How to use the AltoRank SEO Assistant agent skill

What does the altorank skill make the agent do?

The skill tells your agent how to work with AltoRank through its hosted MCP server, a set of tools the agent can call. With those tools the agent can check whether search engines and AI assistants can read a website, propose missing structured data (JSON-LD) for a page, read stored Google Search Console numbers, look at your tracked keywords, and write article drafts for a keyword.

Drafts go into a review queue. The skill tells the agent never to publish, approve, schedule or delete anything. A person makes those decisions in AltoRank.

• Readiness checks for any public domain, not only your own sites
• Search Console performance, cannibalization, coverage and URL inspection read from stored data
• Keyword lists, with optional keyword suggestions that spend research credits
• One-draft-at-a-time article generation, ending with a link to edit the draft in AltoRank

Install the altorank skill

Download the ZIP of the altorank skill from this page and unzip it. Put the folder in your personal skills directory, ~/.claude/skills/, so every project can use it, or in a project's .claude/skills/ folder to limit it to that project.

If you use the Claude apps instead, upload the skill under Settings → Capabilities → Skills. The skill is a single file, SKILL.md, so there are no dependencies to install.

• Personal install: ~/.claude/skills/
• Project install: .claude/skills/ inside your project folder
• Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Connect the AltoRank MCP server

The skill does nothing until the altorank MCP server is connected. You need an AltoRank account at app.altorank.co or a self-hosted AltoRank install. The connection uses Streamable HTTP with OAuth sign-in.

In Claude Code, add the server with the command below. Then run /mcp, choose altorank and select Authenticate. Your browser opens so you can sign in. Other MCP clients need a Streamable HTTP server at the same address. Self-hosted installs use their own origin in place of app.altorank.co.

• Write access is opt-in on the OAuth consent screen. If you do not grant it, the agent can read but cannot change anything.
• The skill does not install external plugins. If a reviewed local AltoRank plugin is required and missing, the agent stops and reports it.

How do I trigger the skill with natural requests?

You do not need special syntax. Ask for what you want in plain language and the agent should pick up the skill when your request is about SEO or AI-search (GEO) readiness, Search Console numbers, keyword research or article drafts for your site. You can also ask for missing JSON-LD on a page or a readiness report for any public domain.

• Can AI assistants read example.com?
• Show me the high-priority readiness problems on our site.
• Propose missing structured data for this product page.
• What do Search Console clicks look like for the last month?
• Write a draft for our best open keyword.

Examples: check a site, then draft an article

For a readiness check, the agent confirms the connection, runs a readiness report for the domain and walks you through the high-severity findings first, each with its placement instruction.

For a draft, the agent first checks your account and workspace, then lists your keywords and picks one that is allowed to generate a draft. It agrees the keyword with you, starts generation and checks the article status about every 30 to 60 seconds. A draft usually takes around two minutes. When the status is review, the agent gives you the editor link and stops. Approval is yours.

Safety notes: scripts, network and what the agent may change

This skill runs no scripts. It uses the network, because it calls the AltoRank tool server over HTTP and asks you to sign in with OAuth in your browser. Anything the agent reads from other websites is treated as data, not instructions.

The agent is told to inspect, propose, confirm and then write. Any change, such as a find-and-replace, the first call is a preview that you approve. Approved, scheduled and live articles are refused. Spending is also confirmed first: keyword suggestions cost research credits, and each draft costs plan quota.

• Use a Search Console read as a snapshot of stored data, not a live query to Google.
• If a tool returns forbidden, you did not grant write access. If it returns unauthorized, reconnect.

Tips for better results

Fix readiness before writing more content. The skill's preflight checks readiness first, and a low score should come before new drafts. Also say which workspace to use if you have several, and tell the agent if you have no CMS connected, because then you publish drafts by hand.

• Read null values as unknown, not zero.
• Search Console zeros do not prove a site is absent from search. Check the stored property and date window.
• Give each keyword one draft at a time, and do not regenerate drafts nobody has read.