# Audit report content structure

This is the content spec: the eight sections every audit contains and what goes in each. In Step 6 you map this content into `audit.json` (see `references/audit-schema.md`) and run `scripts/build_report.py`, which renders the clean, white-label `.docx`. Use this file to get the substance right; the builder handles the look. Write everything in the voice defined in `references/report-style.md`.

## 1. Executive summary
Three to five sentences a busy stakeholder can read alone. State the **overall consistency read** in plain language (which elements are Aligned, which are Contradictory or Absent), the single most important thing to fix, and what the audit does and doesn't cover.

## 2. Scope
- **Assets audited:** a list, each with its intended audience.
- **Not covered or not accessible:** anything out of scope or unreachable, so the reader knows the boundaries.

## 3. Extraction matrix
A table: rows are the core messaging elements, columns are the assets. Each cell holds the actual language (short quote) or a dash for absent. This is the evidence base for everything that follows.

| Element | Asset 1 | Asset 2 | Asset 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Value proposition | "..." | "..." | (absent) |
| Positioning statement | ... | ... | ... |
| Brand promise | ... | ... | ... |
| Target audience | ... | ... | ... |
| Key benefits | ... | ... | ... |
| Differentiation pillars | ... | ... | ... |
| Proof points | ... | ... | ... |
| Tagline / boilerplate | ... | ... | ... |
| Tone & voice | ... | ... | ... |
| Primary CTA | ... | ... | ... |

**Repeat the header row on every page.** If the matrix runs onto more than one page, the header row (the asset names) must repeat at the top of each page, so the reader never loses which column is which asset. In the built `.docx` this is automatic; if you are assembling the document another way (for example Gemini building the doc directly), set the matrix's first row to repeat as a header, or pin the header row, so it shows on every page the table spans.

## 4. Consistency findings
One short block per element: the **rating** (Aligned, Drifting, Contradictory, or Absent), then the **evidence** (quote the aligned language, or quote the conflicting versions side by side), then a one-line **so what**. Lead with the elements that scored worst. In the rendered report each rating shows as a color-coded badge.

**Example of the content:**
> **Value proposition, Contradictory.**
> Homepage: "the fastest way to close your books." Sales deck: "the most accurate ledger for regulated industries."
> Speed and accuracy are being sold as the core promise to the same buyer. The brand hasn't decided which one it is.

## 5. Gaps
The typed gap list (from `gap-taxonomy.md`). Group by type where it helps. Each gap: the type label, what's missing or broken, and where.

## 6. Priority fix list
The ordered list from Step 5, most important first. For each: the element, its rating, the one-line "why it matters or what it blocks," rough effort (low, medium, high), and the suggested next step or owner. In the rendered report these render as ranked cards.

## 7. Your Strategic Take
This section marks the hand-off from the audit to the human, so make that split explicit. Everything in sections 1 to 6 is what the audit could read straight from the copy: the AI's work. The calls in this section can't be settled from the copy alone. They need a person who knows the business, its history, and its plans.

Open the section with one plain line that names the split, for example: "This is where the audit stops and you decide. The calls below can't be made from the copy alone. They need your read of the business, not the AI's." Then list each judgment call as an open question for the marketer, never as a resolved finding: proof points that may be real or aspirational, phrases that may be insider jargon or the audience's own words, contradictions that may be sloppiness or a deliberate sub-brand. Frame each one as "here is the call, and here is why only you can make it." In the rendered report this is the outlined accent block.

## 8. Next step
One or two sentences pointing to what comes after the audit: defining the corrected messaging (a positioning workshop for what's Contradictory or Absent, then a messaging platform to codify it). Do not perform that step here.

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*Footer line for the report:* this audit inventories and diagnoses existing messaging. It does not create new messaging, and nothing in it has been published or changed on the brand's live assets.
