# Briefs > What a SerpDad brief contains, how coverage is measured, how claims are checked, when a brief can be exported, and how brief spending is controlled. **In short:** A brief is the writing plan for one standalone page, built from the top 10 results for its focus keyword and every keyword on the page. It holds an angle, an outline with word budgets, terms, questions and claims with sources. A brief exports only when every claim is checked and every subtopic is planned or dismissed. ## One brief per standalone page Each standalone page in the plan can have one brief. H2 sections folded into a page get no brief of their own. They add headings to their parent page's brief. Pages marked Optimize do not get an automatic new-page brief, because the plan says to improve an existing page. Open **Write > Briefs** to see every brief on a board by status, or as a list. | Status | What it means | |---|---| | Queued | Waiting to be built | | Generating | Being built now | | Ready | Built and ready to work on | | Incomplete | Could not be built fully. The brief says why. | | Waiting on key | Paused by a key problem. Nothing is charged while it waits. | ## What a brief contains | Part | What it gives the writer | |---|---| | Angle | The angle this page can own because the top results do not have it | | Outline | The headings to write, each with a word budget based on the median length of the top 10 | | Material per section | Whether each section has material: "Has material", "N of M checked" or "Needs material" | | SERP gap | Subtopics the ranking pages cover, and what nobody ranking covers. You plan or dismiss each one. | | Terms and entities | Terms to mention, with counts, and the named things the ranking pages share | | Entity model | The entities the page should name, grouped in layers | | On-page structure | How the ranking pages are structured: headings, length and the sites holding the top 10 | | Questions and value | The questions searchers ask, grouped by the kind of answer each needs, and the sections planned to answer them | | The answer Google shows now | The featured snippet or AI Overview, when there is one, as the bar to beat | | Claims and sources | Each factual claim with its source link and a box a person ticks after checking it | | Quotes | Exact words from named people, each with a source | | Media plan | The images and other media the page needs | | Internal link plan | Which related pages to link to, the anchor for each, why it fits and where | | Keywords | The page's keywords, focus keyword first, with monthly searches | | Activity | Page decisions, moved keywords, the build, ticked claims, quotes and exports | A brief can also hold reader inputs (Audience, Key takeaway, Next step), a listicle kit for list pages, quotes mined from the top 10 with their sources, and a list of excluded domains for the project. The foot of every brief shows when it was built, the provider and model, and what the last build cost on your keys. SerpDad never invents a fact for a brief, and the brief builder never writes the article. ## Coverage Coverage is the share of the brief's subtopics that are covered, as a whole percentage: > coverage = covered subtopics ÷ all subtopics × 100 A subtopic counts as covered when it is planned in the outline or dismissed with a reason. An item no ranking page has, called a differentiator, is not part of the count. ## Check claims Each claim has a source URL and an unticked box. 1. Open the source and read the passage. 2. If the source supports the claim, tick the box. SerpDad records who ticked it and when. 3. If it does not, leave it unticked or remove the claim. Claims with no source, or an old check, are listed first. Withdrawing a tick removes the brief's export stamp. A tick belongs to the fact, so one tick covers every brief and article that cites the same fact. See the fact library in [Drafts and sign-off](../drafts-and-sign-off/). ## Add a quote 1. In the brief, add the exact words, the speaker's name and role, and a source URL. 2. SerpDad checks that the page is public and that the words appear on it. 3. A quote with no source is refused. Accepted quotes become Q# items. ## Export a brief A brief exports when all of these are true: - The brief is Ready. - Every claim has been checked against its source. - Coverage is 100%: every subtopic is planned or dismissed as out of intent. Until then, the brief says what is left. Then: 1. Select **Export**. 2. Choose Markdown or HTML. The file ends with a receipts appendix: each verified claim, its source, who verified it and when. HTML exports download as a file, escape every value and block scripts. ## Brief spending Briefs run on your AI provider key. Owners and Admins set these controls in **Workspace > Provider keys > Brief spend controls**. | Control | Default | Notes | |---|---|---| | Automatic briefs per run | Top 5 pages by search volume | 0 means briefs are made on click only | | Briefs by hand per day | 100 per workspace | Resets at midnight UTC. Automatic briefs do not count. | | Secondary keywords per page | 20 | Off, 10 or 20. Always off on the free first plan. | Every **Generate**, **Generate the rest** and **Rebuild incomplete** button shows its estimated cost on your AI key. Above the owner approval line, an Owner or Admin must approve. If a key problem pauses briefs, select **Resume now** after fixing the key. ## Briefs survive re-runs When you re-run a project, each brief moves to the matching page, with its verified claims. A brief whose page no longer exists, but which holds human work, is kept under "Kept from an older plan". You can move it to a page or keep it. ## Who can do what | Action | Roles | |---|---| | Read briefs | Everyone in the workspace | | Edit the outline, plan or dismiss subtopics, tick claims, export | Owner, Admin, Manager, Editor, Writer | | Generate, regenerate and rebuild briefs | Owner, Admin, Manager | | Change brief spend controls | Owner, Admin | ## Related - [Read the plan](../read-the-plan/) - [Drafts and sign-off](../drafts-and-sign-off/) - [Content score](../content-score/) - [Provider keys](../provider-keys/) - [Glossary](../glossary/)