AI Provider settings
Settings > AI Provider controls where your article text comes from. It has a status card at the top and the provider setup below.
The status card
The "AI generation source" card tells you which mode you're in:
- BYOK active: you have your own key connected. Articles generate through your provider and you pay them directly, up to your plan's BYOK allowance (30 lifetime articles per site on free).
- Cloud active (Pro): you're on a paid plan with no key connected. Articles generate through SEOBetter Cloud; you don't need any API keys.
- Not configured: no key and no paid plan. The free plan is bring-your-own-key, so connect an AI provider key (Gemini and Groq have free tiers; OpenAI, Anthropic, Moonshot AI, OpenRouter, and Ollama also work) to generate. Your first 30 articles per site are Cloud-assisted; after that the plugin's built-in engine writes new articles on your key, and the Generate page tells you when that switch has happened.
Quick Pick: the easy way to connect
The Quick Pick section has preset buttons for tested provider and model combinations. Click one and it fills the form below for you. The recommended OpenRouter pick works for most people worldwide at roughly $0.02 per article, and the Gemini and Groq presets can run on those providers' free tiers.
Take the "avoid these models" warning under the presets seriously. Some popular models (Llama, DeepSeek, Mixtral, OpenAI o3/o4) ignore SEOBetter's rules under complex prompts and will invent business names even when real data is available.
Choosing a model: cost vs quality
Most providers give you a baseline and a higher-quality tier:
- Baseline model: fast, roughly $0.01 to $0.04 per article (or $0 on a free-tier provider like Gemini or Groq), and strong GEO articles. Start here.
- Higher-quality model: richer prose for pillar pages, at roughly 5 to 10 times the cost per article.
A practical approach: generate everything on a baseline model, and switch to a higher-quality one only for the handful of pages where writing quality matters most. You can switch any time; it just changes which model your next article uses.
In the Add AI Provider form, each model in the dropdown carries a colored dot: green means best compatibility with SEOBetter's requirements, amber is good, red is basic.
Adding a provider manually
- Pick the provider from the dropdown.
- Paste your API key (the Get Key button links to the right page for each provider).
- Pick a model.
- Click Connect Provider.
Ollama needs no key. Custom needs an API URL as well.
Removing or replacing a key
Connected providers show in a table with a Remove button. On the free plan you can have one provider saved at a time, so to switch providers: Remove the old one, then connect the new one. Pro allows several saved providers.
Replacing the key for the same provider is simpler: connect it again with the new key and it overwrites the old one.
What Pro changes here
Pro ($39/mo) includes Cloud generation and makes keys optional: 50 cloud articles per month on premium AI, with a "Max quality" toggle on the generate page (a Max article counts as 2 of your 50). Nothing to configure and no key needed. You can also keep BYOK active on Pro and use it for the advanced features only.
AppSumo lifetime deal plans work the same way here (keys optional, or keep BYOK connected), but the monthly cloud and BYOK caps are lower and set by how many codes you stacked. See cloud vs bring-your-own-key on your lifetime deal.