Why Thin AI-Generated Blog Content Does Not Rank Well
Many AI-generated blog posts and articles appear polished at first glance, but they struggle to rank well on search engines. Some may think that Google Search is punishing AI-generated content SEO, but the truth is: users searching online are looking for something helpful, truthful and actionable. Yes, anyone can ask ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, but first-page visibility shows that both users and Google are looking for people-first content.
Is AI-generated content the problem?
Three years ago, using AI-generated content actually rewarded website builders with first-page visibility. But even then, only human-edited AI content reached the top two spots. It's possible that the internet was more saturated with human-edited content three years ago, which was why it was easier to generate quality content.
Now, generative AI is widely used for generating text, which has made the digital space more accessible from website-building (vibe coding, anyone?) to social media, leading to the inevitable: the internet is now filled with AI-generated text.
Without a doubt, AI has made scaling content in terms of quantity easy for people without the expertise to write. But as more and more people turn to generated content, AI-generated blog content is being regurgitated everywhere and by everyone as unoriginal content.
So is AI the problem? Sometimes. The only reason why it is a problem is because people are relying on it more and more, to the point where they diminish their own expertise.
What does Google say?
We snooped around to find that Google Search has released a guidance on AI-generated content SEO as of Feb 2023, sharing 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". This means that thin content SEO and generic articles — written by humans or generated by AI — will both struggle to rank for first-page visibility.
Between users and Google's system, it is pretty evident that the topic of AI content and Google rankings is more nuanced than just "anti-AI". In fact, its system flags repetitive, generic content with little added value and expertise, regardless if human-written or AI-generated.
What kind of text meets the E-E-A-T qualities?
In order to meet the four qualities to make it past SEO content audit, a piece of text isn't just about how it's written and what's being written — but also considering the contexts in which the text is presented.
- Expertise: expertise that comes with theoretical knowledge or certification
- Experience: the experience of having tested and tried possible solutions before sharing findings and using that as a guide to understand what the target audience is looking for
- Authoritativeness: possessing a consistent tone; and having answers that prevent further searching because of clarity, not frustration
- Trustworthiness: the ability to source information and editorial transparency
In short, E-E-A-T qualities are a lot of what is required in building a brand and its audience. You'd trust a certified teacher for their experience with children's development, and therefore would follow their social media to learn about how you can also do the same at home.
The Slash Studios MY takeaway
Having experienced working, writing and wrangling with AI-generated text, we at Slash Studios MY find the content to be nothingburger in terms of knowledge and value. Yes, we have generated text before, but we often find them to be unsatisfactory for our work, especially while editing for content quality.
For us, it's not about the AI-generated content, but that we're taking accountability for every word, voice and experience we've built until today to write and create quality content.
Slash Studios MY is a 360° growth marketing agency, and our work encompasses end-to-end social media management, website and brand building. From the aesthetics to the vibes, Slash Studios MY aims to make sure your marketing hits the right spot, powered by our strategy, storytelling, and strong creative execution.