Cruise Mode: Overview and Benefits
Scalenut’s AI Cruise Mode lets you develop your first blog draft in 4 easy workflow steps.
The way people find and interact with content has changed. AI-powered search and virtual assistants are rewriting the rules, and just ticking SEO boxes isn’t enough anymore. Today, your content needs to do more — it needs to educate, connect, and drive results.
Cruise Mode has been rebuilt as part of our shift from an SEO tool to a GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) platform.
Our earlier focus was on helping you create content that ranks on Google by aligning with SEO best practices. While that remains important, Cruise Mode now also supports content optimized for AI systems — aligning with search intent, LLM preferences, and evolving discovery behaviors.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to use the new Cruise Mode to create structured, outcome-driven articles optimized for both search engines and intelligent systems.
STEP 1
Log in to your Scalenut account. Then, click the “Article Writer/Cruise Mode'' button available on the left navigation panel under the GEO Core section on your Scalenut Dashboard.
STEP 2
On the redirected screen, in the keywords field, enter your primary keyword along with any relevant secondary keywords. Next, select your target location and click the “Create” button to proceed.
STEP 3
To tailor your competition benchmarking to align with your content and marketing goals. Choose to analyze the top 10, 20, or 30 ranking pages, allowing you to customize your competitive research based on your specific objectives and target audience. If not, stick to the default TOP 30 and click ‘Create’.
STEP 4 - CONTEXT SECTION
The Context stage is where you set the inputs that guide the AI to produce high-quality, GEO-aligned drafts.
General Guidelines
Article Type
Choose the format that best fits your intent from the dropdown (e.g., General). This helps the AI shape the structure and depth of your draft.
Instruction for AI (Optional)
Add any specific guidance for the writer—style notes, must-include points, brand language tips, etc.
GEO Guidelines
Reference Articles (AI + SERP)
Pick up to five relevant reference articles to show the AI what’s working on search engines. Use suggested links or click Add Custom URL, then select your choices and click Update.
Prompt Library
The Prompt Library provides AI prompts that reflect what users are asking on AI Engines. By addressing these prompts in your content, you improve visibility in AI search results.
Click Manage Prompt Library to:
Select or deselect prompts that best fit your content goals.
Add new custom prompts based on your strategy.
Once finalized, click Update to apply them to your content brief.
Key Terms
NLP-extracted terms help you cover the topic deeply and match real user intent. Click Manage Key Terms to review:
Frequency Range – how often the term appears in strong pages.
Importance Score – how critical the term is to your topic.
Select/deselect terms as needed. To include your own, click Add Keyterms and then Update.
Brand Guidelines
You can now apply a saved Brand Kit directly in the Context step to keep tone, keywords, readability, and visual preferences consistent across drafts.
List of Saved Brands
If you’ve already saved Brand Kits (from My Account Section), they will appear in this dropdown. Select the brand you want to apply to the current article.
Custom
Use this when you want to provide one-off brand instructions without saving a full kit.
+ Add new
Create a new Brand Kit on the fly, save it, and then select it for this article.
Once a Brand Kit is selected, Cruise Mode automatically applies its guidelines (e.g., voice/tone, preferred/negative keywords, readability and image preferences) to the content it generates.
Note: Some controls that previously appeared separately in this step are now governed by your selected Brand Kit. You won’t see them as standalone fields in the Context section.
STEP 5 - TITLE SECTION
In the ‘Title’ section, you’ll see a text box on the left and AI-generated and Top Ranked titles relevant to your blog topic on the right. Here’s how you can navigate this step-
Click or hover on a title to select or view variations.
Use the ‘Top Ranked Titles’ tab for SEO-friendly ideas.
Hit ‘Rephrase’ for a fresh version, or ‘Generate More’ for new suggestions.
You can also edit a title or write your own from scratch.
To proceed, click “Create Outline” on the bottom bar to build the structure of your blog.
STEP 6 - OUTLINE SECTION
In the Outline section, you’ll see AI-generated outlines on the left, based on the prompts you’ve selected in the Context section. These outlines are tailored to help you address the key questions and angles you've defined.
You can easily edit headings, questions, and CTAs, or use them as they are.
On the right, turn on the ‘Highlight Key Terms’ toggle to view important NLP terms (in cyan) pulled from top-ranking content — helping you align with what’s performing well.
Quick Tip: You can download your outline as a PDF or Word file, copy it, or regenerate it until you’re happy with the structure.
STEP 7
On the right-hand side of your screen, in the Top Ranked Outlines tab, you can see a headings breakdown of the top ranking pages on SERP for your keyword. You can choose the appropriate H2 and H3 for your content from here by clicking on the heading. Once a header is selected, it will be striked in the column to avoid repetition.
You can also get an idea of what content to add to a specific H2 - by hovering over the eye button next to the heading. It will show you the content covered under it on that particular website.
STEP 8
You can easily customize your outline by clicking on any heading — edit the text, add an H3 beneath it, or delete it altogether. The arrow next to H2 or H3 lets you adjust the heading hierarchy with a single click.
Want to add your own sections? Simply type directly into the text field or use the ‘AI Suggestions’ button to generate smart heading ideas based on Scalenut’s analysis. You can then drag and reorder the headings to create a logical and engaging flow for your blog post.
STEP 9
Cruise Mode helps you address your audience’s real queries by letting you add FAQs directly to your blog outline. To get started, switch to the ‘Questions’ tab on the right side of the screen.
Here, you’ll find popular questions related to your keyword, sourced from Google, Quora, and Reddit. Click on a platform icon to filter questions by source.
Scalenut also suggests AI-generated questions you can include. Just click on a question to add it to your outline — you can edit, reorder (by dragging from the left), or delete it using the bin icon. You can also add your own questions or let AI generate new ones for you.
STEP 10
The Gaps/Gains tab helps you enhance your outline by identifying missing yet important content points:
Gaps highlight commonly overlooked subtopics that top-ranking content might be missing — giving you a chance to stand out.
Gains are valuable additions based on well-performing content strategies that can strengthen your blog.
Click on any suggestion to add it to your outline, or use ‘Insert All’ to include everything at once. This ensures your blog is comprehensive, relevant, and competitive.
STEP 11
Now it's time to select your Call to Action (CTA) — a statement that prompts your audience to take the next step. Choose the most suitable CTA from the dropdown menu. Once selected, click “Generate Content” at the bottom to proceed to the next stage.
STEP 12 - FIRST DRAFT SECTION
At this stage, Scalenut’s AI generates the First Draft based on the outline you finalized. On the left, you’ll see the content structure, and on the right, the complete draft.
At the top, you can edit key metadata to improve SEO:
Meta Title: The clickable title in search results — keep it clear and keyword-rich.
Meta Description: A short, compelling summary to drive clicks.
URL Slug: The clean, relevant end of your blog URL.
Schema: Adding a clear, structured schema makes your blog easier for AI engines to understand and index. It increases your chances of being featured in AI-generated answers and helps your content reach a wider audience.
Use the “AI Suggestions” button for quick, optimized metadata recommendations.
Pro Tip: As you review the draft, check for quality — you’d notice that the content will naturally address the prompts from the Context section. It wouldn’t follow a Q&A format; instead, it would flow like a well-written, informative blog.
STEP 13
After your draft is generated, you can easily refine each section using the tools provided -
Regenerate the section for a fresh take
Rephrase it to improve tone or clarity
Expand for more detail or Shorten for a tighter version
Simplify the language for better readability
Turn paragraphs into Bullet Points
Or use Cruise AI for smart, contextual enhancements
You can also drag to reorder sections, or delete any part you don’t need.
Keep an eye on your Content Score, Word Count, and Key Terms Usage at the bottom to make sure your content is optimized. Once you’re happy with the draft, click “Export to Editor” to move ahead.
STEP 14
The final blog post is now available on the right side of your screen, while the content outline remains visible on the left. To make necessary changes, click on the text and edit as needed. Once you have finalised the First Draft, click the ‘Export to Editor’ button to proceed to the next step.
STEP 15 - INSIDE THE EDITOR
Once you've polished your blog post in the editor, you can optimize and export it with ease. On the right panel, you'll see your Content Score, along with a breakdown of key elements like: Schema Markup, Prompt Coverage, Key Terms, Meta Tags, and more. Click each section to view suggestions or fixes for better optimization.
Please note - Prompt Coverage is a new addition to the Cruise Mode, introduced alongside Schema Markup to enhance content depth and discoverability. It shows how well your final draft addresses the selected prompts from the context stage—ensuring your blog is aligned with user intent and delivers complete, valuable answers.
From the File menu (top left), you can export your final content in various formats: PDF, DOC, HTML, Markdown.
Note: The Introduction and Conclusion sections are auto-generated to ensure a natural flow to your content. At the bottom of the editor, you can track real-time stats like:
1. Word Count
2.Content Score – Now measures both search engine optimization and how well AI systems can understand your content.
3. Readability – To ensure your content is clear, engaging, and easy to consume.
STEP 16
In the final Editor View, you have full control to polish your blog before publishing. Use the formatting toolbar at the top to style text, insert media, find and replace and organize your layout.
The “Detect and Humanize” feature is especially powerful — it scans your content for overly robotic or AI-like phrases and humanizes them to sound more natural, conversational, and reader-friendly. This helps your blog connect better with real audiences while also improving performance on AI-detection tools and search engine algorithms.
STEP 17
The top-right section of the editor includes essential tools for real-time collaboration and version control:
Mark as Complete: Use this to indicate that a section or the entire document is finalized. Great for keeping track of progress within a team.
Comments: Click the comment icon to view, add, or respond to feedback — ideal for discussions, suggestions, or internal notes.
Version History: Access and review previous versions of the content. You can compare changes or restore an earlier draft at any time.
These features help streamline teamwork, maintain quality control, and track edits easily during the content creation process.
Ready to streamline your content creation? Try Scalenut’s Cruise Mode today and generate high-quality blog posts from scratch—quickly and efficiently.