The use of AI in content creation has increased exponentially over the last couple of years. AI allows content creators to produce more content in less time, automate repetitive tasks, personalize their content, and ensure on-brand consistency. But it wasn’t until February of 2023 that Google finally spoke up about its rules for AI-generated content. We discuss those guidelines in more detail below.
What Are Google’s Guidelines for AI Content?
Google rewards sites with valuable content, no matter how that content was generated. However, if you want your site to rank high in search results and avoid penalties, you need to follow Google’s content creation guidelines. Their three main rules for AI-generated content revolve around transparency, quality, and relevance:
- Transparency—You should always indicate when an AI tool generated your content, especially if users might question how an article or image was created.
- Accuracy and Fact-Checking—Valuable content needs to be accurate, so it is prudent to have your AI content fact-checked and edited by a human prior to publishing.
- Relevance and User Intent—Your content must provide helpful and meaningful information that is relevant to the end user.
How Does Google Rank AI Content?
Google ranks AI content the same way it ranks human-created content. As long as your content contains helpful, reliable information, it will rank higher in Google’s search results. The best way to achieve this goal is to follow Google’s prescribed EEAT methodology: Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.
Google considers three main factors in its ranking system:
- Quality—If the content is well-written, informative, and engaging, it will rank well.
- Engagement—Google analyzes key metrics like click-through rates, bounce rates, and the amount of time spent on a page to determine how users engage with content.
- Relevance—Google also analyzes keyword usage, topic relevance, and semantic understanding to rank content in search results.
Does Google Penalize AI Content?
Google does not penalize content simply because it was generated by artificial intelligence. As long as it meets Google’s standards for written content, AI-written content will not be penalized. However, if Google judges the content to be low-quality and spammy or if it otherwise violates its terms and services, it will be penalized.
Does AI Content Hurt SEO?
Google’s guidelines for AI content do impact search engine rankings and SEO. However, there are several best practices you can implement that will help you avoid violating Google’s policies.
- Keyword Research—Conduct extensive keyword research to ensure that you are using relevant and valuable keywords in your AI content.
- Content Structure—The content structure of AI content needs to follow the same structure as human-written content, with headings, subheadings, etc., for readability and SEO performance.
- Metadata Optimization—You should optimize title tags, meta descriptions, alt text, etc., to accurately reflect the content.
- Backlink Building—The more backlinks you get from other trustworthy websites, the higher your content will rank.
- User Engagement—Encourage your audience to comment, like, and share your content, as this improves SEO performance.
Conclusion
AI-generated content is taking the world by storm, so Google is implementing new guidelines for AI content. These guidelines affect search engine rankings and SEO, so following the tips above is important for your SEO strategies. You must adhere to Google’s guidelines for AI content, or else your site could be penalized.
If you want your website to rank higher in search results, don’t rely entirely on AI. Custom content creation and SEO strategies will drive more traffic and help you reach a wider audience. For expert content marketing services, contact New Wine Digital today.
Images used under creative commons license – commercial use (8/1/2024) Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay