Everything documented to the line.

Install SEO Merlin directly from Plugins → Add New by searching for "SEO Merlin", then click Install Now and Activate.

If you have a premium build, upload the zip from Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, select the package, and activate it after upload completes.

After activation, launch the onboarding wizard and confirm your initial plugin settings before running your first scan.

Use Quick Scan for a fast health snapshot across critical SEO checks. It is ideal after new content releases, plugin updates, or theme edits.

Use Full Scan when you want complete site coverage and detailed issue breakdowns across all supported categories.

After the scan finishes, review issue severity first, then apply deterministic fixes in bulk. Reserve AI fixes for metadata and content improvements where generation speed creates the most leverage.

SEO Merlin is designed as a companion layer for Yoast SEO and RankMath.

Current compatibility

• Yoast: supported read/write integration.
• RankMath: supported read/write integration.
• AIOSEO and SEOPress: read-only at this stage.
• Full AIOSEO + SEOPress support is targeted for Q3 2026.

How companion mode works

SEO Merlin reads existing metadata keys, adds missing signals where possible, and keeps your existing plugin as the primary meta-management layer.

Use this mode when you manage multiple client sites and want to avoid risky SEO plugin migrations.

For agency workflows, connect integrations in this order:

1. Google Search Console for query and indexing signals.
2. GA4 for engagement context.
3. DataForSEO for rankings, backlinks, and authority checks.

Why this order works

GSC and GA4 provide immediate context for issue triage. DataForSEO becomes most useful once baseline technical and on-page issues are under control.

Plan gating

GSC, GA4, and DataForSEO integrations are available on Solo and above.

SEO Merlin runs 43 checks across 12 categories. Each issue maps to a fix class when a safe remediation exists.

Fix class model

• Deterministic (26): rule-based operations, no AI dependency.
• Hybrid (8): deterministic fallback with optional AI enhancement.
• Partial (1): fallback exists but requires manual completion.
• Pure AI (2): requires Claude to generate fix output.

Rollback contract

Before every applied fix, SEO Merlin stores a rollback snapshot. If a result is not acceptable, use rollback to return the issue to an open state and restore the previous value payload.

Practical sequence

1. Run a full scan.
2. Apply deterministic fixes first.
3. Review AI previews before apply.
4. Use rollback immediately when output quality is not production-ready.

SEO Merlin is BYOK-first. You connect your own API credentials and pay providers directly.

What BYOK means

• Anthropic calls use your Claude key.
• DataForSEO calls use your own account credentials.
• SEO Merlin does not proxy or mark up usage costs.

Cost visibility

The Cost Dashboard surfaces request-level totals so finance and delivery teams can inspect spend by feature usage.

Typical Claude fix cost is approximately $0.01-0.05 per fix depending on prompt scope and model response size.

Recommended policy for agencies

1. Set internal spend thresholds per client site.
2. Review dashboard totals weekly.
3. Apply deterministic fixes first, then AI fixes for high-impact pages.

Scan appears stuck

• Check server resource limits (memory and execution time).
• Re-run in Quick mode to validate baseline behavior.
• Confirm no security plugin is blocking admin-ajax loopback.

Fix applied but output not visible

• Purge page cache and object cache.
• Verify there is no conflicting SEO plugin override.
• Re-open issue detail and review rollback log entry.

Stale fix warning appears

Stale warnings indicate fix logic changed after plugin updates. Re-apply the flagged fixes to align generated output with the latest logic version.