Is AI-Generated Content Good for SEO?: 300+ Web Strategists Weigh In

AI content SEO” is one of those terms we’ve all Googled at some point since AI became part of our workflow. No doubt it’s great for marketers — it makes us faster — but does it hurt our rankings? To what degree?

We all want to know, but there’s no simple “yes” or “no” answer. However, I’ll joy you with real-life examples of AI content wreaking havoc and when it goes unnoticed by search engine algorithms.

Let’s explore everything you need to know about AI-generated content — including how it performs in search results, its limitations, and tips for leveraging it.

Table of Contents

• Can AI-generated content hurt my search ranking?
• How does AI affect content performance?
• The Limitations of AI-Generated Content for SEO
• 5 Tips for Using AI-Generated Content

Can AI-generated content hurt my search ranking?

At this time, Google has made it clear that AI-generated content will not impact search rankings. As long as your content is helpful, original, and relevant, you have the green light. In other words, Google is less concerned about how you produce content and more concerned with the quality of the content itself.

What are the real results, though?

We did some research on this, and 46% of respondents say AI has helped their pages rank higher. On the flip side, 36% feel AI hasn’t made a difference, and 10% have seen a drop in rankings.

The first category of satisfied respondents employs the E-E-A-T framework because Google loves content that’s:

• Helpful
• Demonstrates expertise
• Published on an authoritative site
• Trustworthy

But here's the rub: AI-generated content may not check all those boxes.

As Josh Blyskal, associate marketing technical manager at HubSpot, aptly points out, “Now, more than ever, the value of content hinges on the authenticity of its creator and the underlying value, meaning, story, and perspective of the content they're creating.”

As the internet becomes flooded with AI-written content, the real hurdle is standing out from the masses.

AI's Influence on User Engagement

Do users actually engage with AI-generated content? That's another million-dollar question. While some are skeptical, others are experimenting to see if it really moves the needle.

I found one interesting case study on this matter. SEOwind ran an experiment by publishing 116 AI-generated articles in just 30 days. That’s what the study proclaimed.

Using their CyborgMethod strategy, they tracked the results and saw impressive outcomes: a 77% increase in clicks and a 124% boost in impressions.

Source

The goal was to see how AI content performs and prove its ability to drive organic traffic. Throughout the experiment, SEOwind focused on topics like SEO, blogging, and AI tools, using AI to create and optimize high-quality content.

But don’t be fooled by the numbers. The study was conducted in 2023. We don’t know how those pieces of content perform to this day. But more importantly, the team carried out a good deal of work besides spitting out AI-generated content.

They did:

• Keyword research and content gap analysis
• Let AI create titles, meta descriptions, and outlines
• Optimized for secondary keywords
• Added quotes, numbers, external and internal links, descriptive alt tags to images, and product descriptions
• Trimmed long sentences (aka edited AI content)

So it doesn’t sound like AI-generated content alone, does it?

Let’s move on.

How does AI affect content performance?

The impact of generative AI on content performance is mixed. 34% say AI boosts performance, 19% see no change, and 6% think it hurts performance.

Moreover, 29% believe AI doesn’t improve ROI but does speed up content creation. Speaking of content creation, it mainly helps with specific parts of it — e.g., brainstorming and certain aspects like coming up with headlines (every writer knows how often we hit a block there).

For instance, a Danish news outlet, TV 2 Fyn, conducted A/B tests to improve CTR using ChatGPT to generate headlines. Over three weeks in late 2022 and early 2023, they ran 46 A/B tests. AI-generated headlines won 46% of the tests, while human-created headlines won 24%.

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The AI-driven headlines led to a 59% increase in CTR, outperforming traditional headline strategies. The results showed that while AI improved performance, refining its suggestions was key, with human input still crucial for optimization.

I heard a similar experience from Edward White, head of growth at Beehiiv. He said:

“A unique trick we’ve implemented is using AI for dynamic A/B testing of blog headlines and meta descriptions. This iterative process has helped us improve click-through rates consistently,” White says.

The impact of generative AI on content performance depends on factors like the content type, the input you provide, the overall quality of the AI content generator, and how well it aligns with audience needs.

And when it comes to content types, some formats will thrive while others might struggle. So, which ones will crush it, and which will fall flat? Let’s see.

Content types that will crush it.

HubSpot study shows that some content types are perfectly positioned to thrive with AI. 45% of people believe educational content — like “How to” guides and step-by-step tutorials — will perform the best, while 37% think review and comparison content will also do well.

So, if you’re creating this kind of content, you’re probably set to see some serious payoffs.

Content types that might stumble.

On the flip side, personal stories (30%) and opinion pieces (28%) are likely to face the biggest challenges. These formats depend heavily on a unique voice and personal touch, which can be tough to keep fresh and relevant with AI.

The takeaway?

Content that offers clear, real value is more likely to succeed, while more subjective, personal content will have a harder time keeping up. Almost impossible to generate with AI, to be honest.

Curious if I used AI to generate this piece? An outright “No.” Just a few times for suggesting alternative wording.

The Limitations of AI-Generated Content for SEO

While AI can speed up the content creation process — which certainly has SEO benefits — it's not a self-driving technology.

For instance, many AI models cannot discern whether the information they collect from the web is correct or not. It may pull information that is inaccurate, unreliable, or even biased. In a similar vein, AI models rely on limited data.

ChatGPT, for example, is limited to data before 2021 (for free users). If you ask it to write an article about, say, “The Top TikTok Stats of 2024,” it will generate an article with outdated data. Google will then prioritize articles with more current information, potentially impacting your search ranking.

Then, there's the issue of duplicate content. Imagine thousands of marketers asking ChatGPT the same question and pasting its response into their content. When Google crawls these pages, it may determine that the content is unoriginal or lacking expertise.

This isn‘t to suggest AI-generated content is inherently bad. In Blyskal’s own words: “If I read an article, liked it, derived value from it, and then discovered that the article was written by AI, would I care? I'm not sure I would.”

However, AI-written content alone may not be enough to compete in search engines. To stand out, you must combine AI with human expertise and perspective.

HubSpot suggests: Beware of spitting out identical content to that ranking in SERPs. Add unique experiences even into tutorials — e.g., describe how your team, clients, or experts do X task. This way, you can add authenticity and helpfulness to your content.

Joel Popoff, CEO at Axwell, shows his experience on the matter of generating product descriptions. Popoff used AI to generate product descriptions for the team’s Axwell Wallet. He notes that the initial results were generic and failed to reflect the outstanding quality and craftsmanship we pride ourselves on.

“To address this, we implemented a hybrid approach — AI generates the initial draft, and our content team refines it to align with our brand's tone. This strategy has cut content creation time by about 30% while preserving authenticity,” says Popoff.

5 Tips for Using AI-Generated Content

1. Be transparent.

“While it may seem counterintuitive, being transparent with your audience about how you use AI is paramount for building trust, especially as we move into an AI-integrated world,” Kimberly Huang, content marketing manager at Litmus, told me.

For example, in Litmus' recent newsletter, the team used generative AI to help create content ideas. They ended the email by sharing, "This email was written using Jasper."

Even adding a simple line of copy that lets your audience know you leverage AI can go a long way in fostering trust.

2. Lean into thought leadership.

It‘s no secret that marketers operate in high-pressure, deadline-driven environments. While it’s tempting to rely on AI for a quick content fix, this approach does little to foster genuine connections around your brand.

This is why Lindsay Tjepkema, CEO and co-founder of Casted, leans into thought leadership.

She told me, “Generative AI may offer a short-term solution, but it‘s not a sustainable means to champion your brand’s story or build genuine customer relationships.”

“Instead, marketers should build their strategies around human-centric, authentic thought leadership content like podcasts, webinars, and video content. Then, amplify that content across all other marketing channels to extend their reach,” she continues.

3. Keep an eye on newly automated processes.

“Tools like ChatGPT are creating opportunities for automating and scaling processes that used to take a lot of time to complete,” Rory Hope, head of content SEO at HubSpot, told me.

“These automations can analyze content and improve insights or produce content with the intention of ranking highly on a search engine,” he adds.

For instance, marketers can leverage tools like HubSpot's Campaign Assistant to generate outlines and first drafts, enabling them to streamline parts of the writing process.

Another area is keyword research. Consider this: Meta doubled its monthly search traffic by using an AI-powered SEO tool to target non-branded keywords. It also conducted website audits — powered by AI — to remedy broken links, missing metadata, and slow page speeds.

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That said, Hope cautions that AI still requires human oversight. He notes, “We should be experimenting with generative AI, but human SEOs should stay in the loop to review the quality of newly automated processes.”

4. Use it for “targeted content.”

I spoke to Peter O'Callaghan, head of marketing at ScrapingBee, and he shared something that caught me off guard at first: “AI is first made for data analysis, not content creation.”

That’s why ScrapingBee primarily uses AI to monitor shifts in search trends, which allows them to quickly pivot their SEO strategy and focus on the most relevant topics. “Instead of just pumping out more content, they’re using AI to focus on the “targeted content” that is gaining traction,” Peter says.

For example, O'Callaghan team explored integrating AI into competitor analysis.

“By scraping competitor blogs and running AI-driven content audits, we’ve identified gaps in their strategies. This allowed us to create highly specific, technical articles that directly answer developer pain points,” he shares.

Antonio Černeli, founder of Peakflow agency, also agrees that AI content can rank nicely when you add a dose of editorial love before posting.

“There’s nothing wrong with AI-written content as long as the human work isn’t completely removed from it. I think the biggest problem with AI content is that marketers try to reduce six hours of work, which includes research, structuring, ideation, and writing, into a 15-minute task. It’s a tempting proposition, but AI just isn’t there yet,” Černeli says.

He also says that a single topic can be covered in 20 different ways. Choosing how you’ll cover it depends on your ICP, your product or service, the state of the market, the content of competing articles, and so on. That part of structuring (which is often overlooked by human writers as well) should stay within the human domain.

Antonio concludes, “You can still do research, writing, and perhaps ideation with AI, but a person HAS to be there to steer the article in the right direction for your brand.”

5. Prune your low-value content.

Userpilot had to prune 847 blog posts, with a great deal of programmatically produced posts (aka AI-generated). They removed low converting, low traffic, and outdated content that didn’t serve value to the audience.

Result? 16% traffic boost and a path to their highest-ever traffic.

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Putting It All Together

To excel in the AI SEO landscape, marketers have to combine the power of AI with human oversight, expertise, and perspective.

Focus on creating valuable content that reflects your expertise and speaks to your audience’s needs. My top takeaway? Use AI to save time and enhance your work, but always add a personal touch to make your content stand out.

By combining smart strategies, editing low-value content, and being open about how you use AI, your brand can build trust, connect with readers, and stay ahead in a fast-changing digital world.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in July 2023 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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