According to SurveyMonkey, 51% of marketers use AI tools to optimize content, from email campaigns to search engine optimization.
The report highlights that the top two use cases of AI in marketing are content optimization and content creation.
With benefits like speed, consistency, and cost-effectiveness, AI tools are undoubtedly useful.
But can AI fine-tune content for SEO like humans?
Can AI tools effectively perform keyword insertion, match search intent, and create in-depth content that’s genuinely helpful for readers?
Can AI really write SEO-optimized content three times faster than humans, as some online debates suggest?
If it can, what are we sacrificing for faster content creation?
It’s time to take a deep dive into AI’s content generation capabilities—examining its speed, quality, relevance, and creativity.
In this article, we will take a comprehensive approach, discussing the advantages, disadvantages, and best ways to use AI tools for SEO content creation.
What is AI-Generated SEO Content?
When content is created and optimized to rank high on search engines, it is called SEO content.
Using AI tools to generate search engine optimized content for better rankings is known as AI-generated SEO content.
SEO is essential for content to appear at the top of search results when users look for related topics online.
Otherwise, no matter how good the content is, it may get lost in the vast repository of information and fail to reach the intended audience.
For content to be SEO-optimized, it must meet certain key criteria, such as:
In-depth content with real examples, tips, and takeaways
Natural use of targeted keywords
Matches the user’s search intent
Written in a simple, readable format
With the advent of AI in content creation, marketers are using AI tools such as ChatGPT, Jasper, Writesonic, and Copy.ai to generate SEO-optimized content.
These AI tools analyze large amounts of data and use machine learning algorithms to respond to user inputs.
They use Natural Language Processing (NLP) to understand input prompts and generate relevant content.
User-defined parameters such as length, tone, and style, etc., further optimize AI-generated content to meet user needs.
Moreover, AI can assist in SEO activities such as data analysis, keyword research, content auditing, and writing.
Does Google Penalize AI-Generated SEO Content?
Let’s begin the discussion by addressing an important question we often get:
Will AI-generated SEO content negatively impact search rankings?
The short answer is no.
Google’s ranking system is designed to focus on the quality of content rather than how it is produced.
Google rewards original and high-quality content that showcases expertise, experience, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (EEAT).
As long as AI-generated content meets these criteria, it will not negatively impact search rankings.
Danny Sullivan and Chris Nelson from Google’s search quality team advise creators using AI-generated content to produce people-first content that demonstrates EEAT qualities.
Using AI tools as a tool for creating quality content will not result in any penalties.
However, if AI-generated content is created solely to manipulate search rankings, Google will consider it inappropriate and flag it as spam or manipulative content.
7 Benefits of Using AI for Writing SEO Content
“AI tools will help us be more productive, healthier, smarter, and more entertained,” says Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI.
The benefits of AI are limitless, and they continue to evolve with technology.
Now, let’s explore the advantages of using AI for SEO content writing.
1. Speed
Within two months of its launch, ChatGPT reached 100 million monthly active users!
One reason people were curious to explore it was its speed of content creation.
To have a 1,000-word article written within a few minutes was nothing short of a miracle at the time of its launch.
Two years after its launch, speed remains one of the biggest benefits of AI tools like ChatGPT and its successors.
While it would take four to eight hours for a human to write a 1,000-word article on a moderately complex topic, AI tools can do it within a few minutes.
This enables faster content creation and ensures a steady stream of fresh content.
2. Consistent Tone
Every brand or organization has its brand voice and tone that reflect throughout all content.
It may take writers a few weeks to adapt to producing on-brand content.
Even then, they may not always be able to stay consistent with the voice and tone throughout the content.
AI tools offer the advantage of generating consistent content every time.
Once we define the voice and tone of the content we want to create through prompts, AI tools will deliver high-quality, consistent content, regardless of the medium or length.
3. Cost-Effectiveness
AI tools can generate consistent content in less time than human writers.
Therefore, they are more cost-effective and suitable for organizations seeking to produce high volumes of content regularly.
4. Content Repurposing
Content repurposing is an effective way to use content across different platforms by tweaking it to suit each platform’s format.
This will increase the reach of the content.
A 2,500-word blog post on a website’s blog can be repurposed into a 500-word LinkedIn article and a 1,000-word Medium post.
Posting content on multiple platforms enhances its visibility and reach.
However, writers must ensure that the same content is not duplicated across all platforms to avoid plagiarism.
While a human writer may take several hours to repurpose content into different formats, AI tools can accomplish this within minutes.
5. Keyword Suggestions
AI tools can suggest related keywords to include in an article to enhance SEO optimization.
If we input a topic and a focus keyword into AI tools, they will generate related keyword suggestions that can be naturally incorporated into the article.
6. On-Page Optimization
AI tools can optimize meta titles, meta descriptions, and header tags to ensure they attract clicks and drive traffic.
Moreover, they can suggest alt text and image tags optimized with relevant keywords to improve rankings in image searches and enhance overall SEO performance.
7. Content Structuring
When content is organized into relevant sections and subsections, it becomes more readable for users.
Google promotes content with logical structuring that offers a smooth navigation experience.
It also improves crawlability for search engines.
AI tools can provide intelligent recommendations for content structuring, enhancing SEO optimization.
Read this case study to learn how an eCommerce platform used AI for content creation, resulting in a 113% increase in blog output and a 7% rise in overall site traffic.
Limitations of Using AI for Writing SEO Content
AI can speed up content creation, improve consistency, enhance SEO optimization, and provide numerous other benefits.
However, certain limitations make it difficult to use without human moderation.
1. Inaccurate Information
AI models cannot determine whether the data they are trained on is inaccurate, biased, or unreliable.
As a result, they may sometimes provide incorrect information.
Additionally, AI models may make incorrect assumptions, especially if the input prompts are broad—this phenomenon is known as AI hallucination.
Human intervention is required to identify misleading information and ensure data accuracy.
2. Lack of Creativity
Since AI relies on historical data to generate content, it is limited by existing patterns and information.
As a result, it cannot create entirely new ideas.
AI tools cannot replicate human creativity, particularly in terms of emotional depth and intuitive understanding.
While AI can generate a large volume of ideas, it struggles to produce truly original and innovative concepts.
3. Needs Human Intervention
Earlier, we saw that AI tools can generate a 1,000-word article in just a few minutes.
However, they cannot do it alone.
AI requires human input in the form of a prompt that defines the topic, purpose, and format of the content.
Without human guidance, AI tools cannot produce high-quality content.
4. Difficulty Understanding Context
AI may not always grasp the full context of the content it generates.
This is especially true for complex topics, where it may produce irrelevant or overly generic content that fails to meet the intended purpose.
Additionally, AI tools may overlook deeper insights that a human writer would naturally include.
Does AI Write SEO Optimized Content 3x Faster than Humans?
Speed is one of the biggest advantages of AI tools, allowing them to generate content quickly.
If the question is whether AI can create SEO-optimized content three times faster, the answer is yes.
However, there are factors to consider beyond just speed.
Before discussing them, let’s quickly explore how AI achieves this efficiency.
Suppose we need to write a 1,000-word article.
A human writer may spend around two hours on research, another two hours on structuring and writing the article, and an additional hour on editing and proofreading—totaling approximately six hours.
In contrast, AI can generate the article within two to three minutes.
Now, there are certain hidden factors to consider beyond speed.
Creating a high-quality, relevant article requires a well-crafted prompt for the AI model. Human guidance is essential to refine the prompt, which may take around 30 minutes to achieve the desired output.
The initial AI-generated draft often requires significant refinement. Some sections may need rewriting or expansion, adding extra time to the process.
AI sometimes generates inaccurate information, so thorough fact-checking is required. This again calls for human guidance and may take an hour or more to verify accuracy.
Editing AI-generated content is crucial to improve flow and add a human touch before publication. A writer must adjust the tone, provide missing context, and ensure consistency with the brand voice—all of which require a significant time investment.
Considering all these factors, while AI can create SEO-optimized content three times faster, human input is essential to refine, fact-check, and finalize the content before it is ready for publishing.
Does AI Content Meet User Needs?
From the above discussion, we understand that AI can create consistent content quickly but also has certain limitations.
Now, the question arises: does the content created by AI meet user needs?
Let’s look at some factors to find a clear answer.
How AI Helps Users | What AI lacks |
AI provides quick answers within seconds for users’ queries. | AI fails to bring a human touch that shows empathy and understanding. |
AI can create consistent content in the same tone and style. | For complex topics, AI may give generic answers instead of deep and meaningful ones. |
AI can help repurpose content in different formats quickly. | AI does not have critical thinking power, which limits its creativity. |
AI can review old articles and suggest content updates to keep them fresh. | AI may provide incorrect answers by failing to understand the context or assuming information. |
The above points show that AI content can clearly help users.
However, it’s important to have human participation to ensure the accuracy of the content and add a creative touch to it.
Otherwise, low-quality content can hurt the website’s reputation and trustworthiness.
Similarly, misinformation could lead to legal issues if it is serious.
Combining AI and Human Efforts for the Best Outcome
The best way to use AI is by combining it with human intelligence.
When AI and humans work together, limitations can be eliminated, and benefits can be enhanced.
Through teamwork, better content can be created more efficiently.
Where to Use AI
Research: The speed at which AI can scan and summarize information makes it ideal for conducting research. AI can check multiple sources, analyze facts, identify trends, and suggest relevant keywords within minutes. Humans require more time to manually conduct research, so using AI for this purpose can significantly enhance content creation.
Mundane tasks: Tasks like grammar correction can be handled by AI to save time and improve resource efficiency. By automating low-intensity tasks, humans can focus on more complex and strategic work.
Consistent content: AI does not experience fatigue or lose focus like humans, making it ideal for creating content with a consistent tone and format. Whether for checklists or FAQs, AI ensures uniformity in content.
Where Humans Do Better
Creativity: Humans add creativity to content by incorporating personal experiences. This brings originality and emotional connection, making the content resonate with readers.
Editing: Humans enhance AI-generated content by ensuring contextual relevance and cultural appropriateness.
Complex Topics: Creating content for complex topics is an area AI struggles with. Humans can help AI by breaking down the topic and adding clarity to the prompts. For sensitive subjects, humans can bring an empathetic angle, making sure the AI content is appropriate for readers.
How Can Humans Work Better with AI
AI as an Assistant: Instead of viewing AI as a replacement for human writers, use it as an assistant to simplify SEO writing. Always ensure AI-generated content is reviewed by humans.
Stay Updated: AI tools are constantly evolving. Stay informed about trends and learn to use the tools effectively for the best results.
Attune for user needs: Attune the AI content for user needs by adding anecdotes relevant to the context of the article. This will remove the robotic feel of AI content and make it more personalised.
Humans and AI working together can offer several advantages in content creation, such as faster output, higher engagement, and improved SEO optimization.
By using AI as an assistant to human writers, content creation becomes more efficient and accessible.
The Future of AI in SEO Content Writing
AI content writing has vast potential in SEO.
As AI continues to evolve, its impact on SEO is expected to grow.
Here are some future predictions for AI in SEO marketing:
SEO automation: AI tools can fully automate SEO processes such as keyword research, performance optimization, and analytics.
Advanced content generation: As AI models advance, they will be able to produce contextually relevant and tailored content for various human needs.
Personalized content: By tracking user data and preferences, AI can generate personalized SEO content.
Content is king in SEO marketing. While AI offers benefits like speed and consistency, it should be implemented strategically, aligning with SEO best practices.
If your organization is looking to implement AI-powered SEO content writing into your marketing strategy, contact us today!
Global Media Insight is a digital marketing company that offers content marketing and SEO services to businesses worldwide. Our content development services include English copywriting, Arabic copywriting, and blog writing. We have an expert content team that leverages the latest tools to create high-quality and original content. Along with our SEO team, we provide dynamic services to help clients build an impressive online presence.
GMI’s Research Team is a panel of knowledgeable experts from various fields such as digital marketing, social media, and web development, all united by a common goal—to educate. We enjoy exploring everything from the latest industry trends and emerging technologies to people and demographics, both in the UAE and beyond. Through our blog posts, we share valuable insights that help businesses and marketers stay informed and prepared for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
