> Content index: https://quillly.com/docs/llms.txt
> Canonical page: https://quillly.com/docs/seo-scoring

---
title: How Quillly Scores Your Content: The SEO Breakdown
description: How Quillly's 0-100 SEO score works — structure, meta, keywords, internal links, and visual density — and how your AI fixes it with get_blog_seo_patches.
keywords: quillly seo score, blog seo scoring, seo patches, visual density seo, internal linking seo
published: 2026-07-11
updated: 2026-07-26
url: https://quillly.com/docs/seo-scoring
word_count: 483
---

# How Quillly scores your content

> How Quillly's 0-100 SEO score works — structure, meta, keywords, internal links, and visual density — and how your AI fixes it with get_blog_seo_patches.

Canonical: https://quillly.com/docs/seo-scoring
Published: 2026-07-11

Every time your AI creates or updates content, Quillly gives it an SEO score from 0 to 100 and returns the number with the saved item. The score is a single, honest signal of whether a draft is ready to rank — and it is designed to be acted on, not admired.

## What the SEO score measures

The score is a weighted average of 14+ categories covering structure, metadata, keywords, links, and media. The heaviest categories carry the most points, so fixing them moves the number most:

![Quillly SEO score category weights, with keyword optimization and meta tags carrying the most weight](https://quillly.com/serve/v1/019c64a2-a62f-7793-aa68-2c78316d3309/images/02906e1ef8aaa45ad7e582c6f3753fddc928b090.webp)

## Key rules to know

A few concrete thresholds drive most of the score:

- **Meta tags** — give every item a `meta_title` of 50-60 characters and a `meta_description` of 120-155 (keep it under 160). Include your primary keyword in both.

- **Internal links** — add at least 2-3 links to related content on your site, and vary the anchor text; identical anchors are flagged.

- **Visual density** — aim for one visual every ~400 words, spread across sections. Below roughly one per 500 words you lose points, and any 700-word stretch with no image is flagged. Photos count, and so do code-rendered visuals — a Mermaid diagram, a data chart, or a custom HTML layout, each created with an `image:` code fence and each needing `alt` text.

- **Structure and readability** — use `##` and `###` headings, short paragraphs, and transition words; do not repeat the title or a byline in the body, since the page chrome already renders them.

## How your agent should react

Do not guess at fixes. After a draft is saved, have your AI call `**get_blog_seo_patches**` — it returns a prioritized list of changes with the projected point gain for each (for example, "+8 if you fix Meta Tags") plus concrete per-category suggestions. Your AI then applies them all in a single `update_content` call using patches, and re-checks with `check_blog_seo`. This tight improve-check-improve loop is the fastest way to a high score.

## What is a good target

`70` is the publishing floor — Quillly's pre-flight guidance is to reach a score of at least 70, with valid meta lengths, before `publish_content`. But aim higher: **90+ earns an A**, and it is very achievable — most posts published through Quillly land in the high 80s and 90s. If a draft is below 70, run the patches flow before publishing rather than shipping a weak post.

Ready to try it? [Connect your AI](/docs/connect-your-ai) and ask it to write, score, and publish a post — or start from [Getting started with Quillly](/docs/getting-started).