Will Google Punish AI Content on my Website?

This is a guest post By Corey Hinde of Good Oil Marketing

I’m sure you’ve seen the internet going wild over AI (for example chatGPT) content, as a way to build blog posts etc. to help your website rank higher on Google.

The question I get daily is this…. “Will Google like AI content or punish me and lower my rankings?”

It's a fair question, and one that isn’t as straightforward as you’d think.

Let’s discuss this further, because getting this right will help you a lot, getting it wrong might hinder your progress. 

Remember, Google is like a big library on the internet. When you search for something, it helps you find the right books (websites) that have the information you need.

Imagine if a robot wrote a book. Just like that, artificial intelligence for example chatGPT (AI) can write articles or website content within seconds.  

📌Learn more: What is ChatGPT?

The discussion that pops up though is that Google will detect and punish any AI content. 

We don’t think this is the case. Google doesn’t punish content just because a robot wrote it. By “punish” we mean poor rankings and no web traffic. Google is more concerned about the quality and honesty of the content.

Your content from AI might or might not achieve your goals, it may or may not help your clients / website visitors – but it won’t get penalised simply because it’s from an AI tool. 

As an SEO professional, we’ll often use ChatGPT or similar to create an outline for an article, then we’ll create the rest, polish it up, and get it online.  

We have a cybersecurity client called Sidechain Security whom we create many articles for using this workflow. Google likes the results, the website keeps ranking well, and the content genuinely helps people find out what they need. 

What Makes Google Upset?

• Copycat Content: Imagine if you copied someone else’s homework and claimed it as yours. Google doesn’t like that either. If the robot copies stuff from other places, it’s a no-no.

• Too Many Keywords: Imagine using the same word over and over in a sentence, like “apple, apple, apple.” If the robot does this with keywords, Google gets mad.

• Thinnest of Pancakes: You know how pancakes should be fluffy and filling? Well, content should be too! If the robot’s writing is too short or not helpful, Google isn’t happy.

• Fake Facts: Imagine saying the sky is green. That’s not true, right? If the robot writes things that aren’t true, Google frowns upon it.  Google is huge on trust, if they don’t trust your content, or your personally, you won’t get the results you want on Google. 

• Hiding Things: Just like hiding your veggies is sneaky, hiding text or links is sneaky online. If the robot tries to be sneaky, Google catches it.  Yep, in the old days people would put links in articles and make them invisible!

• Dodgy Friends: If the robot hangs out with bad friends (bad websites), Google might think twice about sharing its work.  Links to and from spammy or crappy websites will harm you.  

• Breaking the Rules: Just like breaking the rules at home can get you into trouble, breaking Google’s rules can get the robot in trouble too.

How to Make Google Happy...

Google likes good, honest, helpful content. It’s like being a good source of information for its customers (people searching). If AI writes in a way that’s friendly and helpful, Google will be happy to recommend its work to people looking for information.  

We’d also recommend you be smart with your approach and don’t rely on AI for content, but use it for idea creation, outline creation, polishing, getting the reading age right etc. 

In summary, Google isn’t as a rule punishing content made by AI. It just wants the robots to follow the same rules as everyone else: be honest, be helpful, and play fair.

📌Learn more: How to get Safe Backlinks