AI Content Creation Could Kill Your Business (Google SEO Penalties)
Anyone with a fraction of a brain is now using AI content from software such as chatGPT, Jasper AI, or Perplexity.
It’s saves money, time, and can create a stampede of content for blogs to rank high in the search engines.
Take Joey, as a fictional example.
He’s a 42-year-old blog owner in the weight loss niche. One morning, while drinking filtered coffee from his snazzy glass cup he made the decision to give AI content a try. He flashed out three 1500-word articles within an hour. Simple, fast, and cost-effective. The following week he did it again and published them to his WordPress blog. He fired up his Google search console account and heaven behold; he got the shock of his life. The content was getting traffic and gaining traction in the search engines. That was enough for Joey, who had already been told from friends and associates that AI assisted content works; he was convinced and went all in creating an article each day. He later fired his freelance writer, and booked a trip to Disney land with the money he was going to save. Life was sweet — he was riding the gold crusted content machine that was AI, and everything was fantastic.
Sounds like a plan, doesn’t it?
Money saved, content flashed out like a factory, and Google loving your every move.
What could possibly go wrong?
Well, let’s see.
A few months later, Joey was relaxing on his green cushioned lounger, drinking his favourite beer. The smell of cut grass filled the air as he pulled out his iPhone, opened google and typed in a keyword he was ranking number two for — gone! He checked his spelling, correct, then page two, three — gone! Panic set in, he typed another of his ranking keywords, again, nowhere to be seen. One last check, he typed another keyword he was always ranking number one for in Google. Again, vanished, and this last keyword was for an article he never used AI for.
It didn’t take long for the grey clouds to cover his lawn, the beer to taste sour, and for him to realise what had happened.
Joey and his website had been hit by Google penalties.
His business, website traffic, and reputation had tanked. His sales slowed down drastically over the next week and Joey realised he had made a big mistake by solely relying on AI for content.
Why Google is Punishing Websites For Using AI
Ok, so before you start to panic and delete all your AI content, first take a step back because you might be ok. A recent article on Search Engine Land states clearly that Google will not punish you directly for using AI content, but it will if you produce poor content from using it.
If you simply use the content as it is, then yes, you will be in trouble, and trust me, Google can detect AI-generated writing, and it’s getting better at doing it all the time. Even if you make a few edits here and there, it won’t be enough. You need to almost edit the content fully it produces, so it’s almost 100% unique. You might be thinking, what’s the point, I might as well just write the content myself, and to some extent, you would be right. However, you can still use AI for content but use it to create outlines or templates for business use.
Another thing people don’t realise about AI content is that it’s not always factually correct. So, publishing content without fact checking will also get you a slap from Google.
Google’s aim is to provide the end user with quality results from their searches. When websites are using rehashed and often incorrect content, it will always punish the website.
What Can I Do?
First, remove any content that you have blindly posted from AI. You need to fact check and rewrite it to make it yours. Secondly, you need to consider if it’s worth the risk.
While AI will save you some money on writers, you also need to ask yourself how important your business is to you, and what kind of brand and reputation you are hoping to build with your customers and clients.
Because using AI could be damaging.
While many flock to the AI machines, I believe the smart ones are still using professional writers for their content. Yes, they and you can get ideas, outlines, and suggestions, but that’s all the professionals will ever do with AI.
Think about it, if you want to stand out, stay unique!