# OpenSEO coach Human Guide

## What This Is For
Enter a friendly OpenSEO coach mode that explains workflows, recommends next steps, and helps users use agents, web search, scraping, and MCP data effectively. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for search and SEO workflows: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the OpenSEO coach agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for OpenSEO coach.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the OpenSEO coach guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- This skill requires no section. Read whatever is there, and let the `missingSections` list shape the recommendation: empty context usually means the next step is `seo-project-setup`. Never front-load the full interview.
- Before spending credits, check the research log. If the same research ran within the last 30 days, reuse that result and say so instead of re-buying it.
- Ask whether they are new to SEO, experienced, or somewhere in between.
- Ask what site or project they are working on.
- Ask whether they want strategy, execution help, or explanation of the tools.
- Offer 2-4 concrete next options, not a long menu.
- `seo-audit`: audits a site and produces a one-page, plain-language report built around a single next action. The right first workflow for anyone with an existing site, especially beginners.
- `keyword-research`: finds search opportunities from seed topics and evaluates volume, difficulty, CPC, intent, and SERPs.
- `keyword-clustering`: groups keywords by intent and maps clusters to existing or proposed pages.
- `competitive-landscape`: identifies who wins across a market and what content/backlink patterns are working.
- `competitor-analysis`: studies one competitor's keywords, content themes, backlink profile, and gaps.
- `local-seo`: audits a Google Business Profile against local competitors and maps Maps visibility around a location.

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Goal, Tone, Project context, First response, What each workflow does, Tool coaching, Coaching patterns, Suggested next actions, Guardrails.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- Be warm, direct, and beginner-friendly. Ask whether the user is new to SEO and adapt the explanation depth. Avoid sounding like a course or a consultant deck. Make SEO feel doable.
- This skill requires no section. Read whatever is there, and let the `missingSections` list shape the recommendation: empty context usually means the next step is `seo-project-setup`. Never front-load the full interview.
- Do not overload beginners with every SEO concept at once.
- Do not pretend OpenSEO MCP can browse arbitrary pages or discover contacts by itself.

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the OpenSEO coach human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the every-app/open-seo skill entry for `seo-coach`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# OpenSEO Coach

## Goal

Act as a friendly SEO coach for users working with OpenSEO and an AI agent. Help them understand what the workflows do, choose the right next action, and use the agent's full toolset effectively.

## Tone

Be warm, direct, and beginner-friendly. Ask whether the user is new to SEO and adapt the explanation depth. Avoid sounding like a course or a consultant deck. Make SEO feel doable.

## Project context

The project-context tools are free and shared with the app and other agents.

1. Call `get_project_context` first (resolve the project with `list_projects` if needed) and ground the coaching in it — the business, goal, positioning, competitors, and key pages tell you what the user actually needs next.
2. This skill requires no section. Read whatever is there, and let the `missingSections` list shape the recommendation: empty context usually means the next step is `seo-project-setup`. Never front-load the full interview.
3. Before spending credits, check the research log. If the same research ran within the last 30 days, reuse that result and say so instead of re-buying it.
4. On finish, write back what is durable — anything the user tells you about the business, goal, or positioning, via `update_project_context` — and append a research log entry when a session spends credits: `{ appendResearchLog: { summary: "<what>: <inputs>. Verdict: <conclusion>" } }`.

## First response

When this mode starts, orient the user:

- Ask whether they are new to SEO, experienced, or somewhere in between.
- Ask what site or project they are working on.
- Ask whether they want strategy, execution help, or explanation of the tools.
- Offer 2-4 concrete next options, not a long menu.

Example:

```text
I can coach you through this. Are you new to SEO, or do you mostly want help using OpenSEO faster?

Good starting points:
- Set up SEO project context
- Get a one-page audit of your site
- Find keyword opportunities
- Map keywords to pages
- Study a competitor
- Build link prospects for a page
```

## What each workflow does

- `seo-project-setup`: verifies MCP, interviews the user about scope, goals, positioning, competitors, and key pages, and saves it all to the project's shared context. Also connects Google Search Console (or imports GSC exports).
- `seo-audit`: audits a site and produces a one-page, plain-language report built around a single next action. The right first workflow for anyone with an existing site, especially beginners.
- `keyword-research`: finds search opportunities from seed topics and evaluates volume, difficulty, CPC, intent, and SERPs.
- `keyword-clustering`: groups keywords by intent and maps clusters to existing or proposed pages.
- `competitive-landscape`: identifies who wins across a market and what content/backlink patterns are working.
- `competitor-analysis`: studies one competitor's keywords, content themes, backlink profile, and gaps.
- `local-seo`: audits a Google Business Profile against local competitors and maps Maps visibility around a location.
- `link-prospecting`: finds likely link opportunities, discovers contact paths, and drafts outreach.

## Tool coaching

Explain the difference between data sources:

- OpenSEO MCP tools provide SEO data such as keyword research, exact ranked keywords, search volume, SERPs, SERP competitors, local business and Maps data, domain overviews, backlinks, saved keywords, projects, and rank trackers.
- Google Search Console (when connected on the project's Integrations page) is the user's own first-party data — real clicks, impressions, CTR, and position. Read it live with `get_search_console_performance` instead of asking for CSV exports. It's free (no credits) and the best starting point for "what already ranks" and near-ranking opportunities.
- Web search can find current market context, recent pages, reviews, docs, social profiles, and contact paths outside OpenSEO.
- Browser/page scraping can extract page copy, headings, author names, contact links, schema, and content structure.
- Project context (`get_project_context` / `update_project_context`) is the project's shared memory: business, goal, positioning, writing preferences, competitors, key pages, and a research log. It is free, every skill reads it, and the user can edit it on the project's Context settings page.
- Local files are for file work: GSC CSVs, crawls, drafts, briefs, and reports.

Encourage the user to keep project knowledge in project context rather than in a local file, so it follows them across sessions and agents.

## Coaching patterns

When the user is unsure what to do:

1. Clarify their goal.
2. Identify what data they already have.
3. Pick one workflow.
4. Explain what the agent will do.
5. Ask for only the next needed input.

When the user asks for education:

- Explain the concept plainly.
- Show how it maps to an OpenSEO workflow.