What is AI Content?

AI content: Do you really know what it is, how it’s being generated, if it can compete with human-crafted SEO content, and most importantly, if Google will reward it in the long run?

Before you jump on the AI bandwagon, you need the answers to these questions; a website’s future might depend on it.

Let’s get to the truth about AI content for SEO.

AI Content Explained

What do we mean when we say AI content? It’s any form of content, whether that be written words, visuals, videos, or even audio, that has been created, either entirely or in part, by artificial intelligence (AI) tools.

You’ve likely heard of the most popular ones, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Sora, Meta’s Llama, Google’s Gemini, Claude, Midjourney, DALL-E, Adobe Firefly, Leonardo AI, and on and on and on.

So, what makes these tools tick? Under the hood, much of today’s AI content generation relies on technologies like Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Large Language Models (LLMs). Think of NLP as the AI’s ability to read and understand, and the LLM as its ability to then generate content (or probabilistically predict what comes next) based on that understanding.

It’s a data-driven process. The AI is trained on massive datasets of existing content to understand grammar, style, and even different tones of voice.

How AI Content is Generated

AI content generation all starts with something known as prompting. A prompt is basically the instructions we, as users, give to AI.

The more specific, detailed, and well-crafted a prompt is, or how well it’s “engineered,” the better the output is likely to be. Whereas a vague or poorly written prompt will often result in generic or less relevant content.

Garbage in, garbage out has become a common saying to describe this.

At least, that’s the theory. Some argue that as LLMs and AI better understand the nuances and intent behind language and the prompts users use to instruct AI tools, the less important prompt engineering is becoming.

I’d place myself in that camp. Sure, giving clear and sometimes detailed prompts produces better outputs, but in my experience, AI tools have become surprisingly good at reading between the lines, and the act of obsessively perfecting prompts, “prompt engineering,” pays off less than it once did.

(*nudge, nudge* look into chain of thought.)

Something else to wrap your head around: AI models don’t create content from thin air.

The actual generative process involves the AI using learned patterns and probabilities to predict the next sequence of words, pixels, or sound in response to a prompt. You might think of it as a form of pattern completion. The AI analyzes a user’s prompt and then, based on its training, statistically determines what is most likely to follow.

It’s this probabilistic nature that is why the same prompt rarely delivers the same results twice.

AI Content vs. Human Content: A Detailed Comparison

Okay, onto one of the hottest topics floating around right now: how does AI-generated content truly stack up against content created by us, the humans? Let’s break this apart:

Quality and Creativity Differences

Currently, while AI can generate grammatically correct and structurally sound content, it often falls short of producing content that’s truly original, insightful, and emotionally resonant. An argument is being fought over in court as we speak by two giants: OpenAI and The New York Times.

Read more on that here.

As consumers of content, we have a preference for unique perspectives, unheard-of insights, or something that connects with us on an emotional level, like a great song or an inspiring book. This is where the strength of human creators shines. We bring our lived experiences, creativity, and ability to relate to the reader, listener, or viewer on an emotional level.

These elements of human creation are areas that AI struggles to replicate. Sure, while the quality of AI-generated content is undeniably improving, significant human refinement is often required to achieve the depth and creativity consumers appreciate and have learned to expect from human-made content.

Accuracy and Factual Reliability

A significant concern (and rightfully so) with AI content is the issues surrounding “hallucinations”—instances where AI outputs are incorrect or fabricated. Currently, this is one of the biggest downfalls of AI in its current form. 

In OpenAI’s own tests, the company found that its latest model, GPT-4.5, hallucinates 37.1% of the time.

That’s a lot of swaying from the truth.

Why do hallucinations happen at such a frequent rate? Because, as we’ve discussed, in a lot of ways, AI tools are probabilistic slot machines. Simply predicting what comes next means they can inadvertently synthesize misinformation or present plausible-sounding but untrue “facts.”

Of course, human writers are also capable of mistakes. I’ll be the first to put my hand up and say that I’ve made incorrect claims when creating online content. But unlike AI, we possess the capacity for critical evaluation, in-depth research, and the ability to reason and, well, think.

Stylistic Consistency

One area where AI often excels is in maintaining stylistic consistency. It’s so good at it, in fact, that it’s made AI-generated content easy to spot for some people. For instance, AI-generated text has specific words and phrases it consistently uses, as well as a formulaic sentence structure that can be easy to recognize.

In terms of visuals, AI tools like Midjourney or DALL-E have certain quirks that make the images they produce easy for some people to pick out. You might know what I’m talking about: The extra fingers, the weird origami-like pupils, and the muddled text have become hallmarks of AI-generated images.

Granted, these quirks have become less and less obvious or have been completely rectified, but AI-generated images aren’t perfect… yet.

Take the image below, for example. I asked GPT to create an image of me writing this post, and there are a few quirks that I can pick out.

First, the blog post on the back of the laptop is a weird touch. The coffee cup looks misshaped. So do the orchard flowers. The creases on the rolled-up jacket sleeve are strange. The left eye looks misaligned to me. The ring finger on the character’s right hand looks… off. And the scene feels synthetic to me. You can just tell it’s not a real photo.

These aren’t criticisms. They’re just tells that this image is AI-generated.

So, what about humans? Are we stylistically consistent? Yes and no. Developing unique brand voices is a strength of a good writer, something that can be challenging for AI to fully replicate. But we are human after all, and we can be guilty of veering away from a consistent style or voice.

Production Efficiency and Scale

While human creators are busy breaking through writer’s block and brewing liquid motivation in the form of caffeine, AI is always ready to create at scale. AI models can generate large volumes of text, images, and videos at a pace that is impossible for human creators to match.

This ability is particularly appealing for tasks requiring high content output, like for a website’s blog, a social media account, or videos for, say, YouTube.

However, don’t kid yourself, AI content still requires work. You’ll need to dedicate time and effort to find prompts that deliver the best results, thorough editing, and fact-checking. For instance, an AI can quickly generate hundreds of product descriptions, but ensuring they are accurate, engaging, and SEO-friendly still requires human oversight.

Cost Considerations

Perhaps the most attractive thing about AI content generation is the cost-saving potential. The per-word or per-image cost can be significantly lower than hiring human creators, for sure. However, remember to factor in the cost of human editing, fact-checking, and prompting.

A basic cost comparison might show a lower initial outlay for AI. Still, the total cost of producing high-quality, effective content might be comparable or even higher when factoring in human intervention. So, don’t forget: Whether you’re doing it yourself, employing human creators, or using AI tools, creating good content takes time, and time costs money.

Use Case Suitability

Pulling all these considerations together, what’s the value of AI content creation tools for specific SEO tasks? This might include initial drafts for blog posts, creating product descriptions for e-commerce sites, or drafting meta descriptions.

Here’s a graph to help you out:

AI Content and SEO: What You Need to Know

Before you race out and start buying new domains and filling them with AI-generated content, there are a few things you’ll want to keep in mind. Let’s explore these now:

Google’s Stance on AI-Generated Content

Google has flip-flopped on this issue. Initially, they stated they were against AI-generated content and considered it spam. This was highlighted by John Mueller on April 1st of 2022 in one of Google’s SEO office hours.

When asked if Google was able to distinguish between human and AI content, John said, “…if we see that something (content) is automatically generated, then the web spam team can definitely take action on that… but from our recommendation, we still see it as automatically generated content.”

At the time, AI fell within what Google viewed as the same vein as automatically generated content, which was against its spam policies, and it still is to a certain extent. Although since John made this initial statement, Google has shifted its stance, (*cough, cough*) likely because the company now sells AI services of its own.

They have a whole guide on this new stance here, but to give you the gist of it, they essentially claim they’re in the business of ranking high-quality, helpful content no matter how it’s produced.

I’ve highlighted their take below:

There’s nuance here, though, as they go on to state:

So, here’s my advice: If you’re going to be using AI in your content creation process, great! Just don’t abuse it. Why? Many creators have been hit with Google’s wrath because their actions were viewed as spam by Google.

One notable case was Jake Ward. He wanted to test if AI content ranked and if Google would punish him for using AI at scale.

On one site, he set about generating and publishing nearly 70,000 AI articles, bringing in over 330,000 monthly visitors. It was all going swell until he was hit with a manual action, and the traffic tanked to just over 200 monthly visitors.

Now, it remains unclear if Jake was hit with a manual action because Google manually found his content and decided it went against their spam policies, or if they simply saw his posts on X and made an example of him.

I’ll let you decide on that one, but be warned: If you have a site that you’ve been building for years and you genuinely care for it, be careful with using AI at scale. Google might just penalize you for it.

E-E-A-T Considerations

The concept of E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) is something site owners have to take into consideration when signaling to Google that a site’s content is worth ranking, particularly for “Your Money or Your Life” (YMYL) topics.

Like any system, E-E-A-T can be gamed, and many people do so. But I’ll assume you want to stay white hat here and offer some general tips for E-E-A-T and AI.

While an AI can process and regurgitate information, it lacks genuine lived experience, recognized credentials, and the ability to build trust in the same way a human expert can.

For instance, in a medical advice blog post, content solely generated by AI would likely fall short in demonstrating the expertise of a qualified doctor. Similarly, financial advice needs the authoritativeness of a certified financial planner.

In terms of these two examples, amongst other signals, Google would look for authorship by someone who can demonstrate that they have the qualifications and experience to offer its users helpful and safe advice, hence E-E-A-T.

That’s not to say you can’t use AI to produce content that could be considered high-quality and E-E-A-T aligned. Google even states this themselves:

It’s just that there should be human oversight and intervention. So, to improve E-E-A-T for AI-assisted content, human authorship, review, and thorough fact-checking are what I’d recommend.

Helpful Content Update (HCU) Implications

Google claims that HCU was to penalize those sites that weren’t creating content to serve its users, but to manipulate its search algorithms for ranking. Something they’ve dubbed “people-first content.”

I don’t agree with how their algorithms distinguished between sites that were creating people-first content and those that were not. Many sites that were creating great content were mixed up in this update, hit by an algorithmic penalty, and have never recovered, but for the sake of argument, let’s just run with Google’s distinctions here.

Like human content, content primarily created by AI with the sole intention of ranking, without adding significant value or insight beyond what’s already available, is likely to fall outside of Google’s definition of people-first content.

Consider an AI churning out generic “best of” lists based purely on scraping and keyword analysis. This type of content is unlikely to be deemed helpful by Google.

Conversely, if AI is used as a tool to assist a human expert in creating a comprehensive, well-researched, and genuinely informative guide that addresses a specific user need in a unique way, it has a much higher chance of aligning with the Helpful Content Update, and supposedly, Google will reward you for it.

Detection Risks and Mitigation

While AI content detection tools are becoming more sophisticated, their accuracy and reliability are still debated. Currently, no detection method is foolproof, and relying on trying to “fool” these detectors is a risky and unsustainable strategy.

Instead of focusing on evading detection, the best strategy is to prioritize creating AI content that’s high-quality, original, and helpful with significant human oversight. If your content genuinely provides value to users and adheres to Google’s quality guidelines, the method of creation, as Google has stated, becomes less of a concern.

At least that’s the theory. What Google ranks today isn’t necessarily what it’ll rank tomorrow. With every update, the company’s content preferences are constantly shifting.

6 Best Practices for Creating Effective AI Content

Simply hitting “generate” and publishing unedited, zero human oversight AI-generated content is a risk. To get the most out of AI content generation tools and (hopefully) avoid the wraith of Google algorithm updates, here are six best practices to guide you:

1. Human Oversight and Editing Processes

AI-generated content, in its raw form, rarely meets the demands of high-quality SEO content. Human oversight and thorough editing are, in my eyes, non-negotiable. This involves more than just a quick read-through for grammar.

Actionable Steps:

• A skilled writer or SEO specialist should be responsible for reviewing and refining all AI-generated content.
• Ensure the AI’s output is logical, easy to understand, and flows naturally for the reader.
• Adjust the AI’s generated style to align with your brand’s voice and target audience.
• Inject unique perspectives, examples, and deeper analysis that AI often lacks.

2. Strategic Prompt Engineering

Although AI tools are getting better at reading between the lines, the quality of AI content is still generally directly proportional to the quality of the prompts you provide.

Actionable Steps:

• In your prompts, clearly define the topic, target audience, desired tone, format, and key information to include.
• Give the AI background information and the purpose of the content.
• Set word limits, stylistic guidelines, and any specific points to avoid.
• Don’t expect perfection on the first try. Experiment with different prompts and refine them based on the AI’s output.

3. Fact-Checking and Verification

As I mentioned earlier, a third of the time, AI will generate inaccurate information. So, rigorous fact-checking and verification are non-negotiable.

Actionable Steps:

• Cross-reference any data or statements with reliable sources.
• Use AI tools’ search functions to ground the outputs in factual information.
• Pay close attention to factual information that could impact credibility.
• For complex or sensitive topics, have the AI-generated content reviewed by someone with deep expertise, especially for YMYL topics.

4. Personalization and Customization

While AI can generate content quickly, it often lacks the unique insights and connection with your specific audience that human creators possess. Do your readers or viewers a favor, personalize and customize your content to make it land on a human level.

Actionable Steps:

• Ensure the AI-assisted content reflects the brand’s personality and values.
• Personalize the language, examples, and tone to resonate with the target readers.
• Layer in your team’s expertise and original thoughts on the topic.
• Share relevant experiences and successes that demonstrate an author’s knowledge.

5. Hybrid Approaches (Human + AI Collaboration)

Undoubtedly, the most effective way to leverage AI in content creation for SEO is through hybrid approaches that combine the strengths of both AI and human creators.

Actionable Steps:

• Let AI handle the heavy lifting of generating a first pass or structuring content.
• Focus human effort on adding creativity, depth, and strategic insights.
• Use AI to revise and expand on human edits, creating a collaborative workflow.

6. Quality Assurance Workflows

To maintain high standards for all AI-assisted content, put together solid and clear quality assurance workflows.

Actionable Steps:

• Define your standards for AI-generated content, including expectations for human review and editing.
• Develop a list of criteria to evaluate AI-assisted content before publication (e.g., accuracy, clarity, brand voice alignment, SEO optimization).
• Ensure all AI-generated content goes through a designated human reviewer before being published.
• Monitor the performance of AI-assisted content to identify areas for improvement in your prompts and workflows.

FAQs

Can search engines detect AI-generated content?

This is debatable. When asked about that in April of 2022, John Mueller said, “I can’t claim that.” This is likely because there’s no current, publicly confirmed method that can flawlessly identify all AI-written text. Detection tools, both internal to search engines and third-party offerings, have limitations and produce both false positives and false negatives.

Is using AI content against Google’s guidelines?

There was initially strong rhetoric from Google regarding AI-generated content when models like OpenAI’s GPT-3 first emerged, suggesting potential penalties for its use in a way that manipulated search rankings. However, Google’s stance has since changed.

Currently, using AI to generate content is not inherently against Google’s guidelines. What is against their guidelines is using any form of automation, including AI, to produce low-quality, unhelpful content at scale with the primary intention of manipulating search rankings.

How much should I edit AI-generated content?

The amount of editing required for AI-generated content will vary significantly depending on the AI tool used, the complexity of the topic, and the desired level of quality. However, thorough human review and editing are almost always recommended.

For instance, a light edit might suffice for basic content like social media updates. However, for SEO content like blog posts and website copy, a more rigorous editing process is usually necessary to achieve the desired quality, accuracy, and engagement.

Can AI content help with my SEO strategy?

Yes, AI content can be a valuable tool to assist with various aspects of your SEO strategy, but keep in mind to avoid relying on it as a complete replacement for human expertise or SEO tools. That’s because, unlike a specialized keyword research tool like Ahrefs or Semrush, GPT, Gemini, Llama, et al., don’t have access to live data.

Should I disclose when content is AI-generated?

This is primarily an ethical consideration and depends on the context and your audience. There isn’t a strict legal or SEO requirement to disclose AI use in most cases currently. You may wish to, for example, add a brief disclaimer if a piece was heavily AI-assisted but significantly reviewed and edited by a human expert. That’s totally your prerogative, though.

Conclusion and Next Steps

My takeaway for you would be this: Like any tool we use in content creation, AI is just that, a tool.

If you have no ethical dilemmas with it, go right ahead and use it to create content. Many people are, and they’re having great successes with it.

Just don’t abuse it. Google has punished websites in the past for using AI to generate content automatically, and I believe they won’t hesitate to do it again.