When artificial intelligence (AI) first crashed onto the Internet marketing scene, entrepreneurs were thrilled with the new technology and how easy it would be to handle their content creation needs.
But one thing that no one was sure about was how businesses like Amazon and Google would view the content of those using AI. On Kindle, if you are self-publishing, they make you list the extent of your use of AI.
Google seems to be okay with the use of AI assuming the content is high quality, relevant and accurate. But now some things are tightening up when it comes to using AI content, one of which is the Amazon Associates program.
Amazon’s New AI Compliance for Associates
Recently, Amazon published and sent out a notice to all of their affiliates that stated: “Program Content and Special Links should not be used in connection with generative AI.”
That statement alone is not even fully clarified, with some believing it means you can’t have a chatbot recommending products and others believing it means if you used AI to create the content, don’t put your Amazon links in it.
Amazon is not known for being very forthcoming with detailed explanations. They publish their rules and you’re expected to abide by them, even if there’s confusion. People often have their account shut down with no way to appeal – and they’ve closed their forum for affiliates, so you can’t even actively discuss it with company moderators or fellow associates.
Even if you ask AI if that statement means you shouldn’t be using AI for Amazon affiliate content, it agrees that it is “advisable to avoid using AI-generated content directly in your Amazon promotions.”
Now that you’re aware of their disdain for AI-generated content when it comes to affiliate marketing, you need to be proactive in minimizing or eliminating the possibility that your account will be shut down, and I’m going to show you how to do that.
This doesn’t mean you can never use AI for your affiliate business. There’s a great way to use it – even as an Amazon Associate! But first, we have to take corrective measures.
Replace Any Amazon Reviews You’ve Created with AI Immediately
Don’t panic, but don’t waste time fixing what they have announced they won’t tolerate – because this rule went into effect on March 1st, so your account could be jeopardized at any moment.
The unfortunate thing about this situation is that AI has been out and widely used for about a year now (if not longer) so many of you reading this may have an enormous amount of content to sort through.
If you’re unsure of what AI and what you created yourself, simply unpublish this content as you go through it. Return it to a state of draft. You don’t have to delete everything you (or AI) have done.
You just want to be able to deal with it without having it dangling on the Internet waiting for Amazon to find it and take action against you. The corrective measures can be done in three ways.
First, you can simply go through and rewrite each product review from scratch (and I don’t mean rewrite the words of AI with synonyms).
Second, you can replace the AI content with private label rights (PLR) content, which is allowed if you’re in a hurry to get the content back up.
The third method is to put everything in a draft state and one by one, go through and apply the method I teach in the section called “Using AI Without Detection for Amazon Affiliate Reviews.”
Understand Where and How You Can Still Use AI for Amazon Promotions
Amazon has always been persnickety about its rules. You have to have the disclaimer that you’re an affiliate, you can’t put links inside emails or PDF files, etc. So this is kind of the same concept.
You can still use AI to warm up your audience with an email that sends them to your blog for the original written review. AWeber, for example, has no problem with AI – and it even has an AI built into it.
So you could whip up a teaser email and include a link to the blog post so subscribers will go see what the hot, new gadget is that you’re recommending. Then, on your blog, which is 100% uniquely written by you, you’ll have your Amazon links.
Social media works the same. You can create content for Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and elsewhere using AI and drive that traffic to your blog for the review post, which is 100% in compliance with Amazon Associates’ TOS.
In the next section, I’m not only going to show you how you can use AI for your Amazon reviews but also how you can use it on social media accounts and still abide by the rules they’ve set forth.
Using AI Without Detection for Amazon Affiliate Reviews
This is where the strategic compliance comes into play. You never want to try to trick Amazon or bend the rules because they will smack you down hard in an instant and you’ll lose your account.
Instead, play by the rules but still use AI to help you get those reviews off the ground and published faster than if you had to do everything yourself.
When you think about the creation of a review, what all goes into your process? Think of a problem for their niche demographic, and then figure out what solutions (Amazon products) might be a good fit.
Next, consider what the consumer will think is important when shopping for that type of solution (is it price, durability, reviews?). Compare all of the products to see what might be the best option and figure out how to present it as the best one to meet the needs of the consumer.
If you’re publishing it to your blog, then the goal is to have it rank well and convert nicely. If it’s going to be on social media, you need it to be discovered by the right audience.
The content has to be well-crafted and comprehensive if it’s going to be competitive. And if you’re publishing it somewhere on social media where images, video, or audio are used, that requires more steps.
AI can assist you with all of this. As long as your mind is the one doing the final work in creating the content, you’ll be safe. But you have to be careful in how you’re using it for these steps.
Consumer Analysis
Consumer analysis is something AI can easily do for you that Amazon won’t realize. For example, you might go to AI and prompt something like this: “I have a blog where I publish reviews for products for dog owners. Give me 10 problem areas dog owners have where they purchase products from Amazon as a solution.”
AI can tell you to focus on chewing and teething, potty training, leash pulling, anxiety and stress, flea and tick control, grooming, destructive behavior, weight management, joint health, and traveling with pets.
It also tells you what kinds of products they buy on Amazon – like joint pain supplements for dogs, orthopedic beds, dog puzzle feeders, dog brushes and dremels, chew toys and more.
Post Titles
So let’s say you get that list in mere seconds (your consumer analysis is partially complete using AI). Now, you can ask AI: “Brainstorm 10 different titles and slants I can write about on my blog addressing the destructive behavior concept where I can promote Amazon products to address this need.”
Now here’s where you have to be careful. AI is going to instantly deliver your ideas for you with titles. Don’t use their title! For example, they might have: “Taming the Chew Monster: Solutions for Destructive Chewing Habits in Dogs.”
That is a cute title and you’ll be tempted to use it as is. But it is instantly recognizable as AI-generated. Don’t do it unless you want to risk your account. Instead, think of other ways you can title it, such as: “Banish Your Dog’s Destructive Chewing Behavior!”
You really want some ideas for wording (like destructive chewing) and if you spot other random words in the other options, you can use those in a mix-and-match scenario. Words like chaos, calm, combat, etc., can be used in the title – just not in the way they used it.
Review Outline
Next, ask AI to help you outline what should go in the review. Word it like this: “I want the review article to be heavy with valuable tips as well as introduce the most effective product solutions for destructive chewing habits. With the concerns of the consumer in mind, tell me what needs to be in my comprehensive outline to rank this content high in Google SERPs and convert it into sales.”
AI will give you an outline that includes the valuable ideas you can write about plus tell you where to weave in your Amazon product recommendations, like this:
III Tips for Managing Destructive Chewing
A. Provide Ample Exercise and Mental Stimulation
1. Importance of physical and mental exercise for preventing boredom
2. Suggestions for engaging activities like walks, puzzle toys, and interactive games
B. Establish Clear Boundaries and Consistent Training
1. Importance of setting rules and enforcing them consistently
2. Tips for positive reinforcement training and redirecting inappropriate chewing behavior
C. Create a Safe Environment
1. Strategies for puppy-proofing the home and removing tempting objects
2. Importance of providing appropriate chew toys and rotating them regularly
When using AI for outlining purposes, be sure to not use their exact titles – and you might even want to rearrange the order of things as long as it doesn’t mess it up logically.
For example, setting up a puppy-proofed environment can easily come before the sections about creating boundaries and being consistent with training or providing exercise and mental stimulation.
For writing, you’re going to do all of that yourself (initially). So if AI tells you to talk about the “importance of physical and mental exercise for preventing boredom” do it – but don’t say it verbatim, like, “It’s important to provide physical and mental exercise for preventing boredom.”
Instead, word it in your own way, like this: “Dogs are going to get bored. It’s inevitable. To prevent problems with destructive chewing, have a routine in place that stimulates them both physically and emotionally. You want to wear them out so they exhaust their pent-up energy and give them fun things to do so they don’t have to find them.”
That’s easy enough! Let AI guide you so that your content creation process goes quickly, but don’t let it speak for you.
Product Recommendations and Research
Next, you can have AI help with product recommendations and research.
For example, you might prompt it like this: “Give me information that proves puzzle toys are beneficial in helping curb destructive behaviors in dogs.” ChatGPT can tell you about positive association, enrichment, and environment, and other solid details you can share with your readers.
When you Prompt Google’s Gemini with this, it gives you links to articles – which Google loves (resources). You don’t want to link to someone else’s page who is selling products.
Find a resource in the list like an article from the AKC (American Kennel Club) that discusses giving your dog a chew toy in a dog-proofed room whenever you’re out and about and can’t keep an eye on it.
With product research, you can have AI help you warn consumers about what not to buy. For example, prompt it like this: “When it comes to chew toys, what are some products that are not advisable for dogs – those that we should warn them against?”
AI can tell you not to get rawhide chews (and why), small or hard plastic toys, toys with squeakers or eyes that can be swallowed, and so on. You’ll want to include these in your review because it gives you a way to contrast those with the good recommendations you want to give in your review.
Product Features
You can prompt AI like this: “What features should consumers be looking for as a good chew toy to prevent destructive behavior?” AI will give you a list, like durability, and it’ll explain what that means – made from strong, non-toxic material like nylon, being the appropriate size, and it clarifies what that means.
Read it, rearrange it, and write from scratch in your own words. Ask AI if there is anything else you need to consider, too. It will give you more insight, like considering the breed of your animal – a chihuahua is unable to destroy a toy as easily as a pitbull, for example.
Ask AI for Help
After you write your content, you can ask AI to help you in these ways, too: “Review the attached article and suggest anything that needs to be improved, without rewriting it yourself. Just give me advice.”
It might spot something you need to include that you haven’t covered, or something you need to expand on that you briefly glossed over. Then, prompt it like this: “If my goal is to get this article ranked at the top of Google SERPs, what metadata should I use and what other SEO tips should I apply to make that happen?”
You can even have AI come up with a competitive analysis detailing what someone else is doing to rank in those top spots for your keywords and help you plan how to dominate them.
AI for Social Media Posts
Next, you can use AI for your social media posts. Again, don’t use it to create things from scratch. Instead, have it guide you. You might prompt: “What’s a good idea for an infographic I can publish about destructive dog behaviors where it would link back to my review post recommending chew toys? Give me the details for it.”
Don’t have AI create it and then publish it on your social media pointing to Amazon. Instead, listen to its advice. If it gives you a title, alter it to something new. It will tell you things like the type of image to choose (a dog chewing on a shoe), a title (change this), and a list of bullet points to create on the infographic.
Now if you’re linking this image to your blog, then by all means have AI create it in full if you want to. Amazon can’t do anything about that. But don’t link from that image (or video or audio) straight to Amazon.
Video Scripts and Storyboards
AI can give you scripts and storyboard ideas for video content for YouTube or TikTok that you can tweak so that it’s unique and then drive traffic to Amazon. Or, you can use it as is and send them to your blog first, where the content is all your writing.
AI can also help you with social content optimization. Just as it can advise you about SEO (search engine optimization) for your blog post, it can help you get your content discovered on platforms by telling you what hashtags to use, giving you content design advice about things like thumbnails, and even advise you of the time and day to post.
Using Safe PLR in Conjunction with AI for Amazon Promos
Private label rights products don’t have restrictions against it when it comes to Amazon. You can find tons of articles in your niche and even product reviews blatantly promoting something on Amazon.
You can feed this into AI and ask it how to improve upon it, how to make it different from others who have published it as is, how to optimize it, or even how to repurpose it into something new – like a video or image, for example.
One way to use AI for PLR content is to take an ordinary PLR article, like an article titled: “10 Survival Skills You Need for Bugging Out in the Wilderness” and run it through AI and prompt it like this: “Based on this article, tell me what Amazon products my readers would need.”
It can advise you about things for building shelters, fire starting, and so on. Then ask it what consumers need to know before shopping for one, and apply all of that insight to your review while using the PLR intact – but adding in the review elements you write yourself.
Amazon isn’t trying to foil anyone’s goal of earning money as an affiliate. They are trying to protect consumers from AI users who are sloppy and who might not use good oversight in publishing exactly what AI suggests, even though AI admits it can provide misleading, wrong information to consumers.
