AI-Generated Content: Does It Help or Hurt SEO?
Are you wanting to know if AI-generated content will hurt your search engine optimisation (SEO) efforts? When done correctly, AI-generated content can be beneficial, yet there is no simple yes or no answer to your question.
Let's first dig into whether AI-generated content can harm your SEO efforts. The good news is that it shouldn't have a negative impact, as long as it is done responsibly and no done to manipulate search engines. It depends on how you use the AI tools when generating your content, and whether it offers the information you need.
AI-generated content can easily appear to be the solution you are looking for when generating content, saving you time and money. At the same time, it's also important to take how AI-generated content can impact your content marketing on a larger scale.
AI content generators are able to collect information available online, focusing on information that is agreed upon and considered true. It creates content on pre-existing information that is readily available to anyone, meaning it is not unique.
AI-content generators use copycat content. Now imagine the first few pages of Google results all offering identical information, that isn't going to provide your audience with value. As a result, many marketers believe that AI-generated content hurts your SEO efforts.
Of course, let's not forget the convenience of AI-generated content, where you can create more articles in a fraction of the time it would take a human writer.
You are probably concerned your competitors are going to churn out thousands of articles overnight, dominating the rankings in your industry, while your team of human content creators continue to write high quality and engaging content. It's important to bear in mind that if this happens, chances are there is a high risk of duplicate content across the web, that offers little or no value to your audience. This can result in a drop in ranking in search results.
AI-generated content can clash with the existing Webmaster guidelines and search algorithms, though it does depend on how you use the AI content. Webmaster guidelines focus on content quality. This means Google doesn't mind if the content is AI-generated or human written, as long as it provides the user with value.
This means if your AI-generated content is spun content, a black hat SEO technique, it will not have a positive impact on your SEO efforts.
Google has reiterated that when it comes to content, their guidelines have been consistent for years. Content should not be created to manipulate search results.
Of course, this is a major concern for any website owner. If your AI-generated content is unhelpful and designed to manipulate results, then you will be penalised as a result.
In March 2024, Google updated it's Spam and Core update, targeting spam, along with scaled AI content, rather than AI-assisted content.
AI-generated content can speed up your content creation process. It sound's too good to be true, and the reason for this is that it is in the majority of cases. The major downside of this content generation is that it is not unique or original.
It's important to note that AI tools can provide errors and cannot be relied on when checking facts, you will need humans for that.
Should you be using AI-generated content for your SEO efforts? It can be a smart way to boost production, especially if you have limited resources or time constraints. It's important to remember that how you use AI in your content strategy will determine if it is useful or harmful to your strategy. Rather than using AI to replace your writers, use AI to expand the teams capabilities in content production. This is where AI-assisted content comes into play. Do you need help with AI-assisted content? Get in touch with Genie Crawl today to find out more.
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