“Best X for Y” roundup posts are the workhorse of affiliate SEO: they capture high-intent bottom-of-funnel traffic, they convert on Amazon/affiliate networks, and they’re linkable assets that build authority over time. The problem is scale. Writing 30 roundups a year by hand is a full-time job. AI Content Generator can produce them systematically — but the default Standard campaign preset isn’t optimised for the roundup shape. This tutorial covers the configuration that produces roundup posts an affiliate site owner would actually publish.
Roundup post anatomy
A working “Best 10 wireless earbuds under $100” post has a specific structure:
- Intro (100-150 words) — sets the buying context, mentions the criteria.
- Ranking summary — a comparison table with 10 products, star rating, price, key feature.
- 10 individual sections — one per product. Each ~200-300 words: what it is, why it’s on the list, pros/cons, ideal user, price point.
- Buyer’s guide (300-500 words) — how to choose, what specs matter, common pitfalls.
- FAQ (5-8 questions) — objections and clarifications.
- Closing (100 words) — top-3 recap, affiliate CTA.
Total length 2,500-3,500 words. AI Content Generator’s Content preset “Guide” with the right seeds produces this shape reliably.
Step 1 — Assemble the product data first
Don’t ask the AI to guess which products belong on the list — it’ll hallucinate models that don’t exist. Assemble a data sheet first: 10 real products, real prices, real feature specs, affiliate URLs. Sources: Amazon Best Sellers, manufacturer spec pages, tested review sites.
Ten minutes of research per roundup produces a data sheet that becomes the foundation for AI Content Generator to expand into a full post.
Step 2 — Configure the campaign
In AI Content Generator, create a dedicated “Product roundups” campaign. Configure:
- Content preset → Guide.
- SEO brief (titles) → “Best {N} {category} under {price} for {use case} — {year} update”.
- SEO brief (content) → “Structured product roundup with intro, comparison table, individual product sections (200-300 words each), buyer’s guide, FAQ, closing recap.”
- Additional tone notes → “Neutral-authoritative. Balanced pros/cons per product — never all pros, always at least 2 cons. Buyer’s guide is educational, not sales-y.”
- Content length → Long (Min 2,500 / Max 3,500 words).
Step 3 — Seed products in Extra AI instructions
Paste your data sheet into Extra AI instructions using this format:
Products to include, IN THIS EXACT ORDER (best to worst): 1. Sony WF-1000XM5 — $278 — ANC, 8hr battery, LDAC codec 2. Apple AirPods Pro 2 — $189 — Adaptive Audio, Find My, MagSafe 3. Bose QuietComfort Ultra — $299 — Immersive Audio, ANC […continue for 10] For each product, write 200-300 words: - What it is (30 words) - Why it's on the list (60 words) - Pros (bullet list, 3-5 items) - Cons (bullet list, 2-3 items) - Ideal user (30 words) Include a comparison table at the top with columns: Product | Price | Battery | ANC | Verdict
The explicit ordering + explicit fields = coherent output. Skip either and the model drifts.
Step 4 — Handle affiliate URLs post-generation
Don’t paste affiliate URLs into Extra AI instructions — the model may reformat, break, or hallucinate variations. Instead, after generation, use a simple find-and-replace or Yoast SEO’s link module to add affiliate URLs to product mentions.
Better still: use Pretty Links or Thirsty Affiliates. Configure product name → affiliate URL mapping once, then every future roundup mentioning that product auto-links correctly.
Step 5 — Editorial review specific to roundups
Beyond the standard 4-minute review, check specifically:
- Are all 10 products present? Model sometimes drops #9 or #10 when hitting length limits.
- Is the comparison table rendered? If AI Content Generator outputs a Gutenberg table block, great. If not, add manually from the data sheet.
- Are prices current? Prices change monthly; verify from Amazon before publishing.
- Are pros/cons balanced? If every product has 5 pros and 1 con, review — realistic write-ups have 3-4 cons somewhere.
- Is buyer’s guide educational or sales-heavy? Should read like advice from a friend, not a marketing brochure.
Step 6 — Refresh schedule
Roundup posts decay faster than evergreen guides. Product prices change, new models launch, older models get discontinued. Refresh cadence:
- Every 3 months — update prices, mark discontinued products, add newer models if warranted.
- Every 6-12 months — full regeneration with updated product list.
- Track dateModified in schema so Google sees the freshness signal.
Batch production workflow
Once the campaign is dialled in, produce roundups in batches. Spend one afternoon researching 10 roundup topics (10 product categories × 10 minutes each = ~2 hours of data-sheet building). Set up 10 title slots in the campaign calendar. AI Content Generator generates the 10 roundups over the next 10 days on schedule.
Review one per day (10-15 minutes each), add affiliate URLs, publish. That’s 10 roundup posts published per month for ~5 hours of editorial time.
You’re done
Guide preset + explicit product data seeds + affiliate URL post-processing + quarterly refresh + batch production = AI Content Generator as an affiliate roundup factory. 10 posts/month is a realistic sustainable target; scale from there once the pipeline is stable.