diff --git a/.claude/skills/blog-write/SKILL.md b/.claude/skills/blog-write/SKILL.md
index 8f02db95e..6d911f4f0 100644
--- a/.claude/skills/blog-write/SKILL.md
+++ b/.claude/skills/blog-write/SKILL.md
@@ -129,6 +129,21 @@ criteria scored, and the scores written into the commit message.
 
 Feature branch, commit, `gh pr create` with the evidence. Never push to master.
 
+**Prove the post is in the PRODUCTION build before you call it delivered.**
+`bin/hugo-build` does not prove it - that writes to `_dest/public-dev`, which
+builds future-dated content, and production does not. Set `date:` to today or
+earlier, then:
+
+```
+bin/rake test:links
+find _dest/public-linkcheck -type d -name "<slug>"
+```
+
+Quote the page-count delta. A post dated one day ahead merges, passes every
+gate, and does not publish - and the link check reports a clean zero because it
+crawled everything except your post. "Merged" and "delivered" are different
+claims; only the second one needs this check (2026-08-22).
+
 **Do NOT wait for CI on a content-only PR** (Paul 2026-08-22). Prose and
 frontmatter cannot move the app build, so local gates decide and you merge as
 soon as they are green.
diff --git a/content/blog/how-to-audit-content-you-didnt-write/index.md b/content/blog/how-to-audit-content-you-didnt-write/index.md
index a60d49c18..2de2c4af0 100644
--- a/content/blog/how-to-audit-content-you-didnt-write/index.md
+++ b/content/blog/how-to-audit-content-you-didnt-write/index.md
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 title: "How to Audit Content You Didn't Write"
 description: "Someone spent $900,000 publishing fake research so chatbots would repeat it. The same economics apply to the blog your agency built. Four checks you can run."
-date: 2026-08-23
+date: 2026-08-22
 draft: false
 author: 'JetThoughts Team'
 slug: how-to-audit-content-you-didnt-write
diff --git a/docs/workflows/blog-pipeline.md b/docs/workflows/blog-pipeline.md
index 94710f5af..2af5258a8 100644
--- a/docs/workflows/blog-pipeline.md
+++ b/docs/workflows/blog-pipeline.md
@@ -468,6 +468,22 @@ Before flipping draft: false or before any LinkedIn/external promotion drives tr
 If any of the above checks fail, fix before proceeding to STEP 7.
 
 STEP 7 — VALIDATE
+- **CONFIRM THE POST IS IN THE PRODUCTION BUILD.** `bin/hugo-build` passing does
+  NOT prove this and never did: it writes to `_dest/public-dev`, which builds
+  future-dated content. Production does not. A post dated even one day ahead
+  merges cleanly, passes every gate, and silently does not publish — that
+  happened on 2026-08-22 with `how-to-audit-content-you-didnt-write`, dated
+  tomorrow, merged, absent from the live set.
+
+  ```
+  bin/rake test:links   # builds production into _dest/public-linkcheck
+  find _dest/public-linkcheck -type d -name "<slug>"
+  ```
+
+  Quote the page-count delta as the evidence: the run above went 1,768 → 1,775
+  pages when the post entered the set. A link check that reports zero errors
+  while your post is missing from the crawl is a vacuous green — it scanned
+  everything except the thing you wrote.
 - bin/hugo-build must pass (zero errors)
 - Chrome DevTools: open the post page, verify:
   - Zero console errors