Best AI Prompts for Blog Posts (2026)

Prompts for blog posts#

Act as an SEO editor. My reader is [DESCRIBE YOUR READER] and they search for "[PASTE YOUR TARGET QUERY]". First state in two sentences what that person wants to walk away with. Then propose an outline: one H1, 5 to 8 H2 sections ordered by what the reader needs first, and one line under each H2 saying which question it answers. Flag any section that only exists to repeat the keyword.

Act as a tutorial writer. Using the steps and notes below, write a how-to post titled "[PASTE YOUR TITLE]" for readers who know [DESCRIBE WHAT THEY ALREADY KNOW]. Put the answer or end result in the first paragraph, number the steps, and give each step an H2 or H3 that names the action. Use only my notes for facts and mark anything you had to assume with [CHECK]. Notes: [PASTE YOUR STEPS, SETTINGS AND SCREENSHOTS NOTES]

Act as a product reviewer. Draft a roundup post comparing [LIST THE PRODUCTS] for [DESCRIBE THE BUYER]. Use these criteria in the same order for each product: [PASTE YOUR CRITERIA]. Give each product one honest weakness, then end with a pick by reader situation. Use only the facts, prices and test results I paste below, and write [NEEDS DATA] where something is missing. Facts: [PASTE YOUR FACTS WITH DATES]

Act as a headline and snippet editor. For the post below, write 5 title options that describe the page accurately, none longer than 60 characters, and 3 meta descriptions of one or two sentences. Do not repeat the target phrase more than once per option, avoid exaggeration, and make every option different from the others. Post summary: [PASTE YOUR POST SUMMARY AND TARGET QUERY]

Act as a content auditor. Compare my existing post with the search intent "[PASTE YOUR TARGET QUERY]". List what a reader would still be missing, sections that are padding, claims that need a source or a date, and where my own experience would add the most. Do not rewrite yet. Post: [PASTE YOUR POST TEXT]

What to add to any blog post prompt#

• Who the reader is and what they already know. Anthropic's guide says explicit, direct instructions steer results, and OpenAI's guide lists the assistant's purpose and style as the first part of a prompt.
• The exact query or question the post must answer, plus why it matters to the reader. Anthropic notes that explaining the motivation behind an instruction helps the model deliver more targeted responses.
• Your own material: notes, data, screenshots descriptions, quotes from people you interviewed. Google's guidance asks whether content offers original information, reporting, research or analysis, and Gemini's guide says to supply the information the model needs instead of assuming it has it.
• A sample of your own writing or a model heading structure. Google's Gemini guide recommends including examples, and Anthropic suggests 3 to 5 for best results.
• The output format: heading levels, paragraph length, what goes in the first paragraph. Gemini's guide lets you specify a format and constraints.
• Structure the prompt itself. Anthropic recommends XML tags to separate instructions, context and your pasted notes; OpenAI says Markdown headers and XML tags can mark where content starts and ends.

A worked example#

Here is the first prompt filled in for a small business blog.

Act as an SEO editor. My reader is the owner of a one-person bakery who has never run a blog and wants more local customers. They search for "how to start a bakery blog". First state in two sentences what that person wants to walk away with. Then propose an outline: one H1, 5 to 8 H2 sections ordered by what the reader needs first, and one line under each H2 saying which question it answers. Flag any section that only exists to repeat the keyword.

What a good result must contain:

• A two-sentence statement of the reader's goal that you agree with. If it is wrong, the whole outline will be.
• H2s phrased as the questions a beginner asks, in the order they ask them, with the practical answer near the top.
• A note beside each section saying where your own experience, photos or numbers must go, since the model cannot supply them.
• No H2 that merely restates the target phrase; the flagged ones are cut or merged.
• Headings that a person scanning the page can follow without reading the body.

The full prompt library is on our prompt library page.

Limits of this guide#

Google's documents tell you what it values and what its spam policy covers; they do not say how any specific AI-written post will rank, and we did not test rankings. We did not measure which prompt wording produces better outlines. Search Console data or your own analytics, not these prompts, will show whether a post meets the search intent.