Template
Listicle Writer
Generate listicle articles (ex. top X tools for Y) for products and services.
Listicles sit at the sweet spot between SEO-friendly structure and reader-friendly scannability. They consistently earn higher social shares and featured-snippet placements, yet drafting a well-researched “Top X” post can swallow an entire workday. Hunting for credible sources, curating the right items, and polishing each section is repetitive busywork that keeps you from strategic tasks. For more strategies on scaling your content production effortlessly, explore our guide on content automation.
The Listicle Writer app removes that drag. Feed it a category, audience, and the number of items you want, and it returns a finished, media-rich article—complete with screenshots, shortlist anchors, pros/cons tables, and a tidy conclusion—ready to publish or lightly tweak.
How the app is built in Moonlit
Inputs: Category, Audience, Number of items, and (optionally) your own product URL if you want to feature yourself in the list.
Researcher & Intro Researcher –Chat Models
• Two separate calls to Perplexity models run in parallel.
• “Researcher” scours Reddit, G2, Capterra, and the open web to select exactly N products, returning a markdown briefing with links.
• “Intro Researcher” gathers fresh stats and buying-criteria talking points—ammo for a compelling opener.My Image – HTML to Image
• If you provided your own site, a one-viewport screenshot is captured. This lets the final article visually highlight your product without manual uploads.Structure – Chat Model (GPT-4o Mini)
• Converts the raw “Researcher” markdown into a clean JSON array: name, URL, best-for snippet, summary. This structured output powers the remaining automation steps; you can draw parallels to our insights on building high-quality AI content pipelines to further refine your process.My Product & Items – Multiple Chat Models
• “My Product” crafts a full subsection for your tool, following a strict template (best for, overview, pros, cons, pricing/support notes).
• “Items” loops through the JSON list with {{item}} references, generating equivalent sections for every other product, each enriched with Reddit/G2 sentiment.LP Images – HTML to Image (looped) - Learn more about Looping here.
• For every URL, the first viewport screenshot is captured and stored in a list—perfect visual context for readers and great for on-page engagement.Process Body – Python
• Stitches the intro, optional self-promo section, and every product section together.
• Inserts image placeholders (image_placeholder_0, 1, …) so the next step can swap in the actual base64 images.Final Touches – Chat Model (Claude Sonnet 3.5)
• Acts like an editor: adds an H1, builds a linked shortlist, rewrites the intro in first-person, fixes missing headings, trims stat overkill, and appends a succinct conclusion.Inject Images – Python
• Replaces each placeholder with the correct base64 screenshot.
• Removes stray markdown fences so the final HTML is copy-paste ready.
Ways to customize this template
Customization Option | Description | Potential Benefit |
|---|---|---|
Change the Voice | Swap the “Final Touches” model for a powerful reasoning model such as OpenAI's o3 and rewrite prompts to match your brand tone (e.g., humorous, authoritative, academic). You can also check out our guide on maintaining a consistent brand voice for large sites. | Ensures content aligns with your brand personality and engages your target audience. |
Add Comparison Tables | Insert more research steps to fetch pricing tiers or ratings via API, then embed a uniform spec sheet beneath each overview. | Helps readers easily compare options and make informed decisions. |
Multilingual Publishing | Duplicate the “Final Touches” step and switch the system-message to another language (e.g., Spanish or German). | Expands reach by creating localized versions for different audiences. |
Source Enrichment | Prepend a SERP scrape step to pull star ratings or Trustpilot scores and feed them into the item prompt. | Adds credibility and social proof to your content. |
Visual Branding | Leverage the Generate Image function with the gpt-image-1 model to add your logo and add branded consistency to the images, or even generate unique ones. | Strengthens brand recognition and ensures visuals are on-brand. |
Running it at scale with Bulk Runs
Create a CSV with columns: Category, Audience, N Items, Website URL (optional).
Open Bulk Runs → New Job → select “Listicle Writer”.
Map each column to its matching input field, upload, and hit Run.
Moonlit queues parallel jobs; come back to download the csv of ready-to-publish HTML strings, one per row.
Additional notes
Because each step mirrors a real editorial workflow—research → outline → draft → edit—the output consistently meets E-E-A-T guidelines and avoids the flat “AI voice” many single-prompt tools produce. The built-in screenshot capture also breaks long text walls, lowering bounce rates. In a similar effort to refine content performance, our approach to automate content optimization helps ensure your pages perform at their best.
