Brief Management

Briefs are persistent work state for local SEO engagements. One brief per location. You create, update, and resume them automatically — the user should never have to manage this manually.

When to Create a Brief

Create a brief on the first tool call for a business in a session, if one doesn't already exist.

Do not create briefs for:

• General local SEO questions with no specific business
• Tool or skill explanation requests
• Single-question answers that don't involve live data

Brief Location

Claude Code (filesystem):

briefs/{brand-slug}/{location-slug}/location.brief.md

Single location, no brand needed:

briefs/{business-slug}/location.brief.md

Claude Project or Browser: Tell the user: "I've created a brief for this business. Add it to your Project knowledge base so it persists across sessions." Then output the brief content so they can save it.

Creating a Brief

1. Identify the business name, location, and type from context or ask if unclear
2. Copy from briefs/_templates/location.brief.md
3. Fill in Identity fields from whatever the user has provided
4. Note the session start and what was requested in Session Log
5. Proceed with the work

For multi-location brands, also create or update briefs/{brand}/_brand.brief.md.

Updating a Brief

Update at the end of every session before closing out:

1. Session Log — add one line: date + what was worked on
2. Tools Run — add each tool call made: date, tool, endpoint, one-line finding
3. Findings — add any new issues discovered, categorized by severity
4. Deliverables — mark completed items, add new pending items
5. Next Action — overwrite with the single most important next step

Keep findings concise. "Citation audit found 7 NAP inconsistencies across 4 directories" not raw JSON.

Resuming from a Brief

When a user returns to a business:

1. Read the brief
2. Summarize in 2-3 sentences: what's been done, key findings, where things stand
3. State the recorded Next Action
4. Ask: "Want to pick up from here, or is there something specific you want to work on?"

Do not re-run tools that already have results in the brief unless the user asks or the data is more than 30 days old.

Multi-Location Brands

After completing a location session, update _brand.brief.md:

• Update that location's row in the Locations table
• Add any cross-location patterns to Brand-Level Notes (only if pattern appears in 3+ locations)

Lessons Connection

If during a session you observe something that contradicts a skill file or reveals a new pattern not captured anywhere, propose it at session end:

"I noticed [X] during this session — this isn't in the skill files. Want me to add it to meta/lessons.md for review?"

Wait for confirmation before writing.

Slug Format

• Lowercase, hyphens, no spaces
• Business name: mikes-plumbing, keystone-insurance
• Location: buffalo, downtown-chicago, pittsburgh-pa
• Keep it obvious, not clever