Since ChatGPT hit the mainstream in 2022, more and more people have relied on AI to write content on their behalf. It’s easy to see why this would be the case, too. After all, pieces of AI software can write content a lot quicker than a trained copywriter at a fraction of the cost. 

However, many people remain sceptical about whether AI content can rank well in search results. After all, SEO is now about a lot more than just keyword inclusion and algorithms are evolving to detect and evaluate the quality of machine-made content.

So, the question remains, does Google penalise AI content? Let’s take a look. 

Does Google Penalise AI Content? Our Answer at a Glance

No, Google does not penalise AI-generated content. However, there’s a big caveat here. This is because AI content only won’t be penalised when it is being ‘used appropriately’. 

Google will penalise AI-generated content when the algorithms determine that it is only being used to manipulate search rankings, rather than offering genuine value to readers and users. This is because this type of content violates the company’s spam policies. 

As a result, if you’re using ChatGPT to generate your content but you’re then editing it and improving it so it suits your users, the content will likely rank well. However, if you’re getting AI to generate SEO-focused content that doesn’t add value for users, Google will likely mark it as spam and you may get a penalty. 

What Does Google Say? 

For its part, Google’s guidelines say that the company rewards ‘high-quality content, however it is produced’. This means that the company will not penalise content purely because it has been written by AI. 

Google says that its ‘ranking systems aim to reward original, high-quality content that demonstrates qualities of what we call E-E-A-T: expertise, experience, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness… Our focus is on the quality of content, rather than how content is produced.’

This means that AI-generated content is not against Google’s guidelines, as long as this content isn’t used to manipulate search rankings. 

Is this True in Practice? 

Although Google says that it doesn’t penalise AI content, the March 2024 Core Update specifically targeted AI content that violated the company’s spam policies. Similarly, we also know that Google uses machine learning algorithms to detect AI-generated text. 

READ: Are AI Content Detectors Accurate?

So, although AI content can rank on Google and bring you some positive results, it’s difficult to achieve good rankings unless your text is genuinely helpful… and AI content usually isn’t, meaning that you still need some level of human input. 

For example, a recent study found that 83% of top Google Search results didn’t include any AI-generated content. This means that human-generated content performs better in the SERPs than AI-generated content. 

Of course, this doesn’t mean that AI-generated content can’t rank well. For example a recent Semrush study found several instances where AI-generated content ranked just as well as human-generated content. 

However, you must remember that if you simply publish AI-generated content without any form of manual review, then you risk severe penalisation. After all, the last spam update saw the mass deindexation of entire websites (many through manual actions) and algorithmic deindexation because the content on these sites was considered to be AI-generated and unhelpful. 

Does Google Penalise AI Content? Final Thoughts

In summary, it’s clear that Google doesn’t penalise content purely because it has been created using AI. However, it’s equally clear that if you create content using AI software that is spammy and purely used to manipulate rankings, then you will be heavily penalised and your site may be deindexed entirely. 

So, what’s the solution? Well, we understand that you may not be able to afford a copywriter, or you simply may not have the time to write the amount of content you require. 

In these instances, it is fine to use AI for content creation. However, you should use this AI copy as a ‘draft’ and ensure that you (or a copywriter) review it and ensure that it’s genuinely useful and hasn’t been purely written for SEO purposes. 

If you review the copy, make suitable changes and ensure the content will resonate with your audience, then it’s fine to publish it – you shouldn’t be penalised.