AI Writing

The Rise of Artificial Intelligence — A Content Marketing Perspective

With the rise of artificial intelligence or the rise of AI, many are still getting to grips with what it can and can’t do for their business. Read a content marketing perspective that covers Google's approach to AI content and best practices.

Generative AI and the rise of artificial intelligence have been a major talking point in almost every industry, and content marketing is no exception.

But whilst generative AI and what the future of AI holds is on the tip of everyone’s tongue, many are still getting to grips with what it can and can’t do for their business.

In this article, let’s discuss the rise of artificial intelligence or the rise of AI, what you need to know, and how to best apply it in marketing and web publishing.

Here are the key takeaways

  • Generative AI can enhance productivity by speeding up brainstorming, quicker research, and more efficient briefing.
  • While AI for content creation does have pros like saving time and costs, it also presents issues, like a lack of originality, depth, and empathy (which high-quality writing contains).
  • Google is (and has been) actively updating guidelines and algorithms to prioritize original, people-first content. This can negatively impact brands that rely too heavily on AI content.

The Rise of AI-Generated Content in Search: The Stats

As you might imagine, AI-generated content has allowed many whose writing was previously not up to scratch to publish high volumes of content online. It also allows those who lack time to quickly generate and publish content.

So, it should be no surprise that the amount of AI content that’s starting to appear in search engine results is continually rising.

In fact, we have undertaken an ongoing study of AI content in Google search results.

  • In March 2024, the study identified that 10.18% of all Google Search results are AI-generated.
  • June 2024 showed that this number increased to 13.95%.
  • Then, in August 2024 (after a slight dip to 12.92% in July), the amount again increased to 13.08%.

Check out the full study to see these figures and track the impact AI is having on search results.

Google’s Approach to AI-Generated Content

Google has been taking major action to try and prevent content publishers from mass-producing AI-generated content instead of well-written human creativity, through a series of helpful content updates that have impacted websites that are too ‘AI heavy.’

Google now even discusses the use of AI-generated content within its guidelines, stating that the ranking system attempts to reward original, high-quality content. Essentially, Google considers AI content spam if it is mass-produced with the particular purpose of manipulating search rankings.

Learn more about Google’s guidelines on AI content.

How to Best Use Generative AI for Marketing

With all that in mind, let’s look at how best to use AI for marketing. These actions will help improve productivity while balancing the innovations of AI with authentic people-first content.

Content brainstorming

The rise of artificial intelligence brings some fantastic opportunities to balance AI and copywriting. It’s a fantastic tool for brainstorming new concepts and content ideas. It can help you dive into subjects in more detail and identify other potential articles your business should cover.

Example: we’re running a blog for small businesses and are keen to come up with some new article ideas. ChatGPT’s WebPilot plugin can be extremely helpful in this instance.

Here’s the prompt: “I’m running a blog that is trying to write content that attracts small businesses. One of our biggest competitors is Forbes. Please can you scan through their blog page and identify 20 potential topics we should be covering on our blog? [Example URL]”

Within a few seconds, there’s a brand new list of content ideas to tailor to our brand!

Fast research

AI for Research is also incredibly quick at helping you learn more about a subject. Let’s take our example from above and say that we are going to start writing the article titled ‘Virtual Credit Cards for Cost Savings’.

A quick prompt in the AI tool, generated a detailed summary of key information.

Here’s the prompt: ‘We’re going to write the Virtual Credit Cards for Cost Savings article. Please can you break down what a virtual credit card is, the pros and cons, some other insights, and anything else you feel would be relevant to know before writing this article?”

Note: AI can produce AI hallucinations, so it’s important to fact-check AI content closely.

Briefing

Another major benefit of generative AI is that it can be incredibly effective for creating content briefs. Briefing articles can be tedious, but ChatGPT reduces that time, allowing you to focus elsewhere instead.

Here’s the prompt: “Please turn this information about virtual credit cards into a highly detailed brief, covering everything our audience and Google would want to see on the subject. Here are the current top-ranking articles on this topic. Please use their structure to help create this brief, as we know that Google wants to see these topics covered. [3 Example URLs]”

Here’s the brand-new brief:

Customer support with FAQ content

Finally, AI is excellent for building a detailed and legitimately helpful FAQ page for your brand. Expanding answers to cover common questions on your website can improve customer experience.

By getting ChatGPT to pull a list of some of the most frequently asked questions related to your brand, you can then answer each of them in detail, offer unique brand-relevant answers, and ensure the customer experience is exceptional.

Final Thoughts

The rise of artificial intelligence is continuing to change workflow across industries. In content marketing, AI has the potential to improve content brainstorming, speed up research, and create briefs efficiently. 

However, it’s important to be mindful that AI content in Google is rising and Google is prioritizing helpful, people-first content. So, write for your audience first and foremost as a best practice.

Interested in learning more? Read about AI-Generated Content Pros and Cons.

FAQs on the Rise of Artificial Intelligence in Content

What is AI-generated content?

AI-generated content could be imagery, text, or videos, all generated by AI algorithms. Tools like ChatGPT use natural language processing to produce content that attempts to mimic how a human might write it.

How can AI-generated content benefit your business?

AI-generated content, when used effectively, can significantly save time, lower costs, and allow you to stick to a rigorous content strategy.

Are there quality concerns with AI-generated content?

Yes. AI-generated content often lacks the depth, originality, and emotional empathy that comes with highly skilled writing. That is why we always suggest using it as a tool rather than as a replacer. To identify instances of AI content across your website that require further review, use the Site Scanner and scan your entire website for AI content in 1 click.

Graeme

My name is Graeme, a passionate writer with a strong Content Marketing background. Over the last seven years, I have developed an extensive portfolio of SEO Content writing, helping various brands improve their organic traffic, customer experience, and, ultimately, profits!

More From The Blog

AI Content Detector & Plagiarism Checker for Marketers and Writers

Use our leading tools to ensure you can hit publish with integrity!