Auto-Fixing Content Issues

How It Works

Detection vs. Fixing

Quality grading runs on every generated article and identifies 48 issue types across 6 categories. Each detected issue appears in the Quality Dashboard with a "Fix" button.

Detection is automatic. Fixing is on-demand — you choose what to fix and when.

Three-Phase Auto-Fixing Architecture

When you fix style and word count issues together, ILLIXIS uses a three-phase approach:

Phase 1: Em-dash fixing (highest priority)

• Em-dashes are the #1 signal of AI-generated content
• Isolated fix ensures reliable removal
• Replaces — with commas, colons, semicolons, or sentence rewrites

Phase 2: Style editing (grouped fixes)

• Negative phrasing → direct statements
• Rhetorical questions → declarative sentences
• Clichés → fresh, original language
• Formulaic openings → engaging starts

Phase 3: Word count reduction (isolated)

• Precision editing to hit target word count
• Isolated fix prevents conflict with other edits
• Cuts wordiness while preserving meaning

Why three phases? Each fix type requires different AI instructions. Combining them in one pass causes weaker results. Separation ensures reliable fixing.

Programmatic Fixes (Instant)

Some issues are fixed instantly without using AI:

• BR tags → Converts

to proper

  tags

• Markdown formatting → Converts **bold** to bold
• Placeholder removal → Removes [Brand Name], [Insert X], etc.
• H1 stripping → Removes H1 tags (title stored separately)

These fixes are instant — no additional processing required.

Fixing Issues

Single-Issue Fixing

Fix one issue type at a time:

1. Open the content in the Content Hub
2. Scroll to the Quality Dashboard (below the content)
3. Find the issue you want to fix
4. Click the "Fix" button next to it

Result: ILLIXIS rewrites the content with targeted AI instructions for that specific issue. The content is replaced with the improved version, and the quality dashboard updates.

Time: 10-30 seconds per fix (AI-powered fixes only).

Fixing a Single Instance

Some issues show multiple examples (e.g., 3 rhetorical questions found). You can fix just one:

1. Click the down arrow next to the issue to expand examples
2. Click "Fix this" next to the specific example
3. Wait 5-10 seconds

Result: Only that one instance is fixed. Other instances remain unchanged.

Why use this? You may want to keep some rhetorical questions but remove others. Single-instance fixing gives you control.

Batch Fixing

Fix multiple issues at once:

1. Open the content in the Content Hub
2. Scroll to the Quality Dashboard
3. Click "Fix All Style Issues" (fixes negative phrasing, rhetorical questions, clichés, formulaic openings)
4. Or click "Fix Everything" to fix all detected issues

Result: ILLIXIS runs the three-phase fixing architecture, addressing all issues in sequence.

Time: 60-120 seconds for full batch fix.

Word Count Reduction

If your article exceeds the target word count by >10%, you'll see a "Word Count Over" issue.

To fix:

1. Click "Fix" next to "Word Count Over"
2. Wait 30-60 seconds

Result: ILLIXIS reduces the content to your target word count (±5%) using precision editing. No meaning is lost — only wordiness is cut.

Large reductions (>500 words): ILLIXIS automatically splits into 2 passes to avoid timeouts:

• Pass 1: Reduce by 60% + fix style issues
• Pass 2: Reduce remaining amount

What Gets Fixed

Em-Dashes

Issue: Em-dashes (—) are overused in AI content.

Fix approach:

• Replaces with commas, colons, semicolons, or periods
• Rewrites sentences where dashes can't be replaced
• Never uses hyphens (-) or en-dashes (–) as replacements

Example:

• Before: "The platform — which launched in 2025 — helps marketers save time."
• After: "The platform, which launched in 2025, helps marketers save time."

Negative Phrasing

Issue: Constructions like "It's not just X, it's Y" are AI tells.

Fix approach:

• Converts to direct positive statements
• Removes unnecessary negation

Example:

• Before: "It's not just a marketing tool, it's a complete platform."
• After: "It's a complete marketing platform."

Rhetorical Questions

Issue: Rhetorical questions sound artificial in SEO content.

Fix approach:

• Converts to declarative statements
• Preserves the point being made

Example:

• Before: "Why is content marketing important? Because it drives traffic."
• After: "Content marketing drives traffic and builds authority."

Clichés

Issue: Phrases like "game-changer" and "cutting-edge" are overused.

Fix approach:

• Replaces with specific, original language
• Focuses on concrete details instead of buzzwords

Example:

• Before: "This game-changing platform revolutionizes marketing."
• After: "This platform reduces marketing time from 20 hours to 1 hour per week."

Formulaic Openings

Issue: Generic starts like "In today's digital landscape..." are AI tells.

Fix approach:

• Replaces with specific, engaging openings
• Gets to the point immediately

Example:

• Before: "In today's fast-paced digital world, marketing teams face unprecedented challenges."
• After: "70% of marketing teams operate with only one full-time person."

Word Count

Issue: Generated content often exceeds target by 10-20%.

Fix approach:

• Removes wordiness and redundancy
• Tightens sentences without losing meaning
• Prioritizes cutting filler over cutting substance

Example:

• Before: "The platform is designed to help marketing teams who are short on time and need to create content quickly and efficiently without sacrificing quality."
• After: "The platform helps time-strapped teams create quality content fast."

When to Fix vs. Ignore

Fix If:

• Issue affects readability
• Issue signals AI generation to readers
• Issue breaks brand voice rules
• Issue hurts SEO (e.g., keyword stuffing)

Ignore If:

• It's a false positive (e.g., "best practices" flagged as cliché)
• It matches your brand voice (some brands use rhetorical questions intentionally)
• It's in a quote or external reference
• The "fix" would make it worse

Suppressing False Positives

If an issue is flagged incorrectly:

1. Click "Ignore" next to the issue
2. Select "This is not an issue" as the reason
3. Click "Confirm"

Result: This specific detection is suppressed for all future content. The pattern won't be flagged again.

Example: If your brand name is "Cutting Edge Solutions" and it's flagged as a cliché, suppress it once and it won't be flagged again.

Quality Grading After Fixing

After fixing issues, the quality dashboard updates automatically:

• Scores recalculated across all 6 categories
• Letter grade updated (e.g., B+ → A)
• Remaining issues shown (some fixes may not fully resolve)
• Checklist updated with new pass/fail status

If a fix doesn't fully resolve the issue, you can fix it again or edit manually.

Best Practices

Start with Programmatic Fixes

Before using AI fixes:

1. Fix BR tags (instant)
2. Fix markdown formatting (instant)
3. Remove placeholders (instant)

These are free and fast — no reason not to do them first.

Fix in Order

Follow the three-phase order for best results:

1. Em-dashes first (highest priority)
2. Style issues second (clichés, rhetorical questions, etc.)
3. Word count last (after other fixes reduce length naturally)

Review Before Publishing

Auto-fixing is 90-95% accurate, but always review:

• Verify factual accuracy (AI can't verify facts)
• Check brand voice alignment
• Ensure links and CTAs are intact
• Confirm SEO elements preserved

Use Single-Instance Fixing for Control

Don't batch-fix if you want to keep some instances:

• Some rhetorical questions are intentional
• Some clichés are brand voice
• Some negative phrasing is necessary for contrast

Fix one at a time when you need control.

Troubleshooting

"Fix didn't work"

Possible causes:

• Issue is a false positive (suppress it instead)
• Fix requires manual editing (AI can't fix everything)
• Content is too short/long for reliable fixing

Solution: Try single-instance fixing or edit manually.

"Fix made it worse"

Possible causes:

• Fix changed meaning unintentionally
• Fix broke brand voice
• Fix removed necessary context

Solution: Click "Undo" or manually revert the change. Report the issue to ILLIXIS support.

"Fix is taking too long"

Possible causes:

• Content is very long (>5,000 words)
• Multiple issues being fixed at once
• AI processing is slow (rare)

Solution: Wait 2-3 minutes. If still processing, refresh the page and try single-issue fixing instead.

Related Features

• Quality Grading — Overall quality scores for all generated content
• Preference Learning — System learns your editing preferences over time
• Content Hub — Central hub for all generated content

Next Steps:

1. Generate an article from a brief
2. Review the Quality Dashboard
3. Fix the highest-priority issues first
4. Publish when grade reaches A or B+