Understanding Google's Stance

Google's stance on AI-generated content is clear: (FROM GOOGLE DIRECTLY): Appropriate use of AI or automation is not against our guidelines [1]. However, it's important that it's used in a way that produces helpful content for the user AND that it's not used primarily to manipulate search rankings - which is against their SPAM policy.

While their answer seems black and white, there are some nuances to unpack. What exactly constitutes "helpful content"? If you're aiming to improve SEO, how do you ensure you avoid triggering Google's spam policy? And what does Google's spam policy encompass in terms of SEO and AI-generated content?



First Off - What is "Helpful Content"?

To me this is the golden rule to follow when doing anything on your website or blog. When in doubt, even if you are looking to improve rankings, SEO etc.... if you write or add content to a site - do it for humans - not to manipulate google's algorithm.  This has been said time and time again, but it's a crucial point to emphasize when discussing AI-generated content.

Google has always said they stand behind rewarding (or helping to increase ranking) original, high-quality content that follows what they call: E-E-A-T.  What is E-E-A-T? This stands for Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.  Think of E-E-A-T anytime you have your SEO hat on and you're producing content and it should keep you on the right path.

Learn more about E-E-A-T from google search console >

Navigating Google's SPAM Policy

Okay this is where you have to pay attention to so you know to avoid Google's penalty box. According to Google, anything that is generated primarily to manipulate search rankings and not for user benefit falls under their SPAM policy. So how do you avoid triggering this? As mentioned earlier, focus on creating content for humans and use AI as a tool to enhance it, rather than relying solely on AI-generated content. This means using human input and judgment in the creation process and ensuring the final product is still high-quality, original, and follows E-E-A-T guidelines.

Breakdown of Google's SPAM Policy Related to SEO and AI/Automation

When considering the use of AI and automation in SEO, it's crucial to understand the specific practices that Google's SPAM policy aims to prevent. Below are key elements:

Scaled Content Abuse

This involves generating extensive quantities of low-quality content, often using automated methods, with the primary intention of manipulating search rankings. Google penalizes sites that flood the web with such content as it generally offers little to no value to users. In the past, believe it or not, Google had the same issue with humans.  Some companies would employ 100's or 1,000's of humans to write an insane amount of low-content articles to just overwhelm and manipulate search results.  The policy they had back then is the same as it is today - low quality will not be rewarded no matter how much you attempt to produce and publish.

Scraped Content

Scraped content is content taken from other websites without adding any unique value or originality. Using AI to scrape and republish content is strongly discouraged as it violates Google's guidelines against duplicate content. Always aim to produce original content or significantly enhance any referenced material with your own insights and expertise. For example, if you cite a statistic from another source, give unique content related to that statistic and be sure to credit where the source came from. Simply copying and pasting other sites content without any uniqueness to it  is a surefire way to get flagged for duplicate content as well as a violation to their spam policies.

Keyword Stuffing

Keyword stuffing refers to overloading a page with keywords or numbers in an attempt to manipulate a site's ranking in Google search results. This practice results in a poor user experience and is flagged by Google’s algorithms. AI should be used to assist in naturally integrating keywords into high-quality content rather than overwhelming the user with repetitive terms. Quick warning - we have found that some AI content systems allow you to put in targeted SEO phrases and it will use them throughout the article / page content. We recommend avoiding this as most AI systems will use it repeatedly or use it in a way where it feels unnature and could be perceived by google as keyword stuffing.

Link Spam

Link spam involves acquiring or creating links in a way that is intended to manipulate a site's ranking. This can be done through automated link-building strategies, which are against Google's policies. Ensuring that any automated methods used for link creation are compliant with providing genuine value to users and establishing credible, relevant backlinks is essential.



Learn more about Google's spam policy>

How to Use AI in Compliance with Google's Guidelines

While there are clear limitations to using AI for SEO, it can still be a valuable tool when used properly. Here are some tips on how to use AI in compliance with Google's guidelines:

• Use AI as a tool to enhance content, not replace human judgment and creativity.
• Focus on creating original, high-quality content that follows E-E-A-T principles.
• Avoid using AI solely for the purpose of manipulating search rankings or generating low-quality content at scale.
• Utilize AI to assist in keyword research and integration while ensuring it is done naturally and does not result in keyword stuffing.
• Utilize Ai to help with expanding content, idea generation, or data analysis. But be sure to have human oversight in the final product still.
• Stay up to date on Google's guidelines and policies and adapt your AI strategies accordingly.

What about using AI Detectors?

Well, in our experience AI detectors can't keep up with the advancement of AI content generators. In fact, there was an early AI detector developer that spoke about the issue with new versions of tools like ChatGPT and how their systems were confusing human and AI content - essentially giving false results. Matter of fact, below we took the content directly from Google Search Console from their starter guide, and that is showing that it's over 70% AI written.  Was it?  Who knows?!  But, to the point of their guidelines - does it matter?  If AI was not approved to use then this would be a different conversation as it could violate their policies - but that's not the case.  Running AI scanners, in my opinion, is a waste of time - given that allows AI content.  What could be more helpful, is running plagiarism tests - this way you can make sure that if some of the content you created is indeed unique or if it needs to be re-written.

(by the way, I've had my actual written content show i had plagiarized some content online - so they aren't perfect. And, in a weird way, i'm sure AI will scrape this content a million times over and use parts of it throughout 100's of 1,000's of articles - i guess that will impact issues with my content in the future - as it might think i'm plagiarizing myself lol.)

AI is here to stay, but use it wisely!

While we're hopefully decades away from the Terminator scenario,  AI is already an integral part of our daily lives and will continue to shape industries such as SEO.  Just like in the past when humans spammed low quality content, Google simply has stayed consistent in that all content is welcome that is helpful an useful, as long as it doesn't violate their spam policies.  When humans started scaling low quality content - they didn't ban humans :) The same goes for AI and automation in SEO. As long as we focus on creating valuable, original content for users and use AI as a tool to enhance it, we can continue to work alongside Google's guidelines and provide the best possible experience for our audience.

Also, it's important to note that I'm a Gen X myself and a bit old school - like, why are all the kids just staring at their phones? I believe 100% human only content can not compete today - it's just not possible with the speed AI is evolving at.  I believe the winners in terms of those who have their websites rewarded, will be those who learn how to leverage AI effectively and efficiently - but still have a human touch and oversight in the final product. That's the win and that's where the advantage is - essentially the cyborg approach.  So, don't fit it (as Gen Xer's we fight everything) - and welcome it as a helpful tool and hang on for the ride - if you think things are advancing fast today - just wait 5 years.

Reference:

[1] Reference: Google Search’s guidance from their blog published in February 2023

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