AI has been the hottest topic since OpenAI released ChatGPT. And why not? It has made many things much easier. From keyword research to professional networking, it offers help in everything.
People are rapidly adopting AI in their workflow to make it more and more efficient and cost-effective. 250 million people were using AI in 2023 and it is expected to grow to 700 million by the end of this decade.
When it comes to SEO, people have mixed thoughts about our future with AI. Some people consider AI as a game-changer. Others classify it as a shortcut to failure. With this much uncertainty, many myths are circulating in the market regarding the use of AI in SEO.
In this article, I am going to bust some of the most common myths we hear about AI-generated content. I will uncover the facts behind the claims and see how AI tools fit into your digital marketing strategies.
13 myths and facts about why AI-generated content doesn’t rank well on Google
When it comes to SEO, using AI can have drastically good and bad effects. It depends on what you use it for and how you use it. Millions of people use AI for search engine optimization, yet there are many myths around this industry.
So, let’s just look at them and see how much truth lies.
1. Myth: Google penalizes all AI content in SERP ranking
After ChatGPT was open for everyone to use, people started to write content with it and upload it on Google. Soon enough, their websites ranked well on Google, and things were going great.
AI can create smart chatbots, which further enhance customer interactions and website engagement. But as the content creation became faster, the amount of data uploaded on Google on a daily basis increased by many folds. Then Google decided to penalize AI-generated content in its March 2024 update. All the AI content was down-ranked.
People thought Google was against AI content and it would penalize all AI content from now on. But the reality is the opposite of that.
Fact: Google does not penalize AI-generated content; rather, it penalizes content that is not useful to the readers. According to Google itself, its crawlers look for E-E-A-T in the content, which is expertise, experience, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.
If they do not find it, they will consider it spam and will not rank it well on SERPs. It is the quality of the content that Google wants, regardless of the production methods. For example, even in the context of emerging trends like nicotine pouches, if the content around them lacks substance or trustworthiness, it will still be penalized.
This myth is busted.
2. Myth: Using AI tools guarantees better SERP performance
While some people think Google penalizes all AI content, others think using AI is the only way to rank on SERP.
Some marketers believe that only using AI tools will automatically improve their search rankings. They see AI as some sort of magic. This is another myth that needs to be busted.
Fact: As I discussed in the previous section, Google requires E-E-A-T in the content. Does AI write quality content? It can, but it does not guarantee that. It has to be you to ensure that in your content before uploading it. You can also use other SEO tools to optimize website content for higher rankings.
So, this myth is also busted.
3. Myth: AI social marketing has no impact on SEO
It is a common thought in the SEO industry that social media marketing does not impact SEO results. People think both of them are different domains and have nothing to do with each other.
Well! Social media does not directly influence SEO rankings, but it does impact them in indirect ways.
Fact: Social media campaigns powered by AI contribute to SEO results. There are AI tools for video creation, template formation, and content scheduling that can enhance your social marketing. AI video summarization tools help create concise, targeted video summaries that align with SEO guidelines and audience preferences.
When these campaigns drive traffic to the website, they indirectly boost your site’s SEO performance.
I cannot say this myth is a total bust, but it is not true for sure.
4. Myth: AI is a threat to professional development networking
Whenever a new technology surfaces, related people always think it’s going to take their jobs. There’s a concern that AI will eliminate the human element from professional networking by taking over social media management. However, AI Developers play a crucial role in creating tools that enhance communication and networking rather than replace the human element.
Fact: AI will not take professional networking. It may take some minor processes involved in it, but not as a whole. Like, AI tools analyze millions of social media accounts to suggest the best person to connect with. Adding to that there are a few advanced social media management tools like Sprout Social, Statusbrew, and Hootsuite that actually support social media professionals by automating their daily repetitive tasks.
Moreover, AI analyzes communication patterns and suggests improvements in tone, language, and delivery. This leads to more effective communication and stronger professional relationships. Hence, social media management tools provide a great help in developing a good network.
The myth is busted again!
5. Myth: AI-generated content isn’t creative enough for digital marketing success
After Google penalized AI content, people started thinking that AI content is not creative enough to rank on SERPs and make their digital marketing a success.
They think that AI can only write generic content that is boring and will not be able to engage an audience.
Fact: Modern AI tools generate highly creative content with proper prompts and guidance. Therefore, they produce unique perspectives, creative angles, and engaging content that is understandable for a targeted audience. In industries such as construction, AI can also assist in creating content related to construction estimating software or software for estimation and costing, offering innovative approaches for contractors to streamline their workflow.
That is why, there is a whole artificial intelligence courses available on using AI, called prompt engineering. You learn how to write in-depth prompts to get creative content out of AI. The bottom line is that AI can generate creative content. It’s your commands that are creative enough to get that done.
This myth too ends in a bust.
6. Myth: AI content always fails E-E-A-T guidelines
We discussed earlier that Google demands E-E-A-T in content to rank it high on SERPs. But can AI write content with that? Many people think AI can’t do that.
That is not the case. AI can do that.
Fact: AI is just a tool that writes for you. It has no experience with anything. It is you who has to describe E-E-A-T and AI will give words to it. If anyone fails E-E-A-T guidelines, it is you.
Because you were supposed to prompt AI in a way that generates E-E-A-T content, especially with the growing role of AI in publishing. AI can definitely give words to your experience.
The myth: AI content always fails E-E-A-T guidelines is busted.
7. Myth: AI can’t personalize content well enough for email marketing
Where some people underestimate AI, some overestimate it. They believe AI-generated email content is enough to personalize email marketing.
AI can create SEO-friendly content, ensuring that emails are optimized for search and engagement. It also writes highly personalized emails using its analyzing power. It can gather insights into customer preferences, past interactions, and buying behavior to write for each individual.
This personalization can grab attention, but it’s not always enough to close a sale.
Fact: Personalized emails are intended to engage readers emotionally. To make that kind of email, the writer has to be emotionally intelligent, which is a completely human trait. AI in marketing does help in providing data to each segment of an audience. But complete personalization requires a human being.
This myth is proved right.
8. Myth: AI can’t be used to create websites
Everybody knows that AI can create websites. However, most people think AI does not create sites good enough to engage users and rank on SERPs.
This was a fact in the early stages of AI development. AI was primarily focused on specific tasks, such as link building, and lacked a broad understanding of complex website design. But now, AI is capable of handling many sophisticated tasks, including website creation.
Fact: The AI development company has enabled AI to effectively create websites, including landing pages, product descriptions, and blog posts. You will have to properly optimize and structure them yourself so they can perform well in search rankings.
This myth is busted.
9. Myth: The role of AI in repurposing content is limited
Modern digital marketing campaigns involve managing multiple platforms at the same time. Content generated for one platform is repurposed and used on other platforms as well. This saves time and keeps the brand voice the same on all the platforms.
Some marketers believe that AI can only rephrase text and AI writing plays a little role in repurposing content.
Fact: AI writing tools cannot only change the wording of content, but it can change the format also. Modern AI tools take a blog post and turn it into a social media post easily. Social media management platforms can also repurpose content like video scripts, podcast scripts, and email newsletters with the help of these tools.
It can also optimize content for each platform. Like, it will add dialogue in the video script, persuasive headlines in an email newsletter, and questions in podcasts.
This myth is definitely busted!
10. Myth: AI can’t replace user-generated content for SEO optimization
User-generated content (UGC) plays a vital role in building trust and enhancing SEO. Some marketers believe AI can fully replace UGC. They think we will not need reviews, testimonials, or community engagement anymore, including messages on WhatsApp.
Fact: We can use AI to generate UGC-like content for us, but it can never have the authenticity and credibility that real customers bring in. Google values genuine feedback from real users, which AI-generated text cannot replicate.
This myth is certainly proven true, and without audience feedback, your content lacks authenticity and trustworthiness.
11. Myth: Generative AI is not going to work for affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is about selling products, but the content written for it should not sound like promotional content. Because people will not read it fully if they get a hint of a sales pitch.
AI content is supposed to be too promotional to make a sale. That’s why many marketers think that AI content cannot work for affiliate marketing.
Fact: As I have explained earlier in this article, the response of AI depends on your prompts. With proper commands, it can create compelling product descriptions, review remarks, or campaign content for affiliate marketing.
Now it is on you to refine the response with the human touch.
Another myth is proven wrong that AI content doesn’t rank well.
12. Myth: AI-generated content can’t be trusted without AI detection
Some people think AI often gets things wrong and makes stuff up. They also believe when AI writes something, it’s just rewording things it has already found online.
That’s why people pass the AI-generated content through multiple AI detectors to screen AI from it.
Fact: The focus should be on the quality of the content, not on the way it has been created. Google itself has stated that they focus on content quality and value, not how it was created.
This myth is completely busted.
13. Myth: AI will replace human writers and SEO experts
This is the most dangerous concern many of us have. People think the way AI is making progress, one day it will take the jobs of human writers and SEO experts, replacing even tasks like the essay finding. But is this really the case?
JotBot improves upon Chat-GPT by adding a sophisticated essay research feature that finds relevant papers and helps writers include them in their writing.
Let’s examine the facts on this.
Fact: An AI expert, Fei-Fei Li, says that “AI won’t replace humans, but humans using AI will.” This line is a complete indication of the fact that AI is a technology that enhances human capabilities rather than replacing them.
In SEO, AI can handle routine tasks like keyword research, on-page optimization, and analyzing search trends. However, creating content that aligns with a brand’s voice and engages readers requires human creativity.
For example, AI tools can suggest trending keywords and optimize metadata. The SEO expert crafts compelling content, develops link-building strategies, and ensures the content adheres to Google’s E-E-A-T guidelines.
So, this myth is definitively busted.
Conclusion
After examining these 13 myths about AI-generated content and SEO, we can say the relationship between AI and SEO is complex. Myths and misconceptions about AI arise because people misunderstand what AI is designed for.
We should not fear AI; because it is the best source to work together. It should not be about who does what better. It should be about using the strengths of both humans and AI to get the best out of our efforts.
Don’t let myths hold you back, take the first step in integrating AI into your SEO efforts now!
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