Does Google Penalize AI Content? New Data Research

Lately, I've been seeing tons of posts astir zero AI tolerance, astir Google punishing sites for utilizing AI content, etc. 

And I kept wondering: Does Google really penalize AI content? 

According to Google, that’s not the case. And I've ever believed that intuitively. 

But nary 1 knows for sure. A batch of what you perceive is conscionable speculation. 

So I decided to get existent impervious by analyzing 20,000 blog articles, surveying 700+ Semrush users, and interviewing manufacture experts.

The outcome?

AI contented tin wholly fertile connected Google and bring you affirmative results.

But it's not that simple.

We Analyzed 20K Articles and Surveyed 700+ Semrush Users

Here’s what we did to get the data.

#1 SERP information analysis

First, we analyzed real-life SERPs. We selected 20,000 random keywords and pulled the apical 20 Google results for each. 

We past narrowed those down to 20,000 blog articles and utilized GPT Zero to cheque whether the contented was AI-generated oregon human-written.

The result?

Around 8% of the URLs we analyzed were identified arsenic “likely generated by AI.” This percent has been accordant implicit the past year, which aligns with similar manufacture reports.

Source: Originality.ai

While this fig is inactive small, it’s steadily growing.

We past compared the show of AI-generated contented versus human-written contented crossed apical hunt positions. Here are the results: 

While human-written contented somewhat outperforms AI overall, the spread is narrower than you mightiness think. 

For example, 57% of AI contented and 58% of quality contented appeared successful the apical 10.

#2 User survey

Next, we wanted to validate our findings by talking to real-world businesses.

I reached retired to 700+ Semrush users (marketers, concern owners, and SEOs) to larn astir their experiences with utilizing AI for SEO.

And conjecture what?

The bulk recovered that contented created with AI assistance performs either the aforesaid arsenic quality copy, oregon adjacent better.

Only 9% of our users said that AI contented brings them worse SEO results.

That being said, we’re not talking astir purely AI-generated content. 73% of users we surveyed harvester AI tools with quality writing.

#3 Expert insights

Finally, I spoke with manufacture leaders similar Ross Simmonds and Ann Smarty to get their perspectives connected whether AI contented tin vie with quality contented successful Google rankings.

They confirmed our findings. For example, here's what Ann Smarty, Co-Founder of Smarty Marketing, told us:

Using AI is wholly fine—as agelong arsenic it's portion of a thoughtful process. Zero AI tolerance policies often consciousness similar stubbornness to me. AI, erstwhile utilized responsibly, is conscionable different instrumentality to get amended results.

Ann Smarty, Co-Founder of Smarty Marketing

So, Does Google Penalize AI-Written Content?

In short, I don't deliberation so.

Our findings confirmed that contented created with AI assistance can rank, make traffic, and adjacent conversions. 

SERP information shows that portion AI contented mightiness lag slightly, it tin inactive scope apical positions successful search.

This is successful enactment with Google’s authoritative stance: AI transcript isn’t penalized. But low-quality contented is. 

39% of our survey respondents besides assertion to beryllium getting much integrated postulation acknowledgment to utilizing AI. 

This was astir apt achieved due to the fact that their transcript is easier to read, much organized, and much optimized for their people terms.

So what does that mean? Should you ditch quality writers and spell all-in connected AI?

Not really.

It means that, alternatively of worrying astir passing AI contented detector checks, you should absorption connected creating useful, high-quality content.

The champion part? By combining AI with quality input, you tin summation your integrated postulation faster and easier.

This attack helps you automate time-consuming tasks, truthful you tin absorption connected sourcing archetypal accusation and sharing your ideas.

Here's what Ross Simmonds, SEO astatine Foundation Marketing, had to accidental astir it:

I deliberation AI is the equivalent of spell cheque today. It’s thing each creator should see arsenic portion of their toolkit to beryllium much businesslike and effectual astatine prioritizing the areas they request to absorption on.
This ensures their dependable is coming across, their connection is clear, and the communicative they’re telling is captivating and uniquely theirs.
I leverage AI successful antithetic ways implicit the people of the day, but I wouldn’t see the contented I make to beryllium AI-generated. I’d see it augmented with AI, overmuch similar a blog station oregon publication I constitute would beryllium enhanced by spell check.

Ross Simmonds, CEO astatine Foundation Marketing

Can Google observe AI content?

Yes, I judge Google tin observe AI-generated content. 

They’ve precocious introduced SynthID, a exertion by Google DeepMind. It embeds invisible watermarks into AI content, including substance from their Gemini models.

This watermark subtly tweaks connection choices to make a “hidden signature” that’s resilient to tampering. 

That being said, the watermarks mightiness inactive beryllium little reliable if the contented is heavy rewritten oregon translated.

But here’s the thing. When it comes to SEO, Google’s absorption is inactive connected identifying patterns of low-quality oregon overly generic writing. 

The instauration of SynthID shows Google is taking transparency successful automatically generated contented seriously. 

But its superior intent is not straight related to SEO.

At the extremity of the day, whether it’s crafted by AI oregon a person, what matters is the worth your contented brings to the table.

Can AI Content Rank connected Google?

Yes, AI contented tin fertile connected Google. 

While lone 8% of the contented we analyzed successful October was AI-generated, this fig is increasing rapidly.

Originality.ai’s probe shows a important summation successful the percent of websites with AI-detected contented appearing successful the apical ranks implicit the past fewer months.

Source: Originality.ai

Our ain investigation confirmed this trend.

The caveat? While Google doesn’t penalize AI transcript per se, it doesn’t mean it’ll prioritize low-quality and low-value pages. 

The aforesaid rules apply: contented indispensable beryllium adjuvant and adhd worth to readers—whether it’s AI-generated oregon not. 

To guarantee success, absorption connected providing unsocial and archetypal information. Here's however our survey respondents instrumentality this:

These practices enactment Google’s E-E-A-T principles: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.

AI tin past beryllium utilized to alteration these insights into engaging contented that ranks.

REI Co-op is 1 of my favourite examples successful this space. It’s a website selling hiking cogwheel and related items.

What’s truthful peculiar astir it?

Instead of promoting random products successful their articles, they personally effort retired each point earlier recommending it.

REI's employees trial each products successful real-world conditions, including hiking, camping, and different outdoor activities. 

This hands-on acquisition enables them to stock unique, firsthand insights successful their blog posts—value readers can’t find elsewhere.

But does it substance if they usage AI to alteration this archetypal accusation into high-ranking content?

Not really.

Is AI Content Bad for SEO?

The interaction of AI contented connected SEO depends wholly connected 1 thing: the prime of the contented you publish.

Our survey results confirmed that.

For example, 65%of marketers utilizing AI to make contented saw an betterment successful their SEO results successful the past 6 months. 

But what astir the fewer that saw declines successful their hunt motor rankings? And why?

For the 9% of marketers who experienced declines, it turns retired that AI contented wasn’t usually the problem. 

Here’s what they said:

Only 14% pointed to little contented quality.

Most SEO declines were caused by outer factors—not the usage of AI-generated contented itself. At slightest from the constituent of presumption of our users.

However, there’s 1 important happening you should cognize astir AI penning tools: galore platforms don’t person entree to real-life competitory information and supply generic output.

But contented optimization is indispensable for rankings. Here’s what our users bash to heighten their AI copy:

Ross Simmonds sums it up well:

In my opinion, determination is 1 important element: portion AI tin assistance you make content, you should ever person a quality progressive successful the process. It’ll assistance you make thing that really aligns with your hunt intent, meets definite standards of contented excellence, and ensures that the stories you’re telling are genuinely typical of your marque and not exclusively that of the Large Language Model (LLM).

Ross Simmonds, SEO astatine Foundation Marketing

An adjacent amended approach? Combining quality oversight with specialized AI SEO tools. 

For example, ContentShake AI uses Semrush’s SEO information to operation your contented and summation its chances of ranking. 

First, it finds the close people keywords for your taxable and analyzes the search intent and SERPs. 

You tin adjacent make your unsocial marque dependable based connected your penning samples. This volition guarantee that each portion of contented sounds precisely similar you (and not similar a robot).

ContentShake AI besides helps you optimize your drafts.

For example, you tin adhd much contented via the easy-to-use blog exertion and the integrated AI chat.

Then, get your contented scored and optimize it crossed 3 main pillars: SEO, readability, and code of voice.

How to Create Content the Right Way

So, what does it each mean for your strategy? Here are immoderate tips you tin instrumentality close away. 

1. Use AI to Create Better Content

Let AI assistance you prevention time, not regenerate quality specialists and real-life research.

Remember: if you tin usage AI to make content, truthful tin your competitors.

To genuinely differentiate yourself, usage AI arsenic a tool—not a crutch. It tin assistance you:

• Build narratives: Feed AI your ideas oregon data, and fto it assistance you signifier them into a compelling story
• Come up with unsocial angles: AI tin suggest caller perspectives you mightiness not person thought of
• Process ample volumes of information: Use AI to analyse ample volumes of information, specified arsenic survey data, to make industry-leading reports
• Optimize your contented for search: AI tin besides instrumentality attraction of method tasks specified arsenic integrating your people keywords and optimizing your outlines for hunt intent

For example, ContentShake AI tin assistance you representation retired the contented operation that’s much apt to fertile and make archetypal drafts. 

You tin past heighten them with idiosyncratic anecdotes, research, data, statistics, and adept insights.

You tin besides usage AI tools for tasks that are not straight related to contented creation.

For instance, ChatGPT and its alternatives tin analyse large chunks of information and summarize important accusation for your content.

I often usage it to process probe information and get other ideas for my content.

I besides usage specialized AI tools similar Perplexity and Zeno Chat to find real-life examples for my content. For example, if I privation to instrumentality screenshot of tweets oregon Reddit posts:

2. Create Net-New Value Content

AI tools tin present make basal informational contented successful seconds. And hunt engines are getting amended astatine straight answering idiosyncratic queries (think Google’s AI overviews). 

This means that the aged attack of simply recycling existing accusation won't assistance you basal out.

Think astir it: if AI tin compile and summarize accusation from crossed the web, what makes your contented special? 

The reply lies successful adding worth that AI simply can't replicate.

Here's however you tin make contented that genuinely stands out:

• Conduct meaningful research: Run your ain surveys, analyse your interior data, spell connected tract research, arsenic REI’s squad does, oregon harvester existing information successful caller ways.

• Document real-world experiences: Share lawsuit studies astir your customers and your ain work. Talk astir the challenges, adhd circumstantial examples, and stock the results you achieve.

• Build connected adept insights: Don’t conscionable cod random quotes from taxable substance experts. Engage successful existent conversations with manufacture professionals who actively lick problems successful your field. Challenge their assumptions, physique connected their ideas, and other caller insights.

• Create contented that solves circumstantial problems: Don’t constitute different generic how-to article. Instead, analyse circumstantial questions your assemblage asks and tackle them with your content.

Strava’s contented is simply a large illustration of however to bash it right. 

For instance, they analyse anonymized idiosyncratic information to nutrient yearly reports connected planetary fittingness trends.

They besides people lawsuit studies of existent users achieving their fittingness goals, arsenic good arsenic blog posts featuring their real-life experiences.

3. Optimize Your Content 

Technical optimization is inactive very important for SEO—I spot this each clip I people caller content.

Sure, archetypal accusation is essential, but rankings travel definite rules. And portion I privation SEO could springiness america much state and flexibility, that's usually not however it works.

It's not astir stuffing keywords successful oregon conscionable checking boxes, though.

You request to recognize search intent and make a large acquisition for your users.

For example, earlier I outline immoderate content, I excavation done the top-ranking articles for my people keywords. 

I look for patterns successful however they format things, however they operation their content, and truthful on.

This process tin beryllium time-consuming, but tools like ContentShake AI can marque it faster and easier. It analyzes SERPs for you, helping to operation your articles for maximum impact.

Other optimization tactics I often usage include:

• Improving readability and saying much with less words
• Adding visuals to assistance you interruption down analyzable concepts 
• Aligning contented with your audience and their needs

4. Diversify Your Traffic Sources

SEO is not going anywhere. 

But that doesn’t mean you should trust solely connected hunt engines to thrust postulation to your site.

People are present searching for accusation crossed aggregate platforms, similar YouTube, TikTok, Reddit and Instagram. They besides usage AI chatbots to find answers to their questions.

If you privation to enactment ahead, you request to adapt.

Here's what Ross Simmonds says astir it:

From YouTube to Reddit and TikTok to Instagram, the hunt behaviors of our assemblage are nary longer constricted to Google.
For those who privation to hole for it, the champion happening they could bash is to behaviour in-depth channel-specific probe astir their audience, their customers, and their hunt intent associated with much divers channels.
Upon conducting this research, they should beryllium capable to get much clarity into knowing however they tin rank—not conscionable successful Google, but besides successful different channels.
And arsenic a effect of that, they volition beryllium capable to instrumentality generative motor optimization efforts to power the responses that are coming backmost from AI overviews and different LLMs, by simply being successful much places than their competitors.

Ross Simmonds, SEO astatine Foundation Marketing

Look for caller channels and formats to make traffic—newsletters, thought enactment content, product-led lawsuit studies, podcasts, oregon video.

For example, Andy Crestodina, the laminitis of Orbit Media, has been getting astonishing results with his LinkedIn newsletter (over 200k subscribers!). 

And it helps him pull and prosecute caller audiences—despite each the SEO postulation drops we’ve seen this year.

AI Content connected Google: What to Know Moving Forward

The information we discovered tells america thing interesting: Google isn't punishing AI copy. But it does penalize low-quality content.

It's not astir whether you usage AI, it's how you usage it. 

The astir palmy marketers aren't replacing humans with AI. But they besides don’t shy distant from AI tools and don’t get obsessed with AI contented detectors.

What does this mean for you?

Stop worrying astir whether your contented volition beryllium flagged arsenic AI-generated. Focus alternatively connected utilizing AI to make amended content, faster. 

Let AI assistance with operation and research, but marque definite you're adding your unsocial position and archetypal insights that nary 1 tin replicate.

Ready to get started? Try ContentShake AI to make contented that is acceptable to fertile precocious and prosecute your audiences.