Like it or not AI is now an integral part of business life.

AI is woven into our software, making spelling and writing suggestions, giving us a personalised Google and LinkedIn experience, and even choosing the Spotify tracks it thinks might make us smile on Tuesday morning.

But what’s the role of AI in producing B2B marketing content? Can it save us hours at the keyboard, or is handing over the creative thinking to a bot a risky strategy?

In this article, we dive into Google’s position on AI-generated content, explain how and why disaster can strike and suggest how appropriate use of AI might bring some benefit.

Nice Idea. Disastrous Outcome.

When Chat GPT became mainstream, a number of business owners had the same exciting idea….

‘Let’s save time and money by getting AI to create large amounts of content for our website. Before we know it, we’ll be at the top of the search rankings for multiple keywords, and the leads will roll in!’

The outcome was a little less exciting.

In fact, for many, it was disastrous.

The best outcome was that the pages created with AI failed to rank. So just a waste of time and resources.

And the worst case was that thousands of websites were manually de-listed by Google and disappeared completely from all search queries.  Oops!

Google's position on AI generated content

If you look at what Google says about AI generated content and its role in search engine optimisation (SEO) it becomes very clear why the strategy didn’t work.

Back in February 2023 Google said
“Appropriate use of AI or automation is not against our guidelines. This means that it is not used to generate content primarily to manipulate search.”
Google Search Central Blog

In other words, if you set out to manipulate the Google search rankings using AI, you will fail. Google has made it clear it will continue to de-list websites and remove low-quality content moving forward.

But what is appropriate use of AI?

Deciding what’s appropriate comes down to something that hasn’t changed since I built my first website 25 years ago.

Follow this simple rule.

Create original, high-quality, people-first content.

“However content is produced, those seeking success in Google Search should be looking to produce original, high-quality, people-first content.”
Google Search Central Blog

Why doesn't AI content tick the box?

A key problem with AI-generated content is that it’s created by a bot that scrapes everything it can find on a subject and then regurgitates a version of that in a summarised form.

It’s clever.

But it’s not original.

This is a fundamental flaw because Google (and your market) are looking for something new. Something unique. Something created by a human brain.

Then Google (and your market) are looking for high-quality. If the bot scrapes the whole online arena and then summarises it – the result will be average at best.

It’s never going to be in the top few percentage points of articles on any given subject online. And therefore in the face of the incredible online competition we see in today’s world… it’s not going to cut it and get a top spot on the search result page.

And finally, there’s people-first.

How does AI fare there?

When I read a piece of AI-generated content, like most people I find it dense and hard to read. If I make it to the end I feel uninspired and underwhelmed. I certainly don’t take lasting memories away with me.

Another fundamental problem.

If your content doesn’t connect with your market and make them excited to absorb the information and act on it, then it’s not going to result in the marketing outcome you are looking for.

AI is an Assistant

At Brilliant Digital, for content creation, we treat AI as a willing assistant who is always available and occasionally useful.

In the B2B marketing space logic, facts and data are important. The biggest help AI gives us is in the research phase.

Give it a detailed brief, and it can quickly come back with useful information that the team can then fact-check and use.

It can also be useful as a filter of a first draft to see if there are any more angles we can take with the content.

However, when it comes to actually writing powerful website content that drives market engagement, ideal traffic, and results in quality leads, an experienced human content writer still has to pound the keys.

And as the online space for all our clients gets more and more competitive, we pride ourselves on constantly improving the content we create so their websites continue to deliver.

Meet the author

I’m Deb Croucher, a former veterinary surgeon with a passion for B2B marketing.

In 2008, I permanently traded my stethoscope for SEO after successfully leveraging Google to power my vet business.

Diagnosis and treatment is still part of my day though!

In Brilliant Digital I identify issues, uncover opportunities and formulate strategies that lead to success and longevity.

You can read more B2B marketing articles here and I love to chat so feel free to, drop me a line!