Install the Blog AI Connector plugin

The Blog AI Connector is a small, free WordPress plugin. It lets Blog AI set, and read back, the title and description Google shows for your posts and pages, and each post's focus keyword, when your site uses Yoast SEO or Rank Math. Since version 1.3.0 it also tells Bing and other IndexNow search engines about your new posts, from your own site. Since version 1.4.0 it can add structured data (schema) to the posts Blog AI publishes.

Do I need it?

The connection test on the Sites page tells you which case you're in. If it finds Yoast or Rank Math without the connector, it says so and links to the download.

Why the plugin exists

WordPress lets apps like Blog AI create posts through its REST API, but Yoast and Rank Math keep a post's Google title and description in hidden fields that the REST API doesn't expose by default. The connector registers those fields with the REST API, so Blog AI can fill them in when it publishes, and read them when it imports.

Without it, a Yoast site gets the post but not the snippet you wrote. Blog AI shows a warning after publishing so you're never left guessing.

Install it

1. Download the plugin. Download blog-ai-connector.zip. The same link appears in the WordPress connect form on the Sites page and in Fix connection in Settings. Don't unzip it.
2. Upload it to WordPress. In your WordPress admin, go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, choose the zip file you downloaded and click Install Now.
3. Activate it. Click Activate. Then go back to Blog AI and test the connection again: the Yoast or Rank Math message should now say Blog AI will set the Google title and description when it publishes.

You need to be a WordPress administrator to install plugins. If you're not, send the zip and these three steps to whoever manages your site.

What it does

• Registers the Yoast SEO and Rank Math title, description, focus keyword and canonical fields with the WordPress REST API, for posts and pages. Blog AI sets the focus keyword to the post's main search phrase.
• Adds structured data to Blog AI's posts (version 1.4.0 and later). Structured data is a hidden description of the post that search engines and AI answer engines read: its headline, dates and publisher, and its questions and answers when it has a "Frequently asked questions" section. Blog AI sends it with a post and the plugin adds it to that post's page, with your post's own address, dates and featured image. Visitors don't see it. Yoast SEO and Rank Math already add their own, so by default Blog AI doesn't send it to sites that use them; you can change that under Structured data (schema) for the site on the Sites page.
• Keeps those fields private. Only logged-in users who are allowed to edit a post can read or write its fields through the API. Anonymous visitors don't see them in API responses.
• Checks permissions on every write, post by post, using WordPress's own "can edit this post" rule, and cleans each value (text fields as text, addresses as web addresses).
• Adds a status endpoint so Blog AI can detect that the plugin is installed. Only users who can edit posts can call it.
• Tells IndexNow about new and updated posts (version 1.3.0 and later). When a post or page is published or updated, your site sends its address to IndexNow, which Bing, Yandex, Seznam, Naver and Yep use to find changes quickly. It creates a small key file at your site's address so IndexNow knows the request comes from your site. It's on by default; turn it off under Settings → Reading → Blog AI Connector: IndexNow, where you can also see the last result. Nothing is sent while Discourage search engines from indexing this site is ticked, or from staging copies. Google doesn't use IndexNow: see How Blog AI helps Google find new posts.

What it doesn't do

• It stores no personal data: just the IndexNow on/off setting, its key and the last result. No logs, no tracking.
• It never contacts Blog AI. Its only outbound request is the IndexNow notice above, from your site to IndexNow.
• It doesn't change how your site looks. The only thing it adds to a page is the structured data above, on posts Blog AI sent it with.
• It doesn't publish anything by itself. Blog AI still publishes through your application password, as the user you connected.

Updating or removing it

• To update: download the zip again and upload it the same way. WordPress asks whether to replace the installed version; choose Replace current with uploaded. Once Blog AI Connector is listed in the WordPress.org plugin directory, WordPress offers updates on the Plugins page like any other plugin.
• Installed it from a zip before version 1.2.0? That copy lives in a folder called blogpilot-connector and won't update itself. Deactivate and delete it under Plugins, then install Blog AI Connector again: from Plugins → Add New Plugin (search "Blog AI Connector") once it's in the WordPress.org directory, or from the zip above. If both copies are active for a moment, only one runs, so nothing breaks while you switch.
• To remove: deactivate and delete it under Plugins. Your posts keep whatever titles and descriptions were set. Blog AI stops being able to set new ones on Yoast sites.

Common problems

WordPress says "The link you followed has expired"

Your host limits upload size. The plugin is small, so this is rare; ask your host to raise the upload limit, or upload the unzipped folder to wp-content/plugins/ by SFTP.

The test still says the connector is missing

Make sure the plugin is activated, not just installed. If you use a caching or security plugin that caches the REST API, clear its cache and test again.

I see two sets of Article schema on a post

You turned structured data on for a site that uses Yoast SEO or Rank Math. Set Structured data (schema) back to Automatic or Off for the site on the Sites page, then use Update live post on the post: the plugin removes Blog AI's copy.

Posts published before I installed it have no Google description

Set it on each post's page in Blog AI under Google result and details, then use Update live post. See Update a post that is already live, or let Blog AI suggest better ones: Improve how a post looks in Google.