In March of 2024, Google unleashed an algorithm core update that was bound to occur. While some marketers didn’t heed the advice of expert search engine optimization strategists, others were prepared.
In a nutshell, Google recognized that with the invention of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, spammy niche leaders were capable of mass-scaling their sites by prompting AI to churn out hundreds, if not thousands of articles for their blog.
At first, Google claimed there would be no pushback against AI content, provided it was deemed well-written and valuable. But now, they’ve had to clamp down and issue new measures to combat AI-driven sites.
I can’t tell you how many times I have received for “Build Your Entire Site in 30 Minutes with AI” type of offers over the last 6 months. Although I have used AI as a starting point on several occasions, I always rewrite it or add my own content. I have learned to recognize the common phrases and sentence construction that AI puts out by default. I see it everywhere now. It is very disappointing to me that some PLR vendors I previously bought good content from have fallen victim to the temptation to have AI do it for them.
Marketers who sat there and had AI build massive sites with purely AI content are being hit in the SERPs (search engine results pages).
Does this mean you have to stop using AI content?
Not at all!
You do, however, have to know how to correctly use it. This post is going to show you how to meet their strengthened policy and ensure your content is deemed valuable, even while scaling.
The Problem Google Has with Most AI Content
Normally, when a leading niche expert publishes content, it does more than spit out the facts about a topic. Mass-producing tips for your audience like this means any machine could write it, and it lacks the human element that’s important to provide value to the reader.
In many cases, the way most people use AI is to give minimal prompts that say something like: “Write a 500 word article about gardening tips.” While the information may (or may not actually) be factually correct, it’s sterile and lacking any value past encyclopedic advice.
For example, when I asked ChatGPT this very prompt, it replied: “Start with the right soil. Healthy plants start with healthy soil. (Well duh!) Ensure your garden beds are filled with nutrient-rich soil that’s well-draining and loose to encourage root growth.”
Can you see how unhelpful that is? It’s so basic, it’s what a third-grader already knows. A consumer is asking, “Well what does the right soil mean? What is nutrient-rich soil? How do I make sure mine is nutrient-rich? What’s well-draining? How do I do that?”
But before they get those answers, ChatGPT is off to the next mind-blowing tip: water wisely. It tells us proper water is crucial for healthy plants. You think? It tells us to water deeply and infrequently. How do we know how much water? Each plant and zone is unique.
As you can see, this content is worthless. Yet it’s exactly what thousands of marketers are using to flood the Internet. Google wants more – and rightly so. When they send visitors to lackluster content like this, people stop using their search engine, so they take corrective measures.
Google is not banning AI content. Anyone who has tested them knows the AI checkers are a load of rubbish – they don’t work. You can type something in manually right now, and if you’re a good writer, it will fail. Likewise, it often clears AI-generated content mistakenly.
Google’s Ramping Up Existing Measures to Combat Low-Quality AI
Google implemented three new things in their March 2024 update – expired domain abuse, scaled content abuse (which is where AI comes into play), and site reputation abuse.
We’re only focusing on the scaled content abuse. Google specifically states: “This abusive practice is typically focused on creating large amounts of unoriginal content that provides little to no value to users, no matter how it’s created.”
They don’t care if you’re using AI or hiring 20 Fiverr ghostwriters – the effect is the same. And make no mistake – it’s not the scaling that’s the problem. It’s the “little to no value to users” that is!
They state that they are specifically focused on scaled content if the primary purpose is manipulating rankings in search results. A true niche leader publishes quality content to serve their audience.
Google has again referred people to their Helpful Content System they require and now, they’re going to pay attention to the rate at which you’re growing your site and evaluating the content to see if it aligns with this policy.
SEO experts are saying this hit is going to sweep the ‘net similar to how Penguin and Panda upended everything. You want to immediately take corrective measures and fix any rapidly scaled Ai content you’ve used on your blog.
Obviously, this doesn’t affect anyone using AI for lead magnets, email autoresponders, info products or social media posts. It’s only for the optimization of your content for search results.
Some marketers were worried that Google was going to transition to an AI search result, leaving SEO in its wake. But they’re considering putting AI search behind a paywall, which is great news for website owners working on SERP rankings, because most consumers are not going to pay for that – they’ll continue using traditional search results.
Many sites are being completely de-indexed, so stop what you’re doing and fix your content before doing anything else. This is not something to sleep on and fix gradually if you rely on search traffic.
You want to keep checking to see if your site gets de-indexed by going to Google and typing in: site:yourdomain.com to see if your pages are still listed. If they disappear, Google won’t notify you – it’ll just eliminate you from listings.
Your Content Must Exhibit a Deep Level of Knowledge
Google tweaked their existing Helpful Content System, which is founded on the E-E-A-T concept. This stands for Experience, Expertise, Authority and Trustworthiness. Think about those words.
AI typically doesn’t provide any of that. Now, Google has added something on their Search Quality Rater Guidelines that states that even if you inform readers that some of your content uses artificial intelligence and may have errors or be out of date, they’re now considering that the lowest quality justification and describe it as deceptive and untrustworthy.
Most marketers included this disclaimer thinking it was going to be helpful to them as a safety net in the terms of service, but it did the opposite. In fact, ask yourself why you’d be okay putting up wrong or outdated information?
That’s not a good steward of leadership as a niche expert. Google is also paying attention to the speed with which you publish. Did you make 5,000 articles go live in one day?
Well, then they’re going to scrutinize you more heavily – are you prepared? Don’t think if you only used a few AI articles that you’re immune to de-indexing, either. Some people had no more than 8 AI articles and Google manually de-indexed them due to low quality.
How can you change AI content to make it work better for you? What is it that Google is looking for? Let’s dig in – because you’re not going to completely shortcut the content process. It’s your responsibility to ensure it’s viable, and Google is going to hold your feet to the fire.
A Plan of Action for AI Content Use on Your Blog
So, how can you use AI to help you create content for your blog that will meet Google’s criteria?
Think Like A Consumer
First, think like a consumer. If you truly want information and Google offers up a link you click on and it’s obviously low-quality AI content like I showed you before, would you be happy? No.
Therefore, you should show your visitors some respect and publish high-quality content, regardless of whether AI was used to develop it. Let’s start by looking specifically at the difference in how you should be using AI before we get to your part.
Before, we had a very thin prompt about the gardening tips article, didn’t we? You immediately could see information gaps, like the part about the healthy soil – so what you could do after having AI draft the thin content is prompt it like this: “I want to plant a garden and I know I need healthy soil. Give me a detailed, step-by-step tutorial for determining whether or not my soil is healthy, what I’m looking for, how to test it, and what could go wrong if it’s not fixed.”
AI then gives you far more instructions like a visual inspection (telling you what color you’re looking for, what texture, odors, debris, rocks, etc. It says to look for earthworms and insects, etc.
This is way better than “make sure your soil is healthy.” It gives you tons more information. So what else could you do whenever you use AI to fill the gaps with more value-packed detail?
For the snippet above, you could go outside and take a picture of your garden soil – either to show what’s good about it or what’s bad. You could then add a little bit of your own commentary, saying something like, “This is the soil from my backyard garden. Notice it is a rich, dark color. It has an earthy smell, and it crumbles easily in my hands.”
You could also link out to a page that showcased good versus bad soil for more depth. You could embed a YouTube video about it. AI may give you instructions about what could go wrong, like this: “Failure to address soil health issues may result in poor plant growth, reduced crop yields, increased susceptibility to pests and diseases, and degradation of overall soil quality over time.”
So gather images or additional commentary that’s personalized and showcases your expertise and hands-on authority – the kind Google is looking for. For example, using the information above, I might add something like: “My first foray into gardening didn’t go so well. I didn’t check my soil first, and I planted [crop]. Look how dismal the harvest was – all because I didn’t check the soil before planting. [and include an image].”
If you’re not willing to actually guide your audience, and appreciate the process of sharing information with them because you have a passion for it or knowledge about it, then you don’t deserve a top ranking.
Add Your Own Content
You have to add things to your AI content that prove to Google you have the experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness to garner a top spot in the SERPs. Sprinkle these throughout – with personalized commentary, images, links, and more – all showing you are a hands-on participant in the content.
AI is a great tool to ensure you have a well-written piece of content that covers everything comprehensively. But it can’t be you. It can’t reach the visitor the way a human can.
Google looks for human-first content. They want you to conduct a self-assessment. That means you have to use AI for your draft, add your own touches, and then go through the self-auditing phase before hitting publish.
While most people will continue publishing things like: “have healthy soil,” if you go the extra mile to explain what that means, and how to do it (even using AI – they don’t care how it’s produced), you’ll be able to use this tool to your advantage.
Google states that they’re looking for substantial, complete, or comprehensive descriptions of the topic. “Have healthy soil” doesn’t cut it. But when we add the entire additional info about soil checks, it starts to appease the bots.
Google says to ask yourself: Does the content provide insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond the obvious? “Heave healthy soil” doesn’t. But the additional info certainly does!
Learn how to self-audit your content straight from Google here: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/creating-helpful-content#expertise-questions.
Mention Your Expertise
Make sure your site and each blog mention your expertise and experience. This is why it’s so important to choose a niche you have a true interest in, and not just something you think will make you money online.
Most importantly, you need to verify the accuracy of the information. If you’re using AI to create content that you don’t know or understand yourself, that’s a recipe for disaster. They want it to be factual information that’s explained well.
Your readers, according to Google, should “leave feeling they’ve learned enough about a topic to help achieve their goal.” They need to be satisfied, and “heave healthy soil” won’t satisfy anyone.
Corrective Action You Can Take
It’s a shame that so many marketers were misguided in developing mass, low-quality content. But even if you made this mistake yourself, it’s not the end of the world. You can take corrective action to repair the damage.
Unpublish all of the AI content you’ve put on your site and put them in draft mode until you go through and apply the helpful self-analysis to each and every one. Don’t give up on AI! It’s still an amazing tool – and even if you wrote content yourself, you would still have to abide by these new rules. Just slow down and serve your audience the right way.
