Content brief creation tools help writers, SEO professionals, and content marketers build well-researched, optimized outlines—ensuring content ranks higher and meets audience expectations.
But not all tools are the same. Some focus on AI-powered automation, generating full outlines based on top-ranking pages, while others offer manual customization for more control over structure and strategy.
Whether you need a streamlined, AI SEO solution or a robust tool with deep integrations, this guide will break down the best options, their features, and what makes them stand out. 🚀
What Are Content Brief Creation Tools?
Content brief creation tools help writers and marketers structure their content by providing key details like target keywords, headings, competitor insights, and SEO recommendations. These tools ensure that content aligns with search intent and brand strategy while improving efficiency in the writing process.
So, how do they work? 🤔
These tools analyze top-ranking pages, extract common elements, and suggest an outline based on best practices. Some use AI to generate blog topic ideas, recommended word counts, and readability scores.
What Makes a Content Brief Creation Tool Good?
A great content brief tool should fit seamlessly into your content workflow. Here’s what to consider.
First, you must understand what your competitors are doing. Look for tools that give real-time insights, suggest topics, and show which keywords your competitors rank for. Features that improve readability and structure can also make your content more appealing and easier to find.
The second point is about collaboration. A good tool should allow you to assign tasks to writers and editors, track changes, and leave comments. It should also work with your project management tools to keep everything organized and on track.
Finally, you’ll want a tool that offers customization and flexibility, as not all content needs the same structure. Choose one that lets you adjust templates and focus on SEO factors like word count or intent.
10 Best Content Brief Software Tools You Need to Check Out Now
There are a ton of content brief generators out there, but which tools are the cream of the crop? Here’s our top 10 you should try now:
1. Search Atlas
Search Atlas Content Tools simplify the content briefing process by integrating research, AI, and optimization into a single workflow.
There are two ways to create a content brief. The first is simply to enter a keyword in the Content Brief tool, and it will automatically generate a Google doc brief.
For more customization, you can use the SEO Content Assistant dashboard. Here, you can add your target keywords you found using the Keyword Researcher Tool.
In the upper right corner, you will see an Export Brief option, popular for being fast, precise, and fully automated. It will instantly create a Google Doc with your brief and open it in another window.
Each brief includes:
- Current SERPs for target keywords
- The most important keywords to include in your content (with search volume, cost per click, and recommended uses)
- People Also Ask questions
- Internal links suggestions
Besides offering a full content suite, Search Atlas is a full SEO platform designed to help businesses and agencies streamline their complete SEO process with AI-powered automation. This covers, on-page, off-page, technical, and local SEO, as well as digital PR.
Popular Features
- AI Content Writer: Generate text, outlines, and full drafts using AI, with content scored based on top SERP results for optimized performance.
- Blog Idea Generator: Enter a keyword and receive a list of relevant blog topics to enhance your content calendar and strategy.
- Press Release Generator and Distribution: Create AI-generated press releases and syndicate them for up to six months to boost brand visibility.
- Content Planner: Quickly develop a content plan or marketing calendar, browse keyword clusters, and generate article titles with one click, all in a single dashboard.
- SEO Content Assistant: Use AI to generate SEO-optimized content briefs, keyword lists, and outlines based on competitor analysis and top-ranking pages.
- Content Brief Generator: Instantly create SEO content briefs with focus terms, suggested word count, competitor insights, and headings.
- Keyword Researcher: Discover related keywords, evaluate search volume, CPC, and difficulty to fine-tune your content strategy and build effective keyword clusters.
- All-in-One SEO Toolkit: Automate content creation, technical SEO, local SEO, off-page SEO, project management, and reporting tasks with OTTO, the AI-powered SEO assistant, and over 40 Search Atlas tools.
Limitations
- If you’re looking for just a content brief tool, you might prefer a more affordable, standalone solution.
- Some users note that setting up OTTO for larger websites requires more initial configuration. However, once optimized, it provides much better long-term results.
Pricing
| Starter plan | Growth plan | Pro plan | |
| Price | $99/month | $199/month | $399/month |
| Free OTTO activation | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| User seats | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| GSC Site Projects | 5 | 15 | Unlimited |
| Pages / Articles Created | 40 | 100 | 200 |
| AI Premium Quota | 30 | 60 | 90 |
| Regular AI Quota | 100 | 250 | 99,999 |
| Content Assistant Keywords | 120 | 300 | 600 |
| Content Plans | 40 | 100 | 200 |
| Onpage In-Depth Audits | 40 | 100 | 200 |
| Keyword Research Lookups | 500 | 2,000 | 5,000 |
| Content Genius Plan | 15 Pages/Articles50 AI Quota75 Content Assistant Keywords |
| Price | $49/ month |
Reviews
- G2: 4.8/5 (91)
- Capterra: 4.9/5 (63)
2. Surfer SEO
Surfer SEO helps marketers and writers optimize their content for higher rankings by providing detailed, data-driven suggestions.
To create content briefs, start by entering your target keyword(s) into the Content Editor. You can select a keyword directly from Keyword Research or input it manually. Choose your region and crawler settings (mobile or desktop), ensuring your keyword matches your audience’s search intent.
Once your query loads, Surfer generates suggestions based on competitors’ content. The Outline tab provides titles, headings, and AI-generated sub-headings, while the Brief tab displays useful notes, competitor links, and topic suggestions.
You can easily integrate these into your content to improve your content score and optimize for SEO.
Popular Features
- Topical Maps: Discover content ideas and topics based on SEO data, saving hours of manual research.
- Content Editor: Write smarter with SEO guidelines and content suggestions, plus integration with Google Docs, Jasper, and WordPress.
- Content Audit: Automatically audit, monitor, and optimize your site’s performance to ensure ongoing SEO success.
- Free AI Outline Generator: Create detailed content outlines based on audience and SEO data that Google will love.
- Surfer AI: Generate SEO-optimized articles with just one click, ensuring content ranks higher with minimal effort.
- AI Humanizer: Transform AI-generated content into natural, human-like writing that feels more authentic and engaging.
Limitations
- Some reviews say it doesn’t offer NLP queries in the base plan, limiting advanced analysis options.
- A few reviews say Surfer SEO can be a bit costly for small businesses or solopreneurs.
- Some note that they would prefer a complete SEO toolkit.
Pricing
- Essential Plan: $99/month – 200 pages tracked, 30 articles to write and optimize, 5 AI articles, 5 user seats
- Scale Plan: $219/month – 1000 pages tracked, 100 articles to write and optimize, 20 AI articles, 10 user seats, 100 SERPs analysis daily, onboarding call
- Enterprise Plan: Custom pricing – custom limits with API access, white-labeling, SEO advisory, and rank tracker
Reviews
- G2: 4.8/5 (530)
- Capterra: 4.9/5 (412)
3. Frase
Frase is a content creation tool designed to make outlining faster and more efficient, saving users valuable time. Its standout feature is the ability to curate outlines by selecting headings from the top-ranking SERP results, ensuring the content matches search intent and competitive content.
For those looking for a quicker solution, Frase’s AI can generate custom outlines in seconds. The intuitive Outline Builder lets users easily drag and drop headings for seamless organization.
Many users rave about how much faster it makes the content creation and planning process, but some mention it’s more focused on outlining than developing complete content strategies. Overall, it’s a go-to for simplifying the workflow from research to optimization.
Popular Features
- Unified Content Creation: Research, write, and optimize in one AI-powered platform, streamlining your content creation process.
- Templates and SOPs: Reuse templates and save custom AI prompts to build efficient, repeatable workflows for content creation.
- Integrations: Easily optimize your content inside Google Docs and WordPress, improving your editing and publishing workflow.
- Folders: Stay organized by categorizing documents based on topics, clients, or projects, making management effortless.
- Team Collaboration: Assign documents to different writers, making teamwork seamless and ensuring everyone is on the same page.
- Project Management: Track progress for each document, ensuring deadlines and goals are met for all content projects.
Limitations
- A few users think the content optimization feature doesn’t always provide the most relevant recommendations for certain niches.
- Some feedback suggests that Frase’s AI-generated content may need more customization to align with specific brand voices.
Pricing
- Free Trial: $0 – No commitment, 1 user, 1 SEO document, 2,500 AI words, no page tracking, try for free.
- Basic: $45/month – 1 user, 30 SEO documents/mo, unlimited AI words, track pages/1 site, AI Article Wizard add-on.
- Team: $115/month – 3 users ($25/mo per extra), unlimited SEO documents, unlimited AI words, track pages/unlimited sites, AI Article Wizard add-on.
- Empower your Enterprise: Contact sales team for pricing – Unlimited users and scalability, custom workflows & integrations, advanced security & compliance, dedicated account manager, custom onboarding & training, priority support.
Reviews
- G2: 4.8/5 (296)
- Capterra: 4.8/5 (334)
4. Content Harmony
Content Harmony has content brief software that allows users to create highly customizable briefs to suit various workflows. The block editor makes it easy to build and organize content briefs in any format, enabling users to add text boxes, lists, checklists, and more.
This flexibility ensures that content creators can structure their briefs in a way that best fits their needs.
Additionally, users can include notes, comments, and instructions to provide writers with in-depth guidance. Content Harmony also streamlines the process by integrating highlighted data directly from the Keyword Report, removing the need for copy-pasting.
Also, with a templating system in place, users can create and store multiple templates tailored to different clients and content types, offering even greater efficiency in content planning.
Popular Features
- Customizable Content Briefs: Create fully personalized content briefs with text boxes, lists, tables, and more for flexibility.
- AI-Generated Outlines: Generate optimized content outlines based on competitor analysis and topic modeling to speed up planning.
- Streamlined Collaboration: Easily share and collaborate on briefs with team members and clients using shareable URLs within project tools.
- Search Intent Insights: Understand search intent for each keyword, ensuring your content aligns with what users are looking for.
- Standardized Brief Templates: Use customizable templates for consistency across all content briefs, enhancing team collaboration and efficiency.
- Competitor Headings Integration: Quickly pull relevant competitor headlines into your brief to strengthen your content’s structure and relevance.
Limitations
- Some note that its reporting features can be somewhat basic compared to more specialized SEO tools.
- Observations show that it may not fully integrate with every project management tool, limiting some workflows.
Pricing
All plans include unlimited users, unlimited projects, rollover credits, and free team training. However, they all depend on how many workflows you need per month. Here are three standard plans (although there are others available):
- 12 Content Workflows Plan: $99 per month – 12 workflows, ideal for weekly content calendars.
- 25 Content Workflows Plan: $199 per month – 25 workflows, perfect for daily content calendars.
- 50 Content Workflows Plan: $299 per month – 50 workflows, great for large-scale daily content needs.
Reviews
- G2: 4.8/5 (21)
- Capterra: 4.9/5 (15)
5. MarketMuse
MarketMuse is a content intelligence platform designed to take the guesswork out of content creation. Its content brief tool provides writers with in-depth research, structuring guidelines, and topic insights, ensuring every piece is built on a solid foundation.
Unlike basic outlines, these briefs adapt to different content types, whether it’s an article, FAQ, product review, or guide. Instead of relying on keyword lists, MarketMuse analyzes vast amounts of content to create topic models, helping writers craft authoritative pieces without forced optimization.
Writers receive clear guidance on structure, intent, and audience alignment, reducing uncertainty and revisions. Finally, briefs can be customized and exported, making them easy to integrate into existing workflows.
Popular Features
- Competitive Content Analysis: Examine content depth at different levels and identify gaps using a heatmap for strategic advantage.
- Content Clusters: Quickly evaluate topic clusters with insights on ranking difficulty and quality across up to 20 pages.
- Content Planning: Automate research to streamline competitive analysis, SERP evaluation, and topic selection for faster decision-making.
- Content Brief Generator: Use AI to analyze thousands of pages, helping you create expert-level content instead of copying competitors.
- Gap Finding: Compare your content against the top 20 ranking pages to uncover missing elements and must-have details.
- Optimization: Receive personalized recommendations to refine even high-performing content, reinforcing expertise for both audiences and search engines.
Limitations
- Some observe MarketMuse’s advanced insights can be overwhelming for those without prior experience in content strategy or SEO.
- While MarketMuse optimizes content, it doesn’t function as a CMS, requiring additional tools for full content management. This is a dealbreaker for a few users.
Pricing
- Free: $0/month – 1 user, 10 queries/month, no tracked topics, no content briefs, access to Topic Navigator, Keywords, SERP x-ray, SERP Heatmap, and Site Heatmap.
- Optimize: $99/month – 1 user, 100 tracked topics, 5 Content Briefs/month, 1 Content Strategy Document/month, 100 queries/month, access to Article Briefs and research tools.
- Research: $249/month – 3 users, 1000 tracked topics, 10 Content Briefs/month, 3 Content Strategy Documents/month, unlimited queries, and full research tool access.
- Strategy: $499/month – 5 users, 10K tracked topics, 20 Content Briefs/month, 5 Content Strategy Documents/month, all 9 brief types, unlimited queries, and full platform access.
Reviews
- G2: 4.6/5 (214)
- Capterra: 4.6/5 (28)
6. Zenbrief
Zenbrief is an AI-powered platform designed to streamline content brief creation. Its content brief generator automates the research process by analyzing top-performing search results, extracting key patterns, and consolidating them into structured guidelines.
Instead of spending hours manually gathering keywords, questions, and competitive insights, users receive a pre-built framework outlining essential details—word count targets, keyword recommendations, and structural elements.
Customization options allow content managers to refine briefs by specifying tone, audience, and additional requirements. The goal is to provide writers with a clear direction, ensuring content aligns with both search intent and brand voice.
By automating SEO research and structuring content expectations, Zenbrief removes ambiguity from the writing process, allowing teams to focus on creating well-targeted, high-quality content without getting lost in tedious prep work.
Popular Features
- Automated Content Briefs: Generate comprehensive SEO-friendly blog briefs by analyzing top-performing Google search results in minutes.
- Customizable Templates: Create reusable templates with specific guidelines like tone, audience, and point of view for consistency.
- Content Outline Builder: Construct organized content outlines, ensuring all relevant ideas are covered for SEO and readability.
- Collaboration Tools: Assign articles to team members, monitor progress, and manage workflows with custom labels.
- Google Docs Integration: Access and follow content brief details directly within Google Docs, streamlining the writing process.
- Natural Language Processing (NLP): Utilize NLP to analyze competition, providing actionable insights to enhance content
Limitations
- Some note that Zenbrief’s AI-generated suggestions sometimes require significant manual adjustments to match brand tone.
- Reviews indicate that the platform’s reliance on automated competitor analysis may overlook niche-specific content nuances.
Pricing
- Premium: $195/month – 30 briefs per month, unlimited grading, up to 5 users, 10 brief templates, cancel anytime, online support.
- Pro: $295/month – 50 briefs per month, unlimited grading, up to 10 users, 20 brief templates, cancel anytime, priority online support.
- Custom Plan: Contact for pricing – Designed for agencies and publishers needing more briefs, more users, and tailored features.
Reviews
- G2: No reviews
- Capterra: No reviews
7. Thruuu
Thruuu is designed to simplify the process of creating content briefs by gathering and structuring insights directly from Google’s search results. Instead of manually analyzing competitor content, writers and SEO teams receive a pre-filled brief with key elements like suggested outlines, frequently asked questions, and relevant keywords.
It provides a structured approach, enabling content teams to quickly develop comprehensive and targeted briefs without guesswork.
The tool focuses on making content planning more efficient, equipping writers with the exact information they need to create well-structured, SEO-friendly articles that match audience expectations and perform well in search rankings.
Popular Features
- Topic Clusters: Organize content by grouping related content topics together, ensuring cohesive and SEO-optimized content strategies.
- SERP Analysis: Extract key insights from Google’s search results to inform content strategy.
- AI-Powered Content Outlines: Generate structured outlines based on competitor content and search intent.
- Shared Content Briefs: This feature allows teams to collaborate by sharing briefs for better workflow efficiency.
- Custom Brief Templates: Templates allows users to tailor briefs with pre-written elements to fit project needs.
- SEO Title & Description Suggestions: Analyze top-ranking pages to generate relevant meta tag optimization recommendations.
Limitations
- Some feedback suggests that the credit-based system could limit flexibility for users with high content needs.
- It’s mentioned that the keyword clustering tool occasionally struggles with accuracy when analyzing large data sets.
Pricing
- Free Plan: $0/month – 10 one-time credits, 2 content briefs, 500 keywords clustering, up to 10 SERP analyzed
- Starter: $19/month – 75 credits, 15 content briefs, 1,500 keywords clustering, up to 75 SERP analyzed
- Pro: $49/month – 250 credits, 50 content briefs, 5,000 keywords clustering, up to 250 SERP analyzed
- Agency: $99/month – 700 credits, 140 content briefs, 14,000 keywords clustering, up to 700 SERP analyzed
Reviews
- G2: No reviews
- Capterra: No reviews
8. SwiftBrief
This AI SEO tool helps you scale content production by automating your workflow. It does keyword discovery, content brief creation, and writing for you.
So, how does it work?
SwiftBrief gathers data on top-ranking content, analyzes keyword relevance, and organizes insights into a structured brief. Instead of manually reviewing competitor articles, users receive a pre-built framework that aligns with search engine expectations.
It works similarly to other AI content brief creation tools: you enter a keyword, receive a brief you can edit, and then just copy and paste it and send it to your writers. You also have the option of using SwiftBrief’s AI writer.
It also has other useful features, which we will cover below.
Popular Features
- Content Brief Generator: Automatically generates SEO-driven content briefs with competitor insights, keyword recommendations, and structured guidelines for streamlined planning.
- Detailed Brief Outlines: Access sample content, internal linking suggestions, keyword placement, image alt tags, and video resources for enhanced optimization.
- Blog Outline Generator: Create structured outlines that improve content flow, engagement, and SEO performance, making the writing process more efficient.
- Keyword Clustering Tool: Group any related keywords into topical clusters, improving content relevance, site structure, and search engine discoverability.
- Page Types According to Customer Journey: Get pre-optimized structures for guides, product pages, and more, ensuring content matches search intent.
- Built-in AI Writer: Transform structured briefs into ready-to-publish, SEO-friendly content, reducing writing time and effort.
Limitations
- Some say the price feels high compared to alternatives, especially for small teams or independent creators.
- A portion report that it only covers content strategy, lacking full SEO tools like backlink analysis or rank tracking.
- It may generate briefs that require heavy manual editing, as AI suggestions don’t always align with user expectations.
Pricing
- Starter: $12/month – 4 briefs, 45 topics, 1 brand. Ideal for quick research or occasional freelance delegation.
- Professional: $170/month – 50 briefs, 500 topics, 5 brands. Designed for in-house teams and marketing consultants.
- Agency: $426/month – 100 briefs, 1,000 topics, 30 brands. Best for agencies managing high-volume content production.
Reviews
- G2: 4.8/5 (3)
- Capterra: No reviews
9. Conductor
Conductor is a platform for SEO, content strategy, and website performance.
A key feature is its Content Briefs, which streamline content planning with AI-driven insights, competitor analysis, and workflow automation. Marketers can build briefs that incorporate search intent, demographic insights, and keyword data, then send them directly to task management tools like Asana, Trello, and Jira.
The platform’s AI-powered recommendations refine content structure, optimize for SEO, and improve engagement. Conductor also provides search and competitor analysis tools to enhance content effectiveness.
Popular Features
- Content Briefs: Create detailed content plans by integrating search, social, demographic, and sentiment analysis for better insights.
- AI-Powered Recommendations: Receive on-demand, AI-driven content recommendations across keyword insights, content attributes, and page health.
- Content Collaboration: Streamline content creation by sharing briefs with project management tools like Asana, Trello, and Jira.
- Website Monitoring: Powered by ContentKing, detect content changes and monitor performance in real time for SEO impact.
- SEO Insights: Access comprehensive insights from search, social, and demographic data to enhance your SEO and content strategies.
- Writing Assistant: Get real-time SEO suggestions and content optimization tips as you write for better ranking.
Limitations
- A few users think the AI-powered recommendations sometimes lack specificity, making it harder to act on insights.
Pricing
- For pricing, users must contact the sales team.
Reviews
- G2: 4.5/5 (452)
- Capterra: 4.4/5 (36)
10. Copy.ai
Copy.ai is a favorite for marketing teams and content creators. It allows users to quickly generate content briefs by scraping top-ranking URLs for a target keyword. Also, it compiles key insights, such as titles, outlines, meta descriptions, and relevant questions.
With Copy.ai, you get a marketing-focused content generation tool. It offers data-driven ideas and briefs, so you’re not starting from scratch. The process feels smoother as it guides you to create SEO-friendly drafts that naturally fit your brand’s voice, values, and best practices.
Popular Features
- AI-Generated SEO Content Briefs: Automatically pull any insights from top pages and crafts data-driven briefs tailored to specific keywords.
- Content Ideation: Generate fresh, relevant content ideas that match search trends to improve content targeting.
- SEO-Friendly Drafts: Create drafts optimized for search, reducing time spent on SEO research.
- Brand Voice Integration: Ensure your content reflects your unique brand tone, voice, and values for consistency.
- Time-Saving Workflows: Automate SEO research and content planning, which frees up your team’s time for creativity and strategy.
- Scalable Content Creation: Allow your teams to produce high-quality, optimized content at scale efficiently.
Limitations
- Some feedback notes that the content suggestions can feel generic at times, lacking deep originality.
- A few users mention the tool’s learning curve, especially when it comes to optimizing its more advanced features.
Pricing
- Free Plan: $0/month – 2,000 words with ChatGPT 3.5 & Claude 3.
- Starter Plan: $49/month – Unlimited words, access to latest models, and more.
- Advanced Plan: $249/month – Adds more workflows for up to 5 seats.
- Growth Plan: $1,000/month – 75 seats with advanced features.
- Expansion & Scale Plans: Custom pricing – Extensive customization, workflow credits for enterprises.
Reviews
- G2: 4.7/5 (182)
- Capterra: 4.4/5 (63)
Automate Your Entire Process, Not Just Content Briefs
There are many content brief tools on the market, from free tools to premium standalones and full-on SEO platforms. If you’re looking to save on the tools you use and remain competitive, it helps to use one tool that covers all your needs.
If you have an agency, you will enjoy the comprehensiveness of Search Atlas. This SEO platform does more than just generate data-driven content briefs—it also provides content planning, content creation, keyword clustering, automation, and everything else in your SEO process.
If you’re ready to consolidate your SEO efforts, get started with a free trial today, and automate your entire process.
