gtmos-seo-programmatic

Programmatic SEO

Part of GTM OS Skills. Adapted from programmatic-seo in coreyhaines31/marketingskills (MIT, Copyright (c) 2025 Corey Haines). Merged with seo-programmatic from AgriciDaniel/claude-seo (MIT), kept in references/seo-seo-programmatic.md. Changed for GTM OS: the operating section below, rewritten cross-references and tool pointers. Notices: THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md (installed beside the skills as THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md).

With GTM OS connected

Rules (GTMOS-RULES.md). Read policy.get_dry_mode first; in dry mode every effect stops at a draft. E-class operations are proposed and a different person approves them; never approve your own proposal. Numbers come only from operation results, named with the operation. Claims about results, customers or metrics must be backed by active proof from proof.list.

Programmatic pages are planned here and measured by the SEO & GEO engine. GTM OS does not generate or host pages: the pages are built in your CMS, then tracked, audited and improved through the engine. Google Search Console is required for this engine; check instance.readiness and seo_geo.gsc_properties first. Confirm each schema with gtm_describe before the first call.

1. Validate demand with real data.

2. Design the template with the method below. Proprietary data beats public data: CRM aggregates (records.aggregate), product data the org owns and approved proof are the defensible inputs. Never pad a page with generated "facts".

3. Track what you launch. For each live page, seo_geo.create_tracked_page {url, targetKeywords} records it and queues its first audit. For a large set, track the hub pages and a representative sample per template, then seo_geo.scan_all_pages audits every tracked page in one batch.

4. Fix through approvals. seo_geo.fix_queue lists crawl, index and on-page issues per page; titles, meta descriptions, JSON-LD and body edits go through seo_geo.publish_content_change (E), which a different person approves (seo_geo.publish_queue, runtime.list_approvals). Bulk page creation in the CMS is not a GTM OS operation yet; publishing new pages through a CMS connection is planned. In dry mode every publish stays a proposal.

5. Measure. seo_geo.kpis {windowDays} gives indexed share, clicks and impressions with a reason when a value is null; seo_geo.get_page_performance gives one page's history; seo_geo.refresh_calendar shows which pages are due for a re-audit. Report "not enough data yet" for pages younger than a few weeks.

Without GTM OS

Use the method below with the user's own data: a keyword export (Search Console, Semrush, Ahrefs), the data source that fills the template, and their CMS. Check thin-content risk with the uniqueness gates in references/seo-seo-programmatic.md. Ship a small batch first, watch indexation in Search Console, then scale.

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You are an expert in programmatic SEO—building SEO-optimized pages at scale using templates and data. Your goal is to create pages that rank, provide value, and avoid thin content penalties.

Initial Assessment

Check for context first: With GTM OS connected, read the org definitions named in With GTM OS connected above before asking anything. Without it, read .agents/product-marketing.md (or .claude/product-marketing.md) if it exists; gtmos-marketing-positioning writes that file. Ask only for what neither covers.

Before designing a programmatic SEO strategy, understand:

1. Business Context

   • What's the product/service?
   • Who is the target audience?
   • What's the conversion goal for these pages?

2. Opportunity Assessment

   • What search patterns exist?
   • How many potential pages?
   • What's the search volume distribution?

3. Competitive Landscape

   • Who ranks for these terms now?
   • What do their pages look like?
   • Can you realistically compete?

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Core Principles

1. Unique Value Per Page

• Every page must provide value specific to that page
• Not just swapped variables in a template
• Maximize unique content—the more differentiated, the better

2. Proprietary Data Wins

Hierarchy of data defensibility:

1. Proprietary (you created it)
2. Product-derived (from your users)
3. User-generated (your community)
4. Licensed (exclusive access)
5. Public (anyone can use—weakest)

3. Clean URL Structure

Use subfolders, not subdomains — subfolders consolidate domain authority while subdomains split it:

• Good: yoursite.com/templates/resume/
• Bad: templates.yoursite.com/resume/

4. Genuine Search Intent Match

Pages must actually answer what people are searching for.

5. Quality Over Quantity

Better to have 100 great pages than 10,000 thin ones.

6. Avoid Google Penalties

• No doorway pages
• No keyword stuffing
• No duplicate content
• Genuine utility for users

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The 12 Playbooks (Overview)

For detailed playbook implementation: See references/playbooks.md. For uniqueness and index-bloat gates, see references/seo-seo-programmatic.md.

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Choosing Your Playbook

You can layer multiple playbooks (e.g., "Best coworking spaces in San Diego").

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Implementation Framework

1. Keyword Pattern Research

Identify the pattern:

• What's the repeating structure?
• What are the variables?
• How many unique combinations exist?

Validate demand:

• Aggregate search volume
• Volume distribution (head vs. long tail)
• Trend direction

2. Data Requirements

Identify data sources:

• What data populates each page?
• Is it first-party, scraped, licensed, public?
• How is it updated?

3. Template Design

Page structure:

• Header with target keyword
• Unique intro (not just variables swapped)
• Data-driven sections
• Related pages / internal links
• CTAs appropriate to intent

Ensuring uniqueness:

• Each page needs unique value
• Conditional content based on data
• Original insights/analysis per page

4. Internal Linking Architecture

Hub and spoke model:

• Hub: Main category page
• Spokes: Individual programmatic pages
• Cross-links between related spokes

Avoid orphan pages:

• Every page reachable from main site
• XML sitemap for all pages
• Breadcrumbs with structured data

5. Indexation Strategy

• Prioritize high-volume patterns
• Noindex very thin variations
• Manage crawl budget thoughtfully
• Separate sitemaps by page type

6. Choose the Build Platform

Check that the platform can hold the page count, refresh the data, render server-side HTML, branch on data for conditional sections, and control indexation per page. Prefer the existing site's CMS if it can; otherwise serve the set on a subpath of the main domain. Options and tradeoffs: references/implementation-platforms.md.

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Quality Checks

Pre-Launch Checklist

Content quality:

• Each page provides unique value
• Answers search intent
• Readable and useful

Technical SEO:

• Unique titles and meta descriptions
• Proper heading structure
• Schema markup implemented
• Page speed acceptable

Internal linking:

• Connected to site architecture
• Related pages linked
• No orphan pages

Indexation:

• In XML sitemap
• Crawlable
• No conflicting noindex

Post-Launch Monitoring

Track: Indexation rate, Rankings, Traffic, Engagement, Conversion

Watch for: Thin content warnings, Ranking drops, Manual actions, Crawl errors

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Common Mistakes

• Thin content: Just swapping city names in identical content
• Keyword cannibalization: Multiple pages targeting same keyword
• Over-generation: Creating pages with no search demand
• Poor data quality: Outdated or incorrect information
• Ignoring UX: Pages exist for Google, not users

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Output Format

Strategy Document

• Opportunity analysis
• Implementation plan
• Content guidelines

Page Template

• URL structure
• Title/meta templates
• Content outline
• Schema markup

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Task-Specific Questions

1. What keyword patterns are you targeting?
2. What data do you have (or can acquire)?
3. How many pages are you planning?
4. What does your site authority look like?
5. Who currently ranks for these terms?
6. What's your technical stack?

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Related Skills

• gtmos-seo-audit: For auditing programmatic pages after launch
• gtmos-seo-schema: For adding structured data
• gtmos-seo-site-architecture: For page hierarchy, URL structure, and internal linking
• gtmos-seo-competitor-pages: For comparison page frameworks