Sign in Start free

A Report That Survives An Executive

Most SEO reports fail because they show effort rather than effect, and because they are dense enough that the reader picks whichever number confirms their prior. The remedy is not more charts. It is deciding in advance what the reader should be able to do differently after reading, and cutting everything that does not serve that decision.

CATEGORY
Analytics & reporting
FORMAT
executive-seo-report.md
STEPS
6
PRICE
Free - no account
WHEN TO REACH FOR THIS

Use when preparing an SEO report for people who will not read past the first page and will remember one number.

The skill file

executive-seo-report.md 
---
name: executive-seo-report
description: Use when preparing an SEO report for people who will not read past the first page and will remember one number.
---

# A Report That Survives An Executive

Most SEO reports fail because they show effort rather than effect, and because they are dense enough that the reader picks whichever number confirms their prior. The remedy is not more charts. It is deciding in advance what the reader should be able to do differently after reading, and cutting everything that does not serve that decision.

## What you need first

- the decision the report is meant to inform
- one agreed headline metric with history
- the change log for the period

## Method

1. Open with the answer in one sentence, including the direction and size. If the reader stops after that line they should still have the truth.
2. Show one chart with at least 13 months of history so seasonality is visible. A 30-day chart can be made to say anything and everyone knows it.
3. Say what you did, what moved, and be explicit where you cannot connect the two. Admitting one unattributable result buys credibility for the ones you can attribute.
4. Report the bad number before anyone finds it. A drop you surface yourself is a finding; a drop found by the reader is a cover-up.
5. Put lagging indicators up front and leading indicators behind them, clearly labeled as leading. Never let rankings or impressions stand in for revenue in the headline.
6. End with one specific ask - a decision, a budget, a resource - not a list of next steps that requires nothing from the reader.

## What this produces

A one-page report with a single headline number, one long-horizon chart, and one explicit ask.

## Where this goes wrong

- Changing chart date ranges between reports so trends cannot be compared, which reads as manipulation even when accidental
- Reporting keyword position averages, which move for reasons nobody in the room can act on
- Burying the caveat in a footnote - if the number needs a caveat to be honest, the caveat goes in the sentence

---

From the QuQi skill library - https://www.quqi.io/skills/executive-seo-report
Free to download · no account, no email

What you need first

  • the decision the report is meant to inform
  • one agreed headline metric with history
  • the change log for the period

Method

  1. 01 Open with the answer in one sentence, including the direction and size. If the reader stops after that line they should still have the truth.
  2. 02 Show one chart with at least 13 months of history so seasonality is visible. A 30-day chart can be made to say anything and everyone knows it.
  3. 03 Say what you did, what moved, and be explicit where you cannot connect the two. Admitting one unattributable result buys credibility for the ones you can attribute.
  4. 04 Report the bad number before anyone finds it. A drop you surface yourself is a finding; a drop found by the reader is a cover-up.
  5. 05 Put lagging indicators up front and leading indicators behind them, clearly labeled as leading. Never let rankings or impressions stand in for revenue in the headline.
  6. 06 End with one specific ask - a decision, a budget, a resource - not a list of next steps that requires nothing from the reader.

What this produces

A one-page report with a single headline number, one long-horizon chart, and one explicit ask.

Where this goes wrong

  • Changing chart date ranges between reports so trends cannot be compared, which reads as manipulation even when accidental
  • Reporting keyword position averages, which move for reasons nobody in the room can act on
  • Burying the caveat in a footnote - if the number needs a caveat to be honest, the caveat goes in the sentence

Use this skill in your own AI

The download is a plain markdown file with the name and trigger in its frontmatter. Where an assistant supports skills it can load itself, that frontmatter is what it reads to decide this one applies.

Claude Code Save it as ~/.claude/skills/executive-seo-report/SKILL.md and Claude loads it on its own when what you are doing matches the trigger line. Put it in .claude/skills inside a project instead if the whole team should have it.
Claude Upload the file in the skills section of your settings. Once it is there it applies itself in any conversation where the trigger fits, so you do not have to remember it exists.
ChatGPT There is no skills format to install into, so paste the file contents into a Project instruction or a Custom GPT instead. It then applies to every chat in that project rather than only the one you paste it into.
Anything else Paste the markdown into the chat before your question. It works in any assistant, it just has to be pasted again each time.

Questions about this skill

When is this approach right rather than a fuller report with more supporting detail?

When the reader will not get past the first page and will remember one number. The instinct after a report lands badly is to add charts and detail, which mainly makes it easier for the reader to pick whichever number confirms their prior. Decide first what the reader should be able to do differently, then cut everything that does not serve that decision.

What do I need in hand before starting, and what happens if I start without it?

The decision the report is meant to inform, one agreed headline metric with at least thirteen months of history, and the change log for the period. Without an agreed metric you pick a fresh headline each cycle, which reads as hiding a bad quarter even when it is not. Without thirteen months the chart cannot show seasonality and settles nothing.

What do I end up with, and which part of it actually gets used?

One page: a headline number with direction and size, one long-horizon chart, and one explicit ask. The ask is the part that gets used, because a list of next steps requiring nothing from the reader produces no decision and no budget. Lagging indicators go in front, and anything leading is labelled as leading rather than standing in for revenue.

What is the mistake that most often ruins this, and what does it cost?

Changing the chart date range between reports. It reads as manipulation even when it is accidental, and it destroys the one thing a repeated report exists for. Burying a caveat in a footnote costs the same way: if a number needs a caveat to be honest, the caveat goes in the sentence, and a drop you surface yourself is a finding rather than a cover-up.

More in Analytics & reporting

Striking Distance Query Analysis

Use when you have Search Console data and need to decide which queries are worth working on this...

Separating Algorithm Updates From Your Own Changes

Use when organic traffic drops and someone asks whether it was Google or something you shipped.

Annotation Discipline

Use when setting up or repairing the record of what changed on a site and when.

Organic Attribution Reality

Use when someone asks what organic search actually contributed to revenue and last-click says le...