Machines don’t build relationships.

In the world of websites and search, we’re dealing with two audiences.

Humans – the ones who actually buy your products and services. And bots – the search engines that help those humans find you online.

Of the two, the human audience matters most.

Two reasons.

Firstly, and obviously, because humans make the buying decisions.

And secondly, because human behaviour plays a big role in how the bots rank your site. If real people don’t like your website, search engines won’t either.

Going back to basics – what makes someone like your website and choose your business?

A bit like location, location, location in the property game, in this case, it’s relationship, relationship, relationship.

A few more words to add some flavour might be trust, integrity and a solid track record. A belief that you’ll do what you said you’d do – over and over again.

It’s been shown time and time again that machine-generated (AI) text doesn’t build relationships.

AI text fails on two counts. Firstly, the website doesn’t convert to sales. And secondly, it bombs in search because bots don’t rank it.

Sidebar: To see a few famous examples, you can Google any of these

Hundreds of Websites Delisted by Google for AI-Generated Content
CNET’s AI-Generated Articles Contained Errors and Plagiarism
Willy Wonka Experience in Glasgow Misled Customers with AI-Generated Ads

Why does AI fail to build relationships with your customers?

So why doesn’t AI-generated content build relationships with your customers?

It comes back to the fact that an AI bot is not a human being. It’s an emotionless machine.

It doesn’t understand your business values and principles. It doesn’t feel emotion or have empathy for your clients’ daily challenges. It doesn’t care if your message converts to sales or if your brand connects with the customers you serve.

Yes, it’s a powerful tool that can generate words at lightning speed. But it’s not a replacement for human insight, empathy or emotional connection.

Your clients buy from people

Your clients buy from people they know, like, and trust. They don’t buy from robots and definitely not from machine generated content.

They appreciate real humans who understand them, who value and nurture the relationship, and deliver on promise.

When your biggest client is making a buying decision – especially for a service that matters – they’re asking themselves one big question:

“Can I trust this business to deliver?”

Their trust in you is built through tone, empathy, storytelling, reputation, and proof of results. It’s not just what you say, but how you say it – and whether those words line up with your business as a whole and how you operate day to day.

Your best clients don’t choose you because you post 10 blogs or social media videos each week.

They work with you because your message connects with them on an emotional level. Because your story complements theirs.

Because your brand feels consistent, credible, and ultimately real.

These are things no AI can fake. And it’s why human-led branding and communication still matter in 2025 and will continue to matter as we march forward into an ever more automated world.

Use AI - don’t let it use you

AI is a powerful tool – its research speed and convergent thinking skills still astound me on a daily basis. And it gets better and better with each passing week.

But at the end of the day, it’s still just a tool.

It can take some of the grunt work off your plate. But it’s not a substitute for experience, empathy, or brand clarity. If you hand over control of your marketing content completely, you risk losing the very thing that sets your business apart – highly effective humans.

My advice is to use AI wisely. Learn how to prompt it at every step so it can help you shape your strategy and content. Let it do deep research and offer structuring advice. Ask it to check your work for errors.

In short, use it to support your voice, not take over the microphone.

Because when humans stay centre stage, that’s when real, lasting connection happens.