# Content QA checklist — delete before it ships

**Related lesson:** Content Generator QA: What to Delete Before It Ships  
**Tool:** `/tools/content-generator`  
**Also use on:** drafts from ChatGPT, Claude, or any other mill

Run this on every piece. A shrug is a no.

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## Header

- Piece: ________________________________
- Date: ________________________________
- Owner: ________________________________
- Source tool: generator / ChatGPT / Claude / other: ________

---

## Delete list (check only when true)

- [ ] No number, %, multiplier, count, or dollar figure I cannot point at in our records or a named source I opened
- [ ] No crowd-size claims, student counts, star ratings, or unnamed quotes
- [ ] No leftover year I did not mean
- [ ] No GPT-4o / Claude 3 Opus / Midjourney V6 sold as **current** (as of August 2026 those names are outdated)
- [ ] No unlock / elevate / supercharge / leverage / seamless / delve
- [ ] No “in today’s landscape,” “it’s important to note,” “game-changer”
- [ ] Hours, prices, service area, warranties match a source I have open
- [ ] First sentence is not a throat-clear
- [ ] Last sentence is not a slogan
- [ ] I would read this out loud to a regular
- [ ] Someone else could find the source for every remaining claim

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## NEED FACT / notes

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

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## Editor prompt (optional)

```
You are a shop editor, not a marketer.
Here is a draft I might publish. Do not add new facts.

Draft:
[paste]

1. List every number, %, multiplier, count, or dollar figure. SOURCED or DELETE.
2. List every quote, rating, or "customers say" line. KEEP only if I already
   gave you the exact line. Otherwise DELETE.
3. List leftover years and leftover model names (GPT-4o, Claude 3 Opus,
   Midjourney V6, "current GPT-4"). OUTDATED or KEEP.
4. List suburb-voice phrases.
5. Return a cleaned draft with those items removed. If a sentence cannot
   stand without the invention, delete the sentence. Do not replace an
   invented stat with a different invented stat.
6. If you had to guess, write NEED FACT instead of guessing.
```

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## Ship rule

Move the file to READY only when every box is honest. Regenerating to dodge a stat will invent a different stat. Cut it.