Is AI Content Bad for SEO?

When ChatGPT was launched in November 2022, it soon rose in popularity and, by January, had more than 100 million users. It was credited as the beginning of the AI boom where AI-generated content became a lot more prevalent online.

For businesses both small and large, the ability to quickly whip up some interesting written content for their website, blog or social media was jumped on. Many content writers worried that their jobs would become obsolete quickly. However, the rise of automatically generated content led to a lack of high-quality content – which Google doesn’t like.

In 2022, Google took the step to reduce unhelpful, unoriginal content on search rankings in a bid to keep it to low levels. With the emergence of AI-generated content, Google’s task of tackling unhelpful and unoriginal work became larger.

Still, though, artificial intelligence is used to create content in 2024. But can AI-generated content affect your Google ranking position?

What is AI-generated content?

AI content is written content that’s created using artificial intelligence software without any direct human input. The technology uses natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning to generate written content based on specific prompts or data inputs – however, this can cause many issues.

AI content aims to mimic a human’s writing style to create helpful content that reads and flows well. ChatGPT is used to create written content of all kinds and both short-form and long-form copy, but it’s difficult to ensure complete accuracy and non-duplicate content.

It’s used by many companies to produce news articles, product descriptions, posts for social media, advertising copy and even books.

Often, though, it can be clear that a passage of text was written by AI software, as it doesn’t have the quintessential human touch.

What are the positives and negatives of automatically generated content?

AI-written content has received a mixed reaction in the industry. Many see it as a problem due to the lack of high-quality content it produces, while a few see it as a positive due to its speed and efficiency.

The pros of AI-generated content:

• Fast content creation process
• Can be tailored to specific audiences
• Highly customisable
• Helps to reduce costs
• Eliminates the need for a team of writers

The cons of AI-generate content:

• The loss of human oversight and authenticity
• AI algorithms can lead to a biased content creation process
• Impact on human jobs
• Ethical considerations

How does Google view AI content?

Google has previously stated that using AI-generated content to manipulate search rankings is a violation of its spam policies.

However, AI-written content is not completely against Google’s Webmaster Guidelines – but was a key focus in their March 2024 Core update.

One of the main aspects of this update was to enforce a reduction in low-quality and unhelpful content and to reduce scaled content abuse.

There is now an even bigger focus on eliminating unhelpful AI content.

What is scaled content abuse?

Scaled content abuse is when lots of “pages are generated for the sole purpose of manipulating search rankings and not helping users”. Examples of scaled content abuse include:

• Pages generated with AI software
• Scraping feeds and search results to generate many pages with little value
• Stitching content from different web pages without adding value
• Creating multiple websites with the intent of hiding the scaled nature of the content
• Creating several pages where the content makes no sense to a reader but contains keywords

Can AI content rank?

Well, Google focuses on the quality of content rather than the way it was created, which would suggest that some AI-generated content can rank on search engines – so long as human input is involved to proof and rewrite when required.

Google works to surface reliable and helpful content. With this in mind, so long as a piece of AI-generated content meets E-E-A-T quality guidelines (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness – content must meet these points to rank) and provides value to users, it could rank just as well as a piece of content that’s written by a human.

While the guidelines do make Google’s stance clear on poor-quality content, Google will not penalise AI-written content outright. So long as it’s high-quality, accurate and user-focused content, it does have a chance to rank.

However, if the Google search algorithm detects a piece of content that’s been created using artificial intelligence software simply to manipulate rankings instead of being a helpful piece of content, it will be flagged as spam.

Can AI-generated content help SEO?

It’s clear that AI content can impact Google search results – both negatively and positively. We know that website owners should generate helpful content that engages users to rank high on Google search queries – which can be done via artificial intelligence – but it could be penalised if the content is misleading or incorrect.

So, whether it’s created by a human or via artificial intelligence, it’s essential that the content has to be of high quality.

There are big risks associated with AI content, though. Because it uses machine learning to write content, there is a chance that it can create duplicate or repetitive content that will harm search engine rankings.

If marked down by Google, it can harm a website’s reputation, so it’s key to approach AI content with balance.

What impact does AI content have on Google search rankings?

So, it’s clear that content generated by artificial intelligence has an impact on Google search results pages.

If a company is to use AI, it should generate content primarily to add user value. Only then will AI-generated content rank on Google search engines.

When used carefully and reviewed by a human, it is possible to produce AI-generated text that ranks well on Google. AI content can boost SEO rankings if done correctly, but anybody planning to produce content with AI tools should tread very carefully.

Google is penalising AI content that’s created purely to rank on search rankings, rather than being an engaging and helpful piece of content. Plus, the ranking factor is based on a piece of content’s E-E-A-T which AI software may not be able to establish as well as a human can.

Nothing can quite replace the written work that human expertise can produce. Content writing is a skill and using AI cannot quite deliver the same quality that human content does – even if it’s quicker and easier to produce.

It’s important to remember that AI can create content quickly, but it could be extremely average, and average content only produces average results.

Content marketing by Paramount Digital

Put your trust in highly qualified and experienced content writers. If you need content written for your website – whether it’s on-page copy or blogs – speak to Paramount Digital today to find out how we can help you.

We have a large team of dedicated content writers who are experienced in a wide variety of industries and can produce high-quality content that AI cannot compete with.

Stop settling for average results with AI content and use real, top-notch content writers from Paramount Digital.

Give us a call on 01744 747474 or send us an email at marketing@paramountdigital.co.uk.