I wrote a tribute to Bruce Clay, the father of SEO, this week. My agent’s first draft sounded like ChatGPT. The second draft sounded like ChatGPT. I sent it back both times: “this sounds like AI wrote it.”
It wasn’t the words. It was where we started. The fix turned into two rules every article we write now follows.
Rule 1: Start with real ingredients
The drafts failed because the agent started from “write a tribute to Bruce Clay.” Thin air. Then it dressed up the air.
Backwards. Every article starts with a real ingredient– something that actually happened. A conversation. A screenshot. A number from this morning. Something from today or yesterday, with specific details.
The Bruce piece only worked once we led with a real Messenger exchange I had with him– him telling a room full of arguing marketers to knock it off. “No room for ego. Why bother… too busy.” That’s a real thing. You can’t fake it.
That’s the whole point. Start with something real and it can’t read as AI-generated, because it isn’t. AI can process the ingredient– sharpen it, structure it, tighten it. AI can’t invent it.
PRODUCE comes before PROCESS. Capture the real thing first. Let the AI edit second. Never generate out of thin air.
That’s the Content Factory in one line:
PRODUCE — capture the real thing→PROCESS — AI edits→POST→PROMOTE
If you can’t point to the real ingredient a piece is built on, stop and go get one. The AI’s job is the second P, not the first.
Rule 2: Write in their real voice– and use their Voice Reference
Second rule. Every article is in a specific person’s voice. Not “blog voice.” Theirs.
To nail the voice you need a Voice Reference: a real example of how that person actually writes or talks. Mine is the Bruce Clay tribute. Read it and you can hear me– cold opens, short lines, real names and numbers, rough dashes. That’s the model for anything written as me.
So before you write in someone’s voice:
- Find their Voice Reference. If it exists, match it.
- If it doesn’t exist– say you’re writing like Anthony Hilb and there’s no reference article in his voice yet– flag it. Recommend we create one, back to whoever submitted the piece. You can still proceed using his real material (his posts, his interviews, his own words), but note in the handoff that there’s no Voice Reference yet, so someone who knows how he sounds should check it before it ships.
No reference, no confident voice match. Say so out loud. Don’t guess and hope.
The check before anything ships
- Did it start with a real ingredient? If not, stop.
- Is it in the right person’s voice, matched to their Voice Reference? If there’s no reference, did you flag it?
- Read it out loud. Does it sound like them talking– or like an essay? Cut until it’s them.
That’s it. Real ingredients first. Their real voice second. Everything else is just polish.
Dennis Yu
Dennis Yu is the CEO of Local Service Spotlight, a platform that amplifies the reputations of contractors and local service businesses using the Content Factory process. He is a former search engine engineer who has spent a billion dollars on Google and Facebook ads for Nike, Quiznos, Ashley Furniture, Red Bull, State Farm, and other brands.
Dennis has achieved 25% of his goal of creating a million digital marketing jobs by partnering with universities, professional organizations, and agencies. Through Local Service Spotlight, he teaches the Dollar a Day strategy and Content Factory training to help local service businesses enhance their existing local reputation and make the phone ring.
Dennis coaches young adult agency owners serving plumbers, AC technicians, landscapers, roofers, electricians, and believes there should be a standard in measuring local marketing efforts, much like doctors and plumbers must be certified.