The problem of AI-generated content
According to Europol, by 2026 the share of synthetically generated content may reach 90%. Nearly 50 news websites likely have been generated with the help of artificial intelligence (AI), e.g., Famadillo or Scoopearth. Let’s not forget about the deepfakes, which can make anything sound plausible, e.g., Barack Obama calling Donald Trump “a total and complete dips**t”.
Deepfakes won’t cause a war, not yet at least. But since Tesla stock crashed after Elon Musk smoked weed on a live web show, deepfakes can be used to manipulate stock markets, influence voters, and instigate religious tensions. They can be misleading, harassing, pejorative, offensive, and worst of all — persuasive.
While a perfectly disguised deepfake requires advanced technologies and time, other forms of AI-based content are relatively easy to produce. When released to the public as is, AI-created content can launch a vicious cycle of fake news. That’s why distinguishing human from AI-generated content is a top priority of search engines and content moderators.
Attitude toward AI-generated content
While initially reluctant to allow AI copywriting, Google does not care any longer about content origins. However, Google insists on the high quality and value of content, i.e., to be based on E-E-A-T:
- Expertise
- Experience
- Authoritativeness
- Trustworthiness
After all, if the content is interesting, unique, and adds value to the reader, does it matter whether it’s written with the help of or by AI?
Search Engine Land about Google Search
As of 2024, it appears Google relies on user interactions on Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) to judge content quality. Google uses a combination of automated and manual processes to assess content quality. In the initial assessment, Google checks for grammatical correctness and general coherence. The second round of assessment is based on user interactions with the content. If users engage with the content and spend time on the page, Google will likely rank it higher. However, if they are quick to leave, the algorithm takes notice of that and follows the pattern below:
- Google sends traffic for about 3–4 months
- After 4 months some content stops being ranked, losing about 25% of traffic
- A bit later, traffic plummets to the bottom
There is a problem, though — Google’s algorithm doesn’t catch up with the massively produced AI content. A humble affiliate or advertising agency has no chance to outpace it in terms of quantity unless using AI as well. That’s why a temporary fix was put in place, which gives an additional ranking boost to user-generated content (UGC) and its respective website. Google’s core updates in August and November made Reddit and Quora more visible.
AI revolutionizes the market
The main goal of any entrepreneur is to make a profit. Profit maximization is essential for businesses to stay competitive. In this regard, AI is the epitome of cost-effectiveness, as it allows Netflix to save $1 billion every month on background generation. While AI accelerates content creation, it is not self-sufficient and needs the guidance of an experienced marketer.
If Google bots detect ChatGPT-generated content on your webpages, they might assume it is plagiarized and de-rank your “unoriginal” content. Google’s goal is to move beyond mimicking user searches and adopt semantic and context-based search with Google Search updates like BERT and MUM. This means bots will be able to understand information more like humans do. What does this mean for SEO and SMM professionals?
- Be transparent: admit the usage of AI — there is nothing shameful in it
- Be genuine: write all the content as if for the user — this is the best strategy to outwit search crawlers
- Never delegate your vision: for fostering genuine connections with the customers, it’s better to rely on human-centric approach — make podcasts, webinars, and video content; then amplify that content across all the marketing channels, possibly with the help of AI
- Monitor cutting-edge automation: AI can hasten high-ranking content generation, make first drafts, help targeting non-branded keywords, and even conduct website audits
- Split-test: AI-generated content might be well, but there is no guarantee it will please target audience, so keep on testing no matter what for the best results
Conclusion
While AI-generated content is becoming increasingly common, its quality is often lacking. Google is aware of this trend and is taking steps to identify and de-rank low-quality AI-generated content. This means that businesses that rely solely on AI-generated content for SEO may see their rankings decline over time.
A better approach is to focus on creating high-quality, handcrafted content. This will require more effort and time, but it will also be more likely to rank well with Google and attract organic traffic to your website. In the long run, this will lead to better SEO results and more conversions.
Handcrafted content does not mean rejecting all changes. However, blindly relying on AI for content creation is not a sustainable strategy. It’s like building a house on quicksand. Instead, use AI as a tool to refine your content, but don’t let it replace your expertise. You are the master of your SEO and SMM efforts. AI is just a helpful ally, not a replacement.
If you want to reach new GEOs and audiences, maybe it is all waiting for you on Telegram? We’ve prepared some material about Telegram audiences. What are the messenger’s users like this year? How old they are, what they do, and what they are interested in!
