The emergence of AI tools such as ChatGPT has scaled content marketing operations for businesses of all sizes.
But should you leverage ChatGPT for SEO?
The answer to this question is still unsure. While ChatGPT can be used to create content at speed, there can be several risks of using it for SEO.
In this blog post, we will talk about the mindful use of ChatGPT in content creation, and why it is advisable to steer clear of using it for SEO purposes. Let’s get started:
Why You Should Avoid ChatGPT for SEO?
ChatGPT generates a response based on prompts given to it. The datasets on which it is trained are limited to information available until 2021, putting it at risk of creating outdated content.
Here are some reasons why shouldn’t rely on ChatGPT for SEO:
- Inaccurate Information: ChatGPT is a large language model that is trained on a massive dataset of text and code. However, this dataset is not always accurate, and as a result, ChatGPT can sometimes generate inaccurate information. This can be a problem for SEO, as search engines like Google penalize websites that contain inaccurate information.
- Duplicate Content: ChatGPT can generate text that is very similar to other text on the web. This is because the dataset that ChatGPT is trained on includes a lot of duplicate content that is already present on search engines. Duplicate content can adversely impact your SEO, as search engines will not rank your website as highly if it contains redundant content.
- Spammy Content: Unfortunately, ChatGPT is not designed to be specific or targeted and thus, it can generate text that is spammy or irrelevant to your target audience. And when it generates content that is not relevant or valuable to your website or audience, it can harm your website’s performance in search engine results.
Search engines like Google prioritize content that is high-quality, relevant, and useful to users. When your content is spammy or irrelevant, it can lead to lower search engine rankings, reduced organic traffic, and decreased visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs).
What’s Google’s Stance on AI Content and Does it Matter?
Google owns the world’s largest text and video search engines. Today where Google has become quite synonymous with the Internet, no brand would risk their years of hard work to generate content using AI without considering Google’s guidelines.
According to Google, AI-generated content is acceptable as long as it adheres to Google’s guidelines and is not used to manipulate search rankings. Google has a long-standing policy of rewarding high-quality content, regardless of whether humans or machines produce it.
In a blog post from February 2023, Google’s Search Liaison, Danny Sullivan, stated that
“AI-generated content is not against our guidelines, but it is important to use it responsibly.”
However, another tweet from Google spokesperson John Mueller states:
“Content Automatically generated with AI writing tools is considered spam, according to the search engine’s webmaster guidelines.”
Also, it is important to note that Google’s stance on AI content is still evolving. As AI technology continues to develop, Google may update its guidelines to address new concerns.
Narrowing Google’s EEAT Logic for SEO Content
EEAT stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. It is a set of criteria that is used by Google to evaluate the quality of content. Content that follows EEAT is considered to be high-quality and reliable by search engines.
- Experience: Content that follows EEAT should be written by someone with experience in the topic. This means that the writer should have personal experience with the topic, or they should have done extensive research on the same.
- Expertise: This means the content should be created by an expert on the topic. The writer should have a deep understanding of the topic and be able to back up their claims with evidence.
- Authoritativeness: The source should be well-respected and have a history of publishing accurate and reliable information. This means content that follows EEAT should be published by a reputable source.
- Trustworthiness: EEAT content is considered to be unbiased and objective. Publishing multiple assets in a row that talk about promotions, particular viewpoints or agendas generally breaks the EEAT rules.
Tips to Leverage ChatGPT for Stellar Content
Given the adoption of ChatGPT by industry giants like Microsoft, Expedia, and Slack, it’s evident that this technology offers a viable means to streamline content creation. If you are looking to save time and costs on your content creation process, then ChatGPT is your potential ally.
Here’s how you can righteously use ChatGPT for content writing purposes:
- Learn to Give Prompts: Prompts are important because they provide ChatGPT with instructions on what to generate. When you provide a specific prompt, it can focus its attention on generating text that is relevant to the prompt. This can help improve the accuracy of the outputs.
- Provide Context: Providing ChatGPT with context about the topic improves its accuracy and relevance in generating content. Let’s say, you are writing a blog post about “how to use social media marketing to increase brand awareness,” you could provide ChatGPT with information about your target audience, your company’s goals, and the specific social media platforms that you want to target.
- Fact-Check the Content: Once ChatGPT has generated content, it is important to verify it with reliable resources. ChatGPT has been trained on datasets that contain information up until 2021. Also, it may not always be able to distinguish between accurate and inaccurate information.
- Use ChatGPT as a Tool: ChatGPT is a powerful tool, but it is not a replacement for human expertise. It is important to use ChatGPT as a tool to generate ideas and brainstorm content. But you need to perform various human checks for accuracy, relevancy, readability, and so on to ensure your content is high-quality and relevant.
Conclusion
AI tools like ChatGPT can be a valuable resource for content creation, but it is important to use them responsibly. While ChatGPT can assist in generating ideas and content, it’s best suited for specific SEO tasks like creating meta titles, descriptions, and keyword lists based on intent.