Initial Setup
From installation to the first finding. The wizard walks the same four things the engine would otherwise silently get stuck on: the license, the master switch with the rule limits, the scheduled run, and a first audit.
Prerequisites
| Prerequisite | Why |
|---|---|
| merchantCENTRAL hub 2.106 or later | The SEO fields the module reads and writes live channel-neutrally on the hub's marketplace item. Older hub versions do not have them |
License CONTENTENGINE |
Without an active license no audit runs and no draft is made. The setup stays possible. In sandbox environments the module runs without a license |
| Listings | What is audited are marketplace listings, not items. Without a connected marketplace or shop there is nothing to audit |
| merchantCENTRAL Demo Data (recommended) | Provides a marketplace, a shop and listings — so the first audit has something to say |
| Azure OpenAI (optional) | Only for the Copilot drafts, configured centrally in the hub's AI Setup. Not needed for the audit |
Hub first
If you open the Content Engine setup before the hub is configured, the card automatically redirects you to the hub setup — the order is enforced.
The wizard in six steps
Search for Assisted Setup and start Set up the merchantCENTRAL Content Engine in the group AD merchantCENTRAL – Einrichtung. Every step reads its own state: on an already configured tenant the wizard shows green marks, and clicking through changes nothing.
| Step | Content |
|---|---|
| 1 — Welcome | What the engine audits, and which four things it needs for it |
| 2 — License | The state of the module CONTENTENGINE. Open license leads to the setup card, where the module is activated in the hub and a demo can be started |
| 3 — What the engine checks | Audit Listings, Audit Offline Items and the four most used limits: Meta Title Max. Length, Meta Description Max. Length, Description Min. Length, Min. Images |
| 4 — Scheduled run | Create entry schedules the daily job queue entry. The status says whether it exists and is running |
| 5 — First audit | Audit now runs the audit over the whole catalogue. Larger catalogues take a few minutes |
| 6 — Ready | The same check the setup card and the dashboard make: whatever is still missing appears here as one sentence |
Finish ticks the entry in the assisted setup list. Only Finish — clicking through alone does not mark the setup as done.
The job queue entry
The action Create Job Queue Entry — on the setup card, and as Create entry in the wizard — creates exactly one entry:
| Entry | Interval | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| SEO audit | daily (1,440 minutes, all seven weekdays) | Audits every listing in scope and replaces its findings with the current result |
Daily rather than weekly: a listing changed on Friday should not keep its findings to itself until Monday. You change the time in the Job Queue Entries. Without this entry, findings only change when someone runs the audit by hand — which is exactly what the dashboard then reports under Why nothing is audited.
Without a license the scheduled run ends silently
The entry runs, finds the license gate closed and exits without an error message; telemetry records the skipped run. An audit started interactively explains the reason in a dialog instead.
The first audit
The first audit is the moment the amount of work hidden in the catalogue becomes visible. Start it in the wizard (Audit now) or on the dashboard (Run SEO Audit):
- A confirmation names the number of listings and says that existing findings of these listings are replaced
- A progress dialog runs over the catalogue
- A result message reports listings checked, errors, warnings and hints
- The dashboard shows the same three counts — each of them opens the findings it counted
By default only listings that are online on their marketplace are audited. Audit Offline Items takes the rest along: a listing nobody can find needs no search engine text yet.
Checklist
- [ ] Hub 2.106 or later installed and configured
- [ ] Content Engine installed, license or demo active
- [ ] Enabled switched on, scope decided via Audit Offline Items
- [ ] Rule limits reviewed (the defaults fit most catalogues)
- [ ] Job queue entry created and checked to be in status "Ready"
- [ ] First audit run, errors reviewed in the findings list
- [ ] Optional: Azure OpenAI entered in the AI Setup and the capability Listing Content Draft switched on — then the Copilot drafts as well