Action Center: Actionables

The Action Center is your strategic command hub for maximizing brand visibility across AI-powered search engines including ChatGPT, Claude, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, and Gemini. Let’s get you started with your first optimization in under 5 minutes.

Step 1: Access Your Dashboard

Navigate to the Action Center from your Writesonic GEO main menu. You’ll see three key metrics:

• Unresolved Items: Total optimization opportunities available
• In-Progress Items: Actions you’ve started working on
• Resolved Items: Completed optimizations

Step 2: Understanding Priority Scores

Each action displays two critical indicators:

• Effort Level (1-3 bars): Time and resources required
• Impact Level (Low/Medium/High): Potential visibility improvement

Start with High Impact, Low Effort items for quick wins.

Step 3: Take Your First Action

1. Click “Address now” on any high-priority item
2. Follow the guided workflow specific to that action type
3. Mark as complete when done

Success Milestone: Complete one optimization action and see it reflected in under Impacts and results.

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Understanding the Action Center

What Problems Does It Solve?

Traditional SEO focuses on Google rankings, but AI models are increasingly how users discover information. When someone asks ChatGPT about “best design tools,” your brand needs to appear in that response. The Action Center identifies exactly why you’re not appearing and provides step-by-step solutions.

How AI Visibility Differs from Traditional SEO

Your Visibility Dashboard Explained

The Action Center analyzes your brand’s presence across AI platforms and organizes improvement opportunities into three strategic categories:

1. Technical Issues - Barriers preventing AI from accessing your content
2. External Mentions - Opportunities to earn citations from authoritative sources
3. Content Visibility - Content gaps and optimization opportunities

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Category 1: Get External Mentions

External mentions are the foundation of AI visibility. When authoritative sites mention your brand, AI models consider you more credible and citation-worthy.

Get Mentioned on High-Authority Third-Party Sites

What You’ll See: A list of URLs where competitors are mentioned but your brand isn’t. Each entry shows:

• The citing page URL
• Domain Rating (authority score)
• Number of missed opportunities
• Competitors mentioned
• Platform icons showing which AI models use this source

Taking Action:

1. Review the Opportunity

   • Click on any URL to see the full context
   • Understand how competitors are being mentioned
   • Assess if this aligns with your brand positioning

2. Draft Your Outreach

   • Click “Draft email” to access the platform's email template that you can customize with your unique value proposition.
   • Focus on the value you can provide to their audience

3. Execute Outreach

   • Send directly from the platform or copy to your email client
   • Platform tracks which URLs you’ve contacted
   • Set follow-up reminders as needed

4. Track Results

   
   • Mark outreach as “Done” when completed
   • View progress in the “Impacts and Results” tab
   • Platform automatically detects when citations go live
   • See real-time visibility improvements in your metrics

Pro Tips:

• Prioritize domains with ratings above 70 for maximum impact
• Personalize every outreach message - generic templates have 3x lower success rates
• Focus on providing genuine value, not just requesting mentions
• Follow up after 7-10 days if no response

Detailed Outreach Process

Phase 1: Opportunity Research (15 minutes per opportunity)

1. Initial Analysis

   Open the cited page and document:
   - Article title and publication date
   - Author name and contact information
   - Last update timestamp
   - Total number of brands/tools mentioned
   - Your brand's relevance to the content

2. Competitor Positioning Analysis

   • Note how each competitor is described
   • Identify unique selling points highlighted
   • Find gaps your brand could fill
   • Document any outdated information about competitors

3. Contact Research

   • Find author’s email (check author bio, about page, or LinkedIn)
   • Identify the appropriate editor if author isn’t available
   • Note their writing style and tone
   • Check their recent articles for context

Phase 2: Crafting Your Outreach (10 minutes)

Create a personalized email using this enhanced template:

Phase 3: Systematic Follow-Up

Day 0 (Initial send):

• Send email Tuesday-Thursday, 9-11 AM recipient time zone
• Mark as “sent” in Action Center
• Add to your CRM or tracking spreadsheet

Day 7 (First follow-up):

Subject: Re: [Original subject]

Hi [Name],

Just floating this back to the top of your inbox. I know how busy things get!

[One new piece of value - data point, news, or asset]

Would you like me to send over those resources I mentioned?

Best,
[Your name]

Day 14 (Final follow-up):

Subject: Re: [Original subject] - Final check

Hi [Name],

I'll close the loop on this - if the timing isn't right or if [Brand] isn't a fit for your article, no worries at all.

If you're ever updating content on [related topics], I'd be happy to contribute insights from our [specific expertise].

Thanks for your time and for creating such valuable content for the [industry] community.

Best,
[Your name]

Earn Mentions on UGC & Community Sites

What You’ll See: Community platforms where your expertise could earn natural mentions:

• Reddit threads in your industry

• Quora questions you can answer authoritatively

• Stack Overflow technical discussions

• Industry-specific forums and communities

Taking Action:

1. Identify Relevant Discussions
   • Review suggested threads and discussions
   • Look for questions where you have genuine expertise
   • Check recency - prioritize active discussions
2. Engage Authentically
   • Create accounts with complete, professional profiles
   • Provide valuable answers without being promotional
   • Include your brand naturally only when directly relevant
   • Build reputation before mentioning your product
3. Build Long-term Presence
   • Consistency matters more than volume
   • Aim for 2-3 high-quality contributions weekly
   • Become a recognized expert in specific communities
   • Help others genuinely - citations follow naturally

What to Avoid:

• Promotional language or obvious marketing
• Copy-pasting the same response across platforms
• Creating multiple fake accounts
• Arguing or being defensive about your brand

Platform-Specific Strategies

Reddit Optimization

1. Subreddit Selection Process

   Evaluate subreddits by:
   - Member count (minimum 10,000)
   - Daily active discussions
   - Relevance to your expertise
   - Moderation strictness
   - Historical AI citation frequency

2. Contribution Strategy

   • Week 1-2: Observer phase - read without posting
   • Week 3-4: Helper phase - answer questions without any brand mention
   • Week 5+: Authority phase - occasional relevant brand mentions

3. High-Value Comment Structure

   Opening: Personal experience or empathy with the question
   
   Main value: Detailed solution with steps:
   1. [First step with explanation]
   2. [Second step with reasoning]
   3. [Third step with expected outcome]
   
   Evidence: "In my experience with [relevant context]..."
   
   Additional resources: Mix of helpful links (only 20% yours)
   
   Engagement: "Happy to clarify anything - dealt with this for years"

Quora Optimization

1. Question Selection Criteria

   • View count: 1,000+
   • Answer count: Less than 5 quality answers
   • Recency: Asked within last 60 days
   • Followers: 10+ people following question

2. Answer Structure for Maximum Citations

   Bold Opening Statement (1 sentence answer)
   
   Context Paragraph (why this matters)
   
   Detailed Explanation:
   • Main point with evidence
   • Secondary point with example
   • Counter-argument addressed
   
   Real-World Application:
   [Specific scenario or case study]
   
   Tools/Resources Section:
   - [Your solution if genuinely relevant]
   - [Alternative solutions]
   - [Additional learning resources]
   
   Credentials: [Brief qualifier of your expertise]

Stack Overflow and Technical Forums

1. Contribution Requirements
   • Provide working code solutions
   • Include error handling
   • Explain the “why” not just “how”
   • Follow community formatting standards
2. Reputation Building Timeline
   • Month 1: Focus on answering, gain 100+ reputation
   • Month 2: Start asking quality questions too
   • Month 3: Occasional tool/solution mentions where relevant

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Category 2: Boost Content Visibility

Content optimized for AI citations follows different rules than traditional SEO. The Action Center identifies what’s working and guides you to create citation-worthy content.

Create Content Inspired by Websites Winning in AI Citations

What You’ll See: A curated list of content opportunities based on actual AI citation data:

• Topic ideas with citation frequency scores
• Content types that perform best (guides, comparisons, tutorials)
• Competitor content gaps you can fill
• Estimated impact on AI visibility

Taking Action:

1. Choose Your Topic
   • Filter by your expertise areas
   • Prioritize topics with 100+ citation instances
   • Check if you have unique insights to add
   • Verify you haven’t already covered this topic
2. Create with Article Editor 6
   • Click “Write” to launch the Article Writer
3. Optimize for AI Extraction

Content Formats That Win Citations:

Refresh Existing Content for AI Visibility

Status: Coming Soon

This feature will analyze your existing content library and provide specific optimization recommendations:

• Content restructuring for better AI comprehension
• Fact extraction improvements
• Citation-friendly formatting updates
• Freshness signals and timestamp optimization
• Internal linking enhancements

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Category 3: Fix Technical Issues

Technical barriers can completely prevent AI models from accessing your content. These fixes often provide the fastest visibility improvements.

Fix Broken or Non-Indexable Pages

Understanding the Challenge: AI bots don’t execute JavaScript or use browsers like humans do. They need server-side responses to access your content. Many sites accidentally block these bots without realizing it.

Required Setup:

1. Enable Server-Side Tracking
   • Choose your platform integration:
     • Cloudflare: One-click setup through dashboard
     • WordPress: Install the GEO tracking plugin
     • Vercel: Add to your deployment configuration
     • Custom: Use our API for other platforms
2. Why This Matters
   • Google Analytics can’t see AI bot traffic
   • AI bots don’t render JavaScript
   • Server-side tracking captures all bot interactions
   • Identifies exactly which pages have issues

What You’ll Discover:

• Pages returning 404 errors to AI bots
• Internal server errors (500-series)
• Redirect chains confusing crawlers
• Authentication walls blocking access
• Rate limiting preventing indexing

Taking Action:

1. Review Error Report
   • Sort by error frequency
   • Identify patterns in problematic URLs
   • Check error codes and timestamps
2. Prioritize Fixes
   • Start with your most important content
   • Fix systematic issues before individual pages
   • Address 404s from external links first
3. Implement Solutions
   • Restore missing pages or create redirects
   • Fix server configuration issues
   • Ensure proper URL structures
   • Remove authentication requirements for public content

Fix Robots.txt Blocking AI Crawlers

The Hidden Problem: Over 60% of websites unknowingly block AI crawlers through restrictive robots.txt files, eliminating any chance of AI citations.

What You’ll See:

• Current robots.txt configuration analysis
• List of blocked AI bots (GPTBot, Claude-Web, etc.)
• Estimated visibility loss from blocking
• Specific line-by-line recommendations

Understanding AI Bot User Agents:

Taking Action:

1. Review Current Configuration

   # Common problematic configuration
   User-agent: *
   Disallow: /

2. Implement Recommended Changes

   # AI-friendly configuration
   User-agent: GPTBot
   Allow: /
   
   User-agent: Claude-Web
   Allow: /
   
   User-agent: PerplexityBot
   Allow: /

3. Balance Security and Visibility

   • Allow AI bots to access public content
   • Maintain blocks on sensitive directories
   • Use crawl-delay for rate limiting if needed
   • Test changes before deployment

4. Verify Implementation

   • Use robots.txt testing tools
   • Monitor bot traffic after changes
   • Check for increased crawl activity
   • Track citation improvements

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Best Practices for Maximum Impact

Prioritization Framework

The ICE Method for Action Selection:

• Impact: How much will this improve visibility?
• Confidence: How certain are we of success?
• Effort: How much work is required?

Focus on actions scoring high on Impact and Confidence but low on Effort.

Execution Timeline

Week 1-2: Technical Foundation

• Fix all robots.txt issues
• Resolve critical broken pages
• Setup server-side tracking

Week 3-4: Quick Wins

• Complete high-authority outreach (5-10 sites)
• Publish 2-3 GEO-optimized articles
• Begin community engagement

Month 2: Scale and Optimize

• Expand outreach to 20+ opportunities
• Create comprehensive content cluster
• Establish regular community presence

Month 3+: Sustain and Grow

• Monitor and maintain technical health
• Continue content production rhythm
• Build lasting community relationships