How to Generate and Publish a Video Transcript

Accurate video transcripts are the primary text AI systems use to understand your video content. Here is how to generate and publish one correctly.

?Why it matters

AI systems cannot watch videos — they read transcripts. Auto-generated captions on YouTube are often inaccurate (especially for names, technical terms, and local references). An accurate, corrected transcript is the difference between your video being correctly cited or misrepresented by AI.

✓What you'll need

  • •A published YouTube video
  • •Access to YouTube Studio
  • •Optional: a transcription tool (Otter.ai, Rev.com, or manual transcription)

Step-by-step walkthrough

1

Get the auto-generated transcript

In YouTube Studio, go to your video → Subtitles. If YouTube has generated auto-captions, click "Edit" on the auto-generated English track.

2

Review and correct the transcript

Go through the auto-generated transcript and correct any errors — especially business names, product names, location names, and technical terms. These are the fields AI systems are most likely to cite incorrectly.

3

Save the corrected transcript

Click "Save" in YouTube Studio. The corrected transcript becomes the official caption track and the text AI systems use to index your video.

4

Publish the transcript on your website

Create a page or post on your website with the full video transcript. Embed the video at the top, then include the full text below. This creates an indexable page that reinforces the authority loop between your YouTube channel and your website.

5

Add VideoObject schema to the transcript page

Add VideoObject JSON-LD schema to the transcript page: include the video name, description, thumbnailUrl, uploadDate, and embedUrl. This tells AI systems that the page is a video resource and improves citation likelihood.

★Pro tips

  • TIP:A corrected transcript on your website is a separate SEO page — it ranks independently and drives traffic.
  • TIP:Link from the YouTube video description to your transcript page on your website: "Read the full transcript at [URL]". This creates a bidirectional authority signal.
  • TIP:Include your business entity information (name, location, services) in the transcript introduction so AI systems can attribute the content to your business.

!Common mistakes

  • ✕Relying entirely on auto-generated captions without review — especially for local business names and technical terms, auto-captions are frequently wrong.
  • ✕Publishing the transcript without the video embed — both should be on the same page for maximum signal.

Built for local performance.

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