How to Navigate the World of AI-Generated Content with the New Google AI Content Guidelines

As artificial intelligence (AI) technology continues to advance and gain popularity, there has been a growing interest in using AI-generated content and for good reason. By simply entering the desired prompt, AI tools can churn out large volumes of content, eliminating the need for businesses and individuals to spend significant time and effort on content creation. 

However, concerns about the quality and authenticity of AI-generated content remain. Many marketers and business owners also worry that AI-produced content is incompatible with Google’s guidelines and, therefore, will hurt their SEO efforts. Fortunately, the world’s biggest search engine finally put such fears to rest by announcing new Google AI content guidelines.

Google’s Stance on AI-Generated Content 

Google reiterated that using AI-generated content on your website is not a violation of its guidelines. In fact, the search giant supports AI and automation, saying these tools can make it easier for content creators to provide web users with helpful information. It added that AI could “power new levels of expression and creativity”, and taking advantage of such capabilities will significantly benefit the online community. 

Still, using AI to game the system is absolutely forbidden. Google warned site owners against using AI-generated content to spread spam, pointing out that tactics primarily designed to manipulate search rankings directly violate its spam policies.

Will This Lead to an Influx of Poorly Written Content? 

With Google giving its stamp of approval to AI-generated content, you might be worried that this could lead to an increase of poorly written content online, potentially burying all the good ones, including yours. At Springhill Marketing, we firmly believe that this is unlikely to happen. Google has a significant number of advanced search algorithms that can filter all the fluff to ensure that high-quality web content will get the amount of exposure they rightfully deserve.

Essential SEO Tips to Consider When Using AI to Generate Content 

Indeed, using AI and automation tools can help streamline the content creation process. However, there are key considerations you need to make to ensure that your AI-generated content matches Google’s SEO guidelines.

1. Provide value to your audience

Google’s ranking systems reward original content that provides value to one’s target audience. However, for all the conveniences they offer, AI and automation tools are incapable of “adding value” to a piece of content. The main reason for this is that these tools are only programmed to summarise and work on pre-existing ideas or information you give them. 

This means even if you use AI tools to produce a significant amount of web content, you are less likely to rank on Google if you do not offer something your audience will find helpful. Therefore, regardless of how you produce your content, ensure that it will enable you to demonstrate your expertise, experience, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (EEAT).

2. Create content others would want to link to

Besides meeting Google’s EEAT requirements, creating content that encourages other websites to link to yours is equally important. High-quality backlinks remain a vital Google ranking signal. When other sites link to yours, it tells the search giant that you’re: 

• A trusted author or brand.
• A reliable source of unique ideas, data, or statistics. 

Again, this all boils down to producing original, relevant, and high-quality content regardless of your preferred content creation method. Also, it wouldn’t be wise to sacrifice quality for quantity and/or convenience if you’re keen on establishing a better online presence and driving more traffic and leads to your site.

3. Leverage AI’s unique capabilities

In its Google AI content guidelines, the search giant dedicated an entire section to underscore how AI can help creators develop helpful content. This means beyond writing content for your website, AI tools have other unique capabilities you can leverage to provide web visitors with an excellent user experience.

For instance, OpenAI’s ChatGPT can write simple codes for you. You can take advantage of this feature to make your web content more useful and interactive. You can also use AI and automation tools to proofread your content or generate outlines and topic/headline ideas.

4. Always add a human element to the content creation process

Relying solely on AI to create web content is a huge disservice to your SEO and digital marketing efforts. While AI can indeed make your job much easier, it lacks the human touch that makes content engaging and authentic. Furthermore, it cannot easily replicate the unique perspectives and creative abilities humans possess. 

Adding a human element to the content creation process helps ensure that your web content resonates with your target audience and highlights your brand’s unique personality. We can all agree that AI is a powerful tool. Nevertheless, it cannot entirely replace the creativity and empathy of human content creators and specialists, such as our team here at Springhill Marketing.

Maximise the Benefits of AI-Generated Content While Adding a Human Touch 

With Google’s new guidelines, it is clear that using AI-generated content won’t earn you a penalty. However, while AI-generated content has its benefits, it doesn’t offer a one-size-fits-all solution. You must not rely solely on AI and automation tools. Instead, you must add a human element to the content creation process to ensure it will resonate with your target audience. Consider the SEO tips discussed above to leverage AI technology while maintaining the quality and humanity of your web content. 

At Springhill Marketing, we provide digital marketing solutions tailored for your business and optimised for today’s ever-changing online landscape. Get in touch with us, and we’ll create a bespoke plan just for you.