AI is amazing. AI copy generators can write up a paper in a matter of seconds. So, it can be a magical time-saving tool to write up all your copy and watch your web traffic explode, right? Well, not exactly. Sure, Chat GPT can help you craft a grocery list, give you a cursory overview of complex topics, or create an outline for your blog post, but relying on Chat GPT for all of your content creation is going to bite you in the ass, here’s why:
What AI Can’t Do: Rank As High on Google
If there is just one reason not to use AI to generate your web content, let this be it. While AI can write you a piece of content quickly, it lacks the expertise, experience, authority, and trustworthiness (a.k.a. E.E.A.T) to rank on SERPs. Every so often, Google updates its algorithm, leaving marketers scrambling to figure out how to keep their sites top of mind for potential customers. While the exact formula is a secret sauce, Google does clue us in on some of the top benchmarks for ranking. In the latest update in March 2024, Google announced that they will be deprioritizing low-quality content. As it stands right now, AI generates unoriginal content that is a collection of information from various sources on the internet. Because this information is essentially crowdsourced, it does not capture the expertise you need to rank highly. So, the bottom line here is that using AI might allow you to generate more content quickly, but if none of it ranks, it doesn’t really matter.
What AI Can’t Do: The Human Element
AI-generated content doesn’t resonate the same with customers, no matter how thoroughly you prompt the chatbot. A great copywriter will tap into what motivates your customers to engage with your service or product, which they can do because they are deeply familiar with the human experience. AI, on the other hand, is only familiar with a lot of data on how others have described it without the nuances conveyed by human emotion and an understanding of context and timeliness. A great copywriter will use tone, voice, and style to capture your brand and speak authentically to your customers.
Beyond style, one of the main weaknesses of AI is its lack of ability to generate original content. It can only pull data from what is already out there. Meaning that if you use AI, all of your content will be unoriginal regurgitations. This is especially problematic if you are positioning your brand/staff as thought leaders.
To top it off, AI can only produce an article at the level of a college undergrad. While this might fly for some circumstances, it certainly doesn’t convey the expertise and experience you want to portray with your brand.
What AI Can’t Do: Fact Check
We’ve heard from clients who have dabbled with AI copy generation that when prompted about their complex products, AI has created straight-up lies. We’ve already touched on the importance of expertise in an E.E.A.T. model for AI only pulls from published data, so it doesn’t have access to cutting-edge ideas or knowledge that are embedded within people with deep experience. It also doesn’t have the ability to fact check, a crucial component of publishing. The expertise component of ranking on Google’s search engine prioritizes cold, hard facts, which AI doesn’t always produce. AI cannot reliably cite its sources, and when it does, sometimes it makes them up. Made-up sources wouldn’t fly when being delivered from a real-life expert, so Google won’t reward this either.
What AI Can Do
We don’t discredit AI models completely. They absolutely have their place in content creation. AI can be useful for tasks such as keyword research, analyzing data sets, idea generation, and reviewing for grammatical mistakes.
Interested in elevating your copywriting game to increase search engine ranking and conversions? Contact The Marketing Dept. CO to book your free discovery call today.
