AI writing tools for WordPress usually come in one of two shapes. Either you pay a monthly subscription to a service that resells AI model access to you with a margin on top, or you bring your own API key and pay the AI provider directly. This guide is about the second approach: what it means, how to get a key from the main providers, how to set up an AI SEO writer in WordPress with your own API key, and, most importantly, how to turn a machine draft into a post that deserves to rank.

Why bring your own key?

You pay the provider directly. There is no reseller credit system sitting between you and the model. Whatever your provider charges is what you pay, and you can see it in the provider's own billing dashboard.

Your content goes only where you send it. With a BYOK plugin, the request goes from your WordPress server straight to the provider you chose. No third party needs to see your topics or drafts.

You can switch models freely. Model quality and pricing change every few months. With your own key you can move from one provider to another, or from a large model to a cheaper fast one, by changing a setting.

The trade-off: you manage an account and a key yourself, and you are responsible for watching usage and spending limits at the provider.

Getting an API key

Each provider's sign-up flow changes from time to time, so treat this as an outline and follow the provider's current instructions.

  • Google Gemini: sign in to Google AI Studio with a Google account and create an API key there. Gemini's API has offered a free tier, with limits that Google adjusts.
  • Groq: create an account on the GroqCloud console and generate a key. Groq runs open models at high speed and has offered free usage with rate limits.
  • OpenRouter: one account and one key give you access to many models from different labs, including some free models. Useful if you want to experiment.
  • OpenAI: create a key in the OpenAI platform dashboard. Usage is billed to the account, so add a payment method and set a spending limit.
  • Anthropic (Claude): create a key in the Anthropic Console. Again, billing is per usage, so set limits.

Free tiers and model availability change often, so check the provider's pricing page before relying on one for regular publishing.

Keep your key safe

  • Treat an API key like a password. Do not paste it into emails, chat groups or public support threads.
  • Set a monthly spending cap at the provider, where one is available.
  • Create a separate key for each website, so you can revoke one without breaking the others.
  • If a key leaks, revoke it at the provider immediately and create a new one.

Setting up the AI writer in Impex Rank SEO

Impex Rank SEO is a free WordPress SEO plugin with a built-in AI Writer. It lives under Impex Rank SEO → AI Writer in your admin menu.

1. Add your provider

Open AI Providers. Pick Google Gemini, Groq, OpenRouter, OpenAI or Anthropic, or use the custom option for any OpenAI-compatible endpoint. Paste your key, choose a model, and click Test connection. If the test fails, the usual causes are a mistyped key, a model name your account cannot access, or billing not set up at the provider.

2. Set Content & Defaults

The Content & Defaults screen decides how every article is written and where it lands:

  • Length, tone and point of view. Match these to your existing posts so AI drafts do not sound like a different site.
  • Language. Set it to Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil or any language your audience reads. Model quality varies by language, so generate a test article and have a fluent reader check it.
  • Structure options: a key takeaways box, a comparison table, an FAQ, links to related posts, a table of contents and a closing call to action. The FAQ pairs are also saved to the post's FAQ schema.
  • Sync SEO meta: fills the SEO title, meta description and focus keyword automatically.
  • Default status, post type, author and category.

3. Generate a post

Go to Generate Post, enter a topic or title, and optionally a focus keyword (leave it blank and the AI picks one). Under Save as, choose Draft. You can also publish immediately or schedule it an hour out, but a draft gives you a chance to edit, which you should always do.

The plugin sends your prompt only to the provider you configured. It makes no calls to our servers.

Turning a draft into a post worth ranking

This is the part that decides whether AI saves you time or quietly fills your site with pages nobody needs.

Google's published guidance says it rewards helpful, reliable, people-first content however it is produced, and that using automation to generate content primarily to manipulate rankings is spam. In practice that means the method is not the problem; low-value output at scale is.

Work through this checklist on every AI draft:

  1. Fact-check every claim. Models state wrong numbers, outdated prices and invented features with full confidence. Check anything specific against a primary source.
  2. Add first-hand experience. Photos you took, a mistake you made, a client question you answered last week, your actual price range. This is what a model cannot supply and what readers value.
  3. Cut the filler. AI drafts tend to open with generic scene-setting and close with repetitive summaries. Delete anything a reader would skim past.
  4. Check the structure against the search. Search your keyword and look at what ranks. If people want a quick comparison and your draft is a 2,000-word essay, restructure it.
  5. Review internal links. The writer can link related posts; make sure each link is actually relevant.
  6. Run the analyser. The SEO meta box scores the post from 0 to 100 and lists what to fix, from keyword placement to long paragraphs. It counts words correctly in Hindi, Gujarati and other non-Latin scripts, so length checks work for regional-language posts too.
  7. Add a real image. Free-plan articles arrive without a featured image. Use your own photo where you can.
  8. Do not publish at a pace you cannot edit. Ten edited posts beat a hundred unedited ones.

Free allowance and Pro

The free plugin generates three articles per calendar month. The counter resets on the 1st, and a generation that fails does not count. Every other SEO feature, from schema to sitemaps to redirects, is free and unaffected by that allowance.

You can still build an Autopilot topic queue on the free plugin and run it by hand; each article counts against the monthly allowance.

The optional Impex Rank SEO Pro add-on:

  • removes the monthly cap on AI articles,
  • runs the Autopilot queue on a schedule, unattended,
  • generates featured images (AI or free stock) with alt text,
  • and adds content auto-fix, which works your focus keyword into the opening paragraph and subheadings when the analyser flags them.

Pro is sold as a one-time Lifetime plan, with a Custom plan for agencies. See pricing for current details. You pay your AI provider separately in either case, because you are using your own key.

Frequently asked questions

What does bring your own API key mean?

You create an account with an AI provider such as Google Gemini, Groq, OpenRouter, OpenAI or Anthropic, generate an API key there, and paste it into the plugin. The provider bills you directly and the plugin sends your prompts only to that provider.

Is there a free way to use an AI writer in WordPress?

Impex Rank SEO is free and generates three AI articles per calendar month. Some providers, such as Gemini, Groq and OpenRouter, offer free tiers or free models, though their limits change over time, so check the provider's own page.

Will Google penalise AI-written content?

Google's published guidance focuses on whether content is helpful and original, not on how it was produced. Using AI to mass-produce thin pages to manipulate rankings is against its spam policies. Edit, fact-check and add your own experience before publishing.

Can the AI writer write in Hindi or other languages?

Yes. The Content & Defaults screen has a Language setting, and the content analyser counts words correctly in Hindi, Gujarati and other non-Latin scripts. Output quality depends on the model you choose, so test a few drafts first.

What does Pro add to the AI writer?

Impex Rank SEO Pro removes the three-a-month cap, runs the Autopilot topic queue on a schedule without you, and adds featured images with alt text. The free plugin's SEO features do not need it.

Try it

Install Impex Rank SEO free from WordPress.org, or search for "Impex Rank SEO" under Plugins → Add New. Add your key under AI Providers and generate your first draft in a few minutes. More on the writer at /ai-seo-writer, setup notes in the docs, and see what Pro adds.