Even though AI is fast becoming a major part of content strategies, many marketers are hesitant to fully jump in.
Will it result in generic, low-quality content?
Could it trigger Google penalties and hurt our rankings?
It feels inauthentic.
All of these are valid fears. Fortunately, there have been enough developments and best practices to address and respect these concerns. And that matters more than ever.
When done right, AI can be an incredibly powerful part of a team’s content strategy. As marketers, we can blend the best advantages of AI into our work and still create high quality, authoritative content that stands apart from other pages on the SERP.
In this post, I'll share my best practices for leveraging AI to create valuable, optimized content that both search engines and readers will love.
First, let's address an ugly truth up front: yes, there is off-putting, low-quality AI-generated content out there. We see this in generic, keyword-stuffed blog posts that provide little value to readers.
This, alone, is what detractors see as the biggest threat from AI. Because not only does this type of content fail to engage visitors, it can also trigger Google penalties for being thin and low quality.
But before we say that Google's algorithms are anti-AI, let’s put that myth to bed.
AI-generated content is fine with Google, as long as it doesn't manipulate search rankings or spam. But content marketers are wary about what might be between the lines.
Many AI-generated pages took a hit this past spring and summer, giving SEOs a sense that Google was changing its tune. However, the key part of these updates is that these were thin, unhelpful pages that didn't resonate with readers.
Google Search Central shared this perspective on X.
[Improving our quality means] "showing more content that people find genuinely useful and less content that feels like it was made just to perform well on Search."
So yes, Google’s bots are getting better at identifying and flagging content that doesn't provide original value.
AI-generated content alone won’t earn a penalty. AI can help content creators start brilliantly-crafted, in-depth pieces. No, this is a matter of people getting lazy about using AI, with the result is thin, weak content. It’s important to make that distinction, because you can use AI writing tools, but you still have to put in the work to make sure the final output includes your unique stamp.
How can you use AI safely and effectively for SEO? Think of AI as a junior employee that can help you get 80-90% of the way there, but still requires guidance and oversight. Here are some best practices I recommend:
Use dedicated AI writing tools to generate a solid first draft. Good AI tools (vs. a chat model) can keep a consistent tone across the page, and some like Anyword can even adopt a conversion-focused approach that’s meant for marketing pages. Even if you run an outline instead of a full draft, AI writing tools do a better job of covering the right topics with a strong SEO structure.
At the very minimum, you will need to fact check the article, especially when you are talking about prices, figures, stats, and rules. AI has been known to hallucinate information. Don’t expect to see dramatic errors that will jump off the page. Instead, watch for small inaccuracies like a service that you don’t offer; pricing that has been phased out, or a product you don’t carry.
For industries that have specific regulations that require legal descriptions, it would be worth the investment to use an AI writing tool that lets you store a brand library that can pull those snippets into your text.
Your strategy has to involve personalization. Putting your stamp on every piece is the difference between adding yet another echo of sameness or truly serving your audience. Keeping in mind that AI’s role is to help you scale your content production, it’s time for you to add a unique perspective that sets you apart.
Once you have a solid draft, go into edit mode. Read it through and rephrase things into your own language. Search engines don’t need another version of the same article to battle out for standings. Readers are looking for insights with examples, not just flat out statements. For instance, go ahead and tell them the pros and cons of pet insurance. Just remember that these are likely the same pros and cons they are seeing on another page. Give an example of a vet cost that’s likely to pop up, and compare how much they would pay without insurance.
Your article isn’t read until it has your own opinions, insights, or examples that remind them of the human behind the author’s note.
Share original research, survey results, or case studies that only your brand can provide. Sounds out of reach? Hardly. One way to do this without deep pockets is to run a survey of your customers. You’ll want a large group, of course. What nugget of interest can you dig up and turn into a compelling story? That itself is worth sharing and blending into your content, but it has legs. Ask for reactions and opinions. That’s where you will get some new angles to develop in another round of updated content.
An added benefit is that your data gives you an angle unlike anything your competitors are sharing. One downside of AI is the repetition that pops up from lazy content creation. As businesses trudge through tools with the same plug-in-and-publish habits, everything starts to sound the same.
Having your own data is a shield against sounding exactly like everyone else.
Break up the text with relevant images, infographics, and videos to make your content more engaging.
Depending on your page’s format, this might be essential no matter who (or what) wrote the text. With only a sea of text, it’s hard to stay focused on the screen. These visual breaks can help your readers skim the content.
And though it might seem like a stretch to call these SEO benefits, it’s clear that strong graphics make the page more shareable, and a multi-media approach could keep people on the page longer.
A larger concern over using AI in content creation stems from the potential to create an echo. AI learns from the information that's available. As we continue to "feed" it with the same ideas, we're part of a growing problem. Our new content becomes an echo of what's been said before.
Some content strategists choose to use AI, but not as part for any writing output. Remember that you can still benefit from AI's speed and breadth when it helps you with up-front research. Data-driven ideas and guidance are incredibly valuable parts of a well-constructed content strategy.
I reached out to some top content strategists to get their insights on using AI effectively for SEO. Their responses opened my eyes to ways we can improve our own practices, and they also helped me to firm up some "gut feeling" habits we had put in place from past lessons learned.
AI strategies aren't limited to writing tools. Jessica Martinez, Associate Director of SEO at Mad Fish Digital explains how they use AI up front for keyword research and inspiration.
Along with other strategies, we utilize Ahrefs' AI tool within Keywords Explorer to identify relevant seed keywords for our topics. You can choose from preset prompts such as 'challenges or pain points' and 'emerging trends' to develop comprehensive keyword research. This research then informs our content strategy, which may involve creating new web pages, optimizing existing ones, developing visual assets, and more.
Similarly, Emina Demiri-Watson, Head of Digital Marketing at Vixen Digital, opts to use AI in other aspects of her content strategy.
We can't really know the real extent of the risk since using AI for content creation is relatively new. But there are some ways we've been using it to experiment ethically.
One specific example is using it for audience research. Demiri-Watson continues:
ChatGPT is great at giving you insights that could help you understand your sector better - from helping you develop market research questions to brainstorming useful elements for a persona profile.
While they used AI to help with the initial research, each final piece shines apart from other articles on the same topic. Their best practices keep them from churning out the same stance without adding to a growing knowledge base on a topic.
One underused function of AI in your content strategy is to develop multiple pieces from one valuable source. This is a game changer with people who are tough to pin down, like a CEO or company founder that you connected with on LinkedIn. Industry leaders and experts have rich insights, but the further they are from your content team, the harder it is to tap into their point of view enough times to create multiple pieces.
That’s where AI can be a massive boost in adding variety into your overall content strategy.
If you can nail down an interview, you can use AI tools to build thought leadership content from the transcripts. It’s much easier to start with a conversation on Zoom. Or record yourself giving a demo using Loom. Just remember to record, because either option gives you a downloadable transcript.
Then, turn that transcript into a springboard.
Plug that transcript into one of your AI tools. Now you have a written record to pull from. This makes the most out of your subject matter expert interviews. You can turn it into an article, but you can also ask AI to pull out the strongest quotes and elaborate on them. One small excerpt can grow into an infographics or give you an idea to elaborate on. It might inspire a new video or webinar presentation to add to your content strategy.
A tool like Copy.ai to extract the key insights and themes while maintaining the interviewee's unique voice and perspective.Our video producer used this process to turn a 45-minute interview with our CEO into a video series and a future thought leadership piece on the future of our industry. It took less than half the time it would have taken me to write it from scratch, and it gave us social media-friendly short clips as well as good blog content—all driving engagement on social and ranking for several relevant keywords.
As AI continues to advance, it will only become a more essential tool for SEO content creation. Even Google is heavily investing in AI, with projects like SGE—using AI to deliver more accurate search results. Considering Google’s assertion that AI-generation is not a reason to demote content, we feel confident in trusting AI tools to support your SEO team’s work.
Support is the key here. AI should help with scalability, not as a replacement for people.
The most successful content strategists will be those who can leverage AI to streamline their workflows while maintaining a quality product that serves readers first.
Quality content comes down to respecting your audience. Be truthful and authoritative. Predict their questions and answer them by offering deeper insights. Be more thorough in a topic so that it covers more ground. Add details and examples that help them to understand the concept better. And finally, spark conversation when you share your opinions and point of view.
All of that comes from human insight. It adds up to better content that’s worth reading and sharing.
It’s important to remember that a good content strategy is a cycle. Content ages. Competitors show up. Our existing content needs to be nurtured and optimized, and RivalFlow is a powerful AI tool that can help.It analyzes your content against top competitors and provides actionable insights to improve the copy so it’s more thorough—adding depth and driving search performance.
I use RivalFlow AI to identify gaps and opportunities in my own content, and the results have me coming back. Most page updates consist of adding a few sections and subtopics that RivalFlow AI identified as missing. Usually that’s because a higher-ranking competitor covered those better than I did.
AI is still evolving, but it’s reached a point where—with strong discipline and good practices in place—we can confidently make it a part of our content strategy.
Using AI in SEO might have seemed too risky before, but as it grows, your competitors are jumping in with both feet. You don’t want to get left behind as they establish themselves as the industry SEO powerhouse.
When you leverage AI to streamline multiple steps in your process, you can create high-performing content at a consistent pace. And as long as you insist on strong oversight with a human touch, you can maintain the consistent high quality work you have always had.
I think that Melissa Popp, Content Strategy Director at RicketyRoo, says it best with her advice. “Use AI as an assistant—not your final authority. The best strategies are built from understanding what works for your specific audience, not just relying on a tool to do all the heavy lifting.”
By embracing well-vetted AI tools and keeping a human touch in your work, you can enhance your content strategy without missing any steps on the SERP.
