AI Writing
Does Google Consider AI Content Spam?
Does Google classify AI writing as content spam? Learn the guidelines, potential risks, and best practices to make sure you comply with Google’s standards
Understanding how Google and other search engines see your content is important to maintaining your site’s integrity and authority as a content leader.
So, is AI spam, and does Google consider AI content spam?
Take a closer look at Google’s content guidelines in terms of AI-created content. Then, learn best practices for quality content writing to make sure your content is authentic, unique, and ranks well in search engines.
Google has always focused on providing users with high-quality, relevant information.
They want people to continue using their search engine. So, the closer they tailor their results to what searchers are looking for, the better. Google’s helpful content guidelines follow what it calls E-E-A-T: Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.
First and foremost, Google cares about the quality of the content.
Google’s AI-generated content guidelines refer to their historical approach to mass-produced content:
“about 10 years ago, there were understandable concerns about a rise in mass-produced yet human-generated content. No one would have thought it reasonable for us to declare a ban on all human-generated content in response. Instead, it made more sense to improve our systems to reward quality content, as we did.” — (Google Search's guidance about AI-generated content)
They consider the appropriate use of AI acceptable so long as it complies with Google’s guidelines.
For instance, where routine content production uses helpful automation — like transcripts (such as for content like YouTube videos) — Google already has mechanisms in place that recognize these as helpful automations. They understand how automation, when used properly, is constantly innovating to provide value.
However, AI content specifically made to manipulate search engine rankings does not comply with spam policies and is not permitted.
Read more about how Google penalizes AI spam content in our guide, Can Google Detect and Does it Penalize AI Content?
Finally, Google mentions it looks at AI-crafted text the same way it does any other text by evaluating its E-E-A-T values. So, if you incorporate AI when creating content, review it carefully to see if it exudes expertise, experience, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.
Understandably, companies and organizations looking to leverage AI content don’t want to jeopardize their search engine rankings — so it’s key to understand Google’s AI policies.
AI content must meet the same standards as human content.
Content shouldn’t be spammy (use keyword stuffing) or manipulative (use cloaking). It should improve the user experience by providing meaningful, well-structured, and helpful people-first content.
If AI is used, Google recommends that content creators disclose it so users can manage their expectations. Transparency allows for accountability while showing your responsibility and commitment to ethical writing.
AI spam content includes many of the same telltale clues as spammy human-written content. For example, keyword stuffing. This is where content unnaturally repeats keywords to increase its visibility in the search engine results pages without providing substantial or unique value to the audience.
The resulting text is difficult to read and clearly signals to search engines that the author is trying to game the system. This spammy content often includes information irrelevant to the user’s search, so it reads more like an informational data dump than an informative article.
AI can help and hinder SEO. While it’s true that AI writing can help you create content quickly or that an AI SEO tool can recommend optimization tips to keep material fresh and visitors coming back, when used incorrectly, it can also hurt SEO efforts.
Google is smart enough to detect AI content that’s stuffed with keywords, low quality, or repetitive. While the text “reads” fine on the surface, it lacks the depth and nuance of regular human-written content.
AI content is rising in search results. This means people now see AI spam everywhere, to the point that even the untrained eye can spot it. It’s not engaging, often sounds robotic, and is full of synonyms.
Curious if you have AI content on your website? Try the Originality.ai AI checker or AI website scanner.
If users can’t find what they’re looking for, they leave the site, resulting in high bounce rates that tell the search engine the site isn’t providing users with relevance and value. When this happens often enough, the page’s ranking drops or disappears from search results.
If you plan to use AI content and want to maximize your SEO, you’ll need a two-pronged plan. That means combining AI’s efficiency with human oversight.
AI is great at creating unique ideas and content briefs or outlines. Take a step back and use AI for what it’s best at — crunching data. It’s incredibly efficient for looking at trends and brainstorming topics your audience will love. Then, the writing itself is best left to you, the content creator.
AI simply doesn’t know your audience like you do, and despite all its training, it can’t “learn” the kind of insights you’ve developed from working with that audience.
Those insights are the very things that your audience is looking for and what will help your site rank higher on Google. Finally, after the content is written, human editors can refine and polish the final draft for publishing.
Use a website scanner to identify and highlight instances of AI use. Then, edit for flow, clarity, and readability. Incorporate your unique voice and avoid unnaturally sprinkling in keywords or unusually superfluous vocabulary.
If you decide to use AI for content creation, disclose the use of AI according to your organization’s code of ethics. Being open and transparent about AI as a tool rather than a catch-all writing solution will help you cultivate trust.
Essentially, you’re not writing for a search engine; you’re writing for humans. When you write content that’s interesting, engaging, unique, and relevant, Google notices. Doing so consistently helps build your authority and authenticity.
What else can you do to create the kind of content that Google and other search engines love? Here are a few best practices:
Create a style guide that includes the tone, style, and structure you want your content to follow. The more specific, the better. AI writes according to its countless hours of training. As a human, you’ve developed a style and voice that your audience will seek out.
AI is great at saying very little in a large space. This can make it easier to spot, as it blathers on and on about broad topics with fluff and filler, which is precisely what Google and your site visitors want to avoid. Create content that directly and genuinely answers the user’s questions and addresses their needs.
AI “writes” by quickly choosing what word comes next in the sentence based on the topic and judges this based on the vast amount of data it’s trained on. It’s essentially playing a numbers game that mimics real human writing.
In doing this, it has the tendency to make up facts (called AI hallucinations) and possibly go off on an unrelated tangent.
That’s where natural human language (and fact-checking) comes in. Your anecdotes, examples, stories, and insights give you an edge, while fact-checking content adds validity to your publications. People read your content to hear your observations and experiences.
Take steps to regularly review and revise your content. Even if you wrote something a few months ago, many industries change rapidly. Go back and update old articles with fresh new information that indicates your content is relevant to Google.
Using AI for content creation is a powerful way to enhance your productivity, but only if it’s done right (consider using it for outlines or content briefs — then writing unique people-first content).
Incorporate natural language, focus on relevance (and new research or data to keep articles current), and incorporate your expertise to align content with Google’s high-quality standards.
This kind of balanced approach will, over time, increase your ranking and encourage more users to seek you out for what is ultimately your own touch of originality.
