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How the smart email generator works

Every outreach draft is written for the specific page you're reaching out to. Here's what goes into it, where each piece comes from, and when we use a template instead.

Updated July 11, 2026

The big picture

When you draft an email, one of two things happens. Most of the time, our smart generator writes a fresh, personalized email for that exact page. In a few cases we fall back to a ready-made template. Here is the whole flow at a glance:

What you set up
What we find on the page
Smart generator writes it
Safety check
Your draft

If a lead can't be personalized, or a draft doesn't pass the safety check, we quietly use a ready-made template instead.

What you tell us vs what we find

A good email needs two kinds of information: things only you know, and things about the specific page you're reaching out to. You give us the first when you set up your project. We gather the second automatically.

What you tell us (your project)
  • Your site and what it does
  • The problem you solve
  • Why you built it (your origin)
  • A credibility fact or two (your "flexes")
  • Your budget per link
  • Whether a competitor is a direct competitor
What we find (the page + our data)
  • The title of their post
  • The exact words they linked, and the sentence around it
  • What kind of page it is (how-to, list, resource page, homepage)
  • The competitor link they already have
  • A screenshot, when we can capture one

The generator combines both so the email sounds like a real person who actually read their page, not a mail merge.

How it writes the email

The generator doesn't fill in blanks in a template. It writes each email from scratch, grounded in that page: it points at something real in their post, explains why you're reaching out in your own words, and keeps it short and human. No buzzwords, no flattery, no fake urgency.

Subject: Idea for your arcade guide

Hey Brian,

I’m Sam. Had a quick question about your post, "The Best Ways to Find Retro Arcades Near You."

from their page

Noticed you pointed people to a retro arcade finder before they head out.

from their page

Could I ask you to add mine in that section?

I built RetroArcadeFinder because the finders I found were out of date and sent people to arcades that had closed, and it maps 4,000 retro arcades, updated monthly.

from your project

Nothing for you to do on your end, I’ll write the line so it’s a quick paste.

Appreciate it, Sam

The opening points at something real on their page (that came from what we found), while the "why I built it" line and the credibility number come from your project setup.

Insert vs swap

There are two ways to earn a link, and the email is written differently for each. The difference comes from the "direct competitor" toggle you set on a competitor.

Insert (the default, ~9 in 10)

You ask them to add your link alongside what's already there. The two links are their post and your site.

Subject: Noticed your arcade guide

Mind if I add RetroArcadeFinder to your post? It maps every retro arcade, kept current.

Swap (direct competitor)

You ask them to replace the competitor's link. The two links are the competitor's current link and your site.

Subject: Question about your arcade guide

You linked out to arcadespotter.com, but could I ask you to swap it for mine? It's more current.

If you've set a budget per link, the email offers to pay and names the amount. If you turn on "I don't want to pay for backlinks" (or leave your budget at zero), the email simply asks, politely, with no money mentioned.

Either way it stays humble. You're asking them for a favor, not doing them one, so a free email never dangles "it's free" as if it were a gift.

When we use a template instead

A small number of drafts use a ready-made template rather than the smart generator:

  • Leads you imported from a CSV that were never qualified, because we don't have the page details we'd need to personalize them.
  • The rare case where a generated draft doesn't pass our safety check.

The safety check is a last line of defense that blocks anything reading like spam: salesy buzzwords, made-up numbers, or the wrong links. If a draft trips it, we quietly use a template so you never send a bad email.

How it shows in your drafts

A generated draft is labeled "Smart AI Personalization". You can edit it directly, or apply one of your templates to it and switch back to the AI version any time. Subjects rotate between a few natural forms on purpose, so a batch of outreach doesn't look like a mail merge (which also helps deliverability).

You're always in control
Every draft is yours to edit, and nothing sends until you approve it.