Save yourselves ☠️

Will AI content kill your site?

April 04, 2024

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Hello, AI marketers!

Websites have mysteriously disappeared (deindexed) from Google's search results. 

It's all since March's Core Update, which laid down the law on the mass influx of AI-generated spam flooding the internet.

I’ve analyzed what happened and the best strategies for optimizing your SEO for this new Google update and beyond. 

But first, let’s recap what Google’s March 2024 update set out to achieve in the first place:

  • 40% reduction in low-quality, unoriginal content

  • Targeting unhelpful or poorly designed web pages

  • Addressing ‘scaled content’ created en masse to manipulate search rankings

  • Combating site reputation and expired domain abuse

The early days were brutal, with thousands of websites deindexed:

  • 837 websites completely deindexed (1.7% of the 49,345 sites monitored)

  • 20.7 million monthly organic search visits at risk

  • $446,552 in monthly ad revenue potentially lost (data from Ian Nuttall)

Some sites bounced back in mid to late March, but Reddit and X remain full of disgruntled reports about persistently low traffic.

It’s also left a lingering sense of uncertainty.

Does this mean Google can detect AI-written content at scale?

Will that About page or blog you generated with ChatGPT cost you months, even years, of work?

The AI Debate 🤖

Is AI content the culprit behind this algo massacre? The jury is out. 

One piece of evidence comes from the AI content detection platform Originality.ai, which analyzed 30,614 URLs across 175 deindexed websites. They found:

  • 151 of the 175 sites (86%) had likely published AI content

  • 51 of the 175 sites (30%) were pure AI-generated content sites, with over 95% of their content being AI-generated

This data suggests a strong correlation between using AI-generated content and being negatively affected by the update. 

However, that narrative benefits Originality.ai (they sell AI content detection services). Plus, their tools have been criticized for high false positive rates. 

And while Originality.ai isn’t the only one blaming Google’s cull on AI content, experts have grown skeptical.

For instance, Julia McCoy from Search Engine Journal said: “Let’s get one thing straight: Google is not going after AI content. What Google wants to clean up from its search results is useless, repetitive, unoriginal content, whether it’s written by humans or AI or both.”

Daniel Højris Bæk from SEO.ai concurs: “I think it is important to highlight that identifying with certainty what is AI or not is almost random, even though some companies like Originality.ai are making a business of it.”

I also want to point out that Google is pushing its own LLMs (Gemini). 

Would they really launch a witch hunt against sites publishing AI content without prejudice?? (Detecting AI content is hard enough, detecting which model it was generated with at scale is unthinkable) And at the sacrifice of ad revenue too? 

Probably not.

Instead, AI amplifies spammy content techniques – and that’s why AI content correlates with deindexing (remember: correlation does not equal causation!)

To optimize after this update, we need to look at the evidence and apply some common sense. 

SEO Post March 2024 📈

If you’ve been affected or are worried you might be in the future (as Google might improve on these techniques or double down in the future), start by asking yourself these questions:

  1. Are you cutting too many corners? As Daniel Højris Bæk advises, "In general always play the long game when it comes to SEO. Do not try to cut (too many) corners, but generate valuable, helpful content." Are you relying too heavily on quick-fix tactics or prioritizing genuine value? The risks of exposing yourself compound. 

  2. How do you use AI for content? While scaled AI content may be risky, using AI tools to optimize human-crafted content is almost certainly fair game if your content is flagged as human in AI detectors the majority of the time (Undetectable and Zerogpt are the most reliable tools, in my opinion – open to suggestions though!)

  3. How are you emphasizing E-E-A-T signals? Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) remain crucial in the eyes of Google. Reflect on how you can showcase your authors' credentials, cite reputable sources, and build a strong backlink profile from trusted sites in your industry.

  4. Are you building engagement through communities? Create content that sparks meaningful conversations on social media. Drive more traffic to posts through LinkedIn, X, etc. Get people liking and sharing.

  5. Is your posting strategy consistent? Google might not know that your high-quality articles are drafted with AI. But they will know when you go from publishing a few good content pieces a week or month to hundreds or even thousands of lower-quality ones. Keep your output consistent and realistic.

You probably already know whether your content strategy has become spammy with AI or not.

But if you’ve seen your traffic tank without feeling you’ve done anything wrong, don’t panic – the updates are still rolling out, and we’ll have more objective data in hand within a month or two. 

In the meantime, put your SEO strategy under the microscope and ask yourself the tough questions. 

Join the Essential Community For Marketers

Stay ahead of the curve and join the thousands of marketers shaping the future of marketing with the American Marketing Association. As the largest community-based marketing organization, you’ll find award-winning content, professional certifications (PCM®), industry-leading training events, and vibrant local chapters. Members get access to an abundance of resources, on-demand courses, and the most essential community in marketing.

Here are a few great AI marketing resources and tools I’ve encountered recently. Enjoy!

1. IBM Uses Weird Fish to Represent the Perils of Generative AI

Using AI-generated fish to explain AI hallucinations, missing data, and siloes? What? It took me a few moments to get my head around too. This campaign, “Trust What You Create,” from IBM highlights their new marketing automation tools within Watson and took just two days to produce instead of an estimated 15 without generative AI.

Neil Patel is up again with the marketing hacks. This time, he discusses using TikTok Creator Search Insights, Answer the Public, and Tweet Hunter to find trending topics to post about on social media. You can easily hone in on content from your industry or niche and find key influencers to analyze their strategies. 

Google is busy adding Gemini to its apps. You can now use generative searches to find personalized recommendations. Check your Google My Business descriptions and add keywords that people near you might search to increase your chances of popping up in generative local searches. 

What did you think of today’s email? Loved it? Hated it? Hit reply and tell me why.

Until next Thursday! Happy marketing.

The AI Marketer