Why does AI quote my help docs badly?
Help articles often bury the answer under screenshots, tabs or long introductions, and carry old steps after the product changed. Give each article one clear question, a direct answer in plain text near the top, numbered steps and an honest last-updated date. Google's guidance asks for key content in text and accurate dates.
Free to read, no signup. Nova ranks your help articles by what to fix first.
What the guidance says about usable help content
No engine publishes guidance on help centres. Google's general guidance applies.
Key content in text, easy to find
Google says to keep important content in text form, and to use internal links so pages are easy to find.
AI features and your websiteAccurate, labelled dates
Google says to show prominent, clearly labelled dates such as Last updated, and to keep markup consistent with the visible date.
Influencing your title links and dates in searchLeave the reader able to finish the task
Google asks whether content leaves readers able to reach their goal, without needing to look elsewhere.
Creating helpful, reliable, people-first contentFive steps to rewrite help articles
Do it by hand with these steps, or hand the whole thing to Nova.
Find the articles that matter
Pick articles for the questions buyers and customers ask most, and those cited for your prompts.
Nova: ranks your help articles by importance.
Give each one question
State the question as the title, in the words customers use. Split articles that answer several.
Nova: suggests titles and splits.
Answer first, steps second
Open with a direct answer, then numbered steps in text. Describe screenshots in words too.
Nova: drafts the rewrite for approval.
Fix freshness
Check steps against the current product, and add an honest last-updated date.
Nova: flags steps that look out of date.
Link and recheck
Link related articles together, then re-run the prompts in a few weeks.
Nova: re-checks and reports.
Short on time? Nova, your AI brand visibility expert, runs this Maneuver on your brand and tracks the result.
Take it to NovaHelp articles and the fix
| Article | Problem | Fix | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| [How to set up X] | Answer buried after intro | Move answer to the top | High |
| [Connect [TOOL]] | Steps out of date | Check against product | High |
| [Billing FAQ] | Several questions in one | Split into articles | Medium |
Nova then re-checks the articles and the prompts at 30 days.
Take this Maneuver into your own AI agent
Get help-center-rewrite.md, a ready-to-use skill file with a help article audit, a rewrite template and a freshness checklist. Drop it into Claude, Cursor or any agent that reads SKILL.md files.
Skill file for Claude, Cursor and other agents
- A help article audit
- A rewrite template
- A freshness checklist
Questions, answered.
Relevant reads
All articlesLet Nova rewrite your help centre
Nova opens with this Maneuver loaded. Nothing ships without your approval.