publishes, Autopilot included. The dashboard still refuses a page with a broken link. On your own domain, a docs or changelog page also waits until its section's reverse proxy passes its check.

Why does my docs page score 0 on Featured Image?#

A docs page earns that category only with a regular Markdown image in the body. Pictures drawn with an image: fence don't set a featured image. On docs pages the category costs its weight but never caps the score, so a page without a regular image can still score in the 90s.

Does a high score mean the page will rank?#

No. The score checks the page itself: structure, keywords, links and metadata. Ranking also depends on whether search engines index the page, on the competition for the query and on your site's authority. Google's guide to helpful, people-first content explains what else counts.

Related#

• Publishing: statuses, scheduling and review: every check that runs before a page goes live.

• Internal links and broken links: how Quillly finds dead links.

• Changelog and release notes: writing entries for the changelog profile.

• MCP tool reference: check_blog_seo, get_blog_seo_patches and the other SEO tools.

• Search performance and the Focus list: whether your pages rank, and for which keywords.