As AI tools have flooded the market, with everything from your phone, social media platform and your favourite apps offering their own version, the temptation to have your AI tool of choice generate reams of quick content is greater than ever. But before you lean too heavily on automated pages and articles, here’s a vital update from Google: content primarily created by AI tools, especially when done with minimal human input or originality, is now being flagged as “lowest quality” by Google’s search quality raters.
This news came straight from John Mueller, Google’s Senior Search Analyst, during Search Central Live in Madrid, and it’s already sending ripples through the SEO and content marketing world.
Google making this change isn’t a huge surprise. Search result quality has been noticeably dropping for a while, and we’ve all seen those AI gaffes – such as recommending glue to keep your cheese on a pizza or the suggestion that eating your own nose mucus will give you an immune system boost. Please do not do either of those things.
So what exactly is AI-generated content, how is it being abused, and what do these changes mean for your site’s search engine rankings?
What Is AI-Generated Content – And How Is It Being Abused?
AI-generated content refers to written material produced using generative AI tools (like ChatGPT, Jasper, and others) without meaningful human intervention. Basically – you entered a prompt, hit enter and then copied and pasted the results. While AI can be a fantastic tool for coming up with ideas, structuring, or improving content, problems arise when:
- Content is repackaged from other sources – copied another article into an AI tool and asked for a rewrite
- Articles include “filler” just to pad word counts or make the content seem more substantial
- AI-written articles are published as-is, with no editing, context, or added insight
- Websites become stuffed with shallow content that doesn’t serve the user’s intent – just adding content to boost your SEO or build up the size of the site without your audience getting anything of value.
In short, Google’s raters are now being asked to identify content that looks like it’s there for SEO – not for real people.
What Changes Is Google Making?
In their latest Search Quality Rater Guidelines update, Google has introduced new distinctions around low and lowest quality content:
- Low: Some AI-generated or repurposed content, but with minimal human curation or effort.
- Lowest: Content that is almost entirely automated or paraphrased with no added value.
The update also addresses “filler” – content that looks rich at first glance but adds no genuine value. These could be long intros that don’t deliver real information, or generic blocks of text that hide useful details further down the page. You know exactly the kind of post that means, there are 200 adverts and it takes ages to find the information that you actually need.
Search quality raters are now asked to evaluate how layout, readability, and content hierarchy affect a user’s ability to achieve their goals – meaning good formatting, clarity, and structure now matter more than ever.
How to Use AI Without Getting Penalised
Outside of the ethical questions surrounding stolen content, AI isn’t the enemy – misuse is. Here’s how you can use AI responsibly and still rank well:
- Use AI for inspiration, but write content with your brand voice and audience in mind. For example, ask it for ideas for great articles that suit your industry that would provide value to your audience.
- Edit and enhance – ask your AI tool to check over your text for spelling and grammar errors, and ask it to make suggestions for improvements.
- Prioritise user value – does your content genuinely help, educate, or entertain? Prompt your AI tool to quantify how much value your content gives to readers and ask for ways it can be improved.
- Structure smartly – make useful info easy to find, with clear headings and a logical layout
Think of AI as your co-pilot. You’re the one taking the lead in creating content, AI can assist you, help you with direction and inspiration, but the buck stops with you. In essence, you need to do the bulk of the work – without short cuts.
Worried About a Drop in Rankings? Here’s What to Do
If you’ve relied on AI for blog posts or website content, now is the time to audit your existing content! Identify anything thin, overly generic, or far too similar to content on other websites with little added to it.
Revise and refresh your older website posts and pages, add more context, rewrite the intros, find interesting quotes, and add your own insights and examples. It’s good practice to do this anyway, ensuring that your content always includes the most up to date information.
Monitor your rankings closely, and track your website’s performance using Google Search Console or your SEO dashboard. Check for a drop in traffic or impressions and take action if you have a drop in engagement!
Talk to a professional. Sometimes a second set of eyes (and a skilled content writer!) is exactly what you need. You may want to start with an audit of your website to see where improvements can be made, or if that’s a bit daunting, have them work on some of your blog posts, articles and pages to ensure your copy is using the best practices.
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