Generate Variations in Edge Delivery: From Prompt to Published in Minutes

What is Generate Variations?

Generate Variations is AEM's built-in GenAI feature that creates content variations from prompts. It's available in AEM Sites and — more interestingly — directly in the Edge Delivery Services Sidekick.

This means authors working in Google Docs can generate multiple content variations without leaving their authoring environment. No separate AI tool, no copy-paste, no context switching.

How it works in Edge Delivery

1. Open the Sidekick

When authoring in Google Docs with the AEM Sidekick extension, there's a "Generate Variations" button. Click it.

2. Define your prompt

Tell the AI what you need:

• Target audience (e.g., "enterprise IT decision makers")
• Tone of voice (e.g., "professional but approachable")
• Content type (e.g., "hero headline and subheading")
• Key messages to include

3. Generate and select

The AI produces multiple variations. You preview each one, select the best, or iterate on a specific direction.

4. Test with experimentation

Here's where Edge Delivery really shines: you can take two variations and run them as an A/B experiment directly in Edge Delivery. No separate testing tool needed.

Prompt templates

The biggest challenge with Generate Variations isn't the AI — it's consistency. Different team members write different prompts, and you get inconsistent output.

Our approach: create a library of prompt templates specific to your brand and content types. We define:

• Brand voice guidelines that the AI follows
• Content structure templates for each page type
• Audience personas with specific messaging angles
• Quality criteria that variations must meet

This turns Generate Variations from a novelty into a scalable content production tool.

Real results

For one client, we implemented Generate Variations across their Edge Delivery blog:

• Content creation time reduced by 60%
• 3x more content variations tested per quarter
• 15% improvement in engagement from AI-optimized headlines

When to use it

Generate Variations works best for:

• Headlines, subheadings, and CTAs
• Email subject lines and preview text
• Product descriptions across multiple audiences
• Campaign-specific content variations

It's less suited for long-form content or highly technical documentation where human expertise is essential.