Going back a few years, alongside the avalanche of shiny new AI tools at a marketer’s disposal for targeting and scaling content marketing initiatives, came a sobering realization: AI-generated content (without human intervention) isn’t that great.
Naturally, we were all hunting for the perfect combination of AI-generated and human-led inputs to personalize and refine our message. And we found the pathway, producing content for audiences while streamlining workflows and preserving sanity. This also meant a slew of new articles to compete against, which introduced another kettle of fish: Does AI content actually rank in Google?
The short answer is yes — but there’s more to it than that. Let’s look at why AI-generated content ranks, in which cases it might not and how to point your arrows straight as we navigate this new strategic terrain in content marketing.
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How AI Helps and Hurts SEO
AI copy can rank in 2026, which is great news for those hitting the competitive slopes with less-than-flourishing resources. In fact, Ahrefs found in an analysis of 100 random keywords that 86.5% of top-ranking pages include some amount of AI-generated content. While it’s necessary to note that AI detection tools are statistical models, and therefore not always perfect, the correlation between AI content percentage and search ranking position was basically zero.
So the challenge doesn’t explicitly lie with AI; it’s in how marketers use AI to produce content that measures up to Google’s search ranking standards. Therein lies the dichotomy of how AI can both help and harm your strategy.
AI helps your strategy by…
- Streamlining workflows (ideation, outlining and, in some cases, production) for efficiency and value-add.
- Scaling content creation to generate greater ranking signals.
- Analyzing massive datasets for fresh and strategic insights.
- Enhancing content by producing tables and lists, simplifying complex text and suggesting related topics.
AI hurts your strategy by…
- Producing occasional “hallucinations” (incorrect or unrelated statements) that fail to meet Google’s E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness) requirements.
- Potentially triggering spam filters. For instance, scaled low-value content and generic, repetitive structural or textual patterns.
- Producing snippets that boost your AI visibility (i.e., ranking in Google’s AI overview), which, in turn, reduces organic traffic to your site.
Fortunately, each of these factors is well within your control. With the right workflows and careful planning, you can easily avoid potential drawbacks as you integrate AI into your content production.
While the very highest ranking pages tend to have a smidge less AI involvement, Ahrefs found that 4.6% of all top-ranking pages are generated entirely by AI. This indicates that Google’s not punishing those who use it. So, let’s move the lens and see what Google has to say about it all.
Straight From the Horse’s Mouth: What Does Google Say About AI-Generated Content?
Google Search’s guidance for AI content is aimed at those using or planning to use AI in their content strategy. Here’s what you should know:
There’s No Punishment (or Reward) for Using AI: Quality Is Still Sine Qua Non
Content quality has, and (hopefully) always will be, the arbiter of success. Rather than getting caught up in how copy is produced, Google judges it by its meaning and relevance. Convey genuine value through originality, comprehensiveness and positive user signals — whether you’re using artificial intelligence, real intelligence or a combination of both — and you’re safe.
Consider the spike in mass-produced, human-generated, albeit low-quality content circulating 10 years ago. Google didn’t reprimand human-generated content just because. Instead, it refined its systems to reward quality. Same goes for AI.
Marketers Should Focus on Helpful, People-First Content
Google’s Helpful Content System, introduced in 2022, is designed to surface relevant information, written by people, for people, rather than assets created to manipulate search engine traffic. It prescribes that, regardless of how you go about production, your focus should tightly align with search intent, be helpful and uphold information integrity.
Spam Policies Are Still Alive and Well
Unsurprisingly, Google’s stance on using AI solely for the purpose of manipulating search ranking results is a non-starter. This would directly violate spam policies, as it most likely results in a bunch of unhelpful content that doesn’t align with search intent or deliver genuine value.
In fact, among the biggest threats for those creating AI-written content to gather more positive ranking signals is that they risk triggering spam filters. The way around this is to ensure a human writer is checking AI’s outputs at all stages, injecting voice and originality and flagging content that could compromise trust. In addition, ensure your content approach is grounded in strategy — if you’re making content for the sake of it, take a step back and really think about your goals and objectives.
Playing by the Rules Is Just the Start
So, according to Google’s guidelines, everyone’s cool with AI. But if you want to make a real impact, hybrid content, combining generative AI with human input, is the way to do it. Here’s what this might look like at different stages in the content creation cycle:
- Topic ideation: If you’re using AI to generate topic ideas, get a human to flag irrelevant topics as well as those that risk cannibalizing your existing assets.
- Creating outlines: Remove sections that don’t add value or aren’t directly related to search intent, and add relevant sections that may be missing from the outline.
- Writing the article: Fact-check stats and statements, and add authoritative sources and original data. Infuse the article with human experience, original ideas and brand voice. Also, tailor the tone, style and messaging to the audience’s needs.
How To Make AI Content That Ranks In Google
We can all take a breather, knowing that it’s possible to run amok in the lush green fields of productivity and content scalability, thanks to generative AI tools. We also know that AI technology can negatively impact our Google ranking, should content quality become compromised as a result of using it.
Below are six best practices to keep your AI-generated content search-friendly.
- Enhance your work with human expertise: No AI creative should hit your email list, social channels or website without thorough human intervention. For example, at Brafton, AI content is one part of our product offerings via our proprietary contentmarketing.ai platform. However, our writers — myself included — follow diligent editorial workflows to guide, check and refine AI content outputs at every stage.
- Prioritize E-E-A-T: Google’s advice to lean into E-E-A-T cannot be overstated. At the moment, this is a major constituent in high-quality content.
- Be original: Make your audience choose your articles simply because they won’t find better elsewhere. This comes from adding perspectives and data that AI alone can’t provide.
- Pay attention to search intent: Know your audience, understand why they come to you (or what they need from you) and address that in every aspect of your collateral.
- Optimize for search: Don’t abandon SEO; find a way to work it into your Gen AI workflow. This also extends to on-page SEO, like load times and backlinks.
- Keep an eye on your SEO performance: Regularly check in with Google Analytics to understand how your new or existing AI-written content performs, and adjust your approach based on what you find.
Enhance Your Content With Strategically Generated AI Content
AI is becoming more embedded into the content marketing machine almost by the day. Because of the gains it offers in production and scalability — and especially because there’s no implicit penalty in search rankings for using it — it’s wise to lean into that shift now. But slapping a bunch of AI-native articles on the web, without a trace of human input, is more likely to do harm than good.
The best way forward is to follow a hybrid approach: Use AI where it actually saves you time and effort, and use human writers where AI systematically falls short (which, incidentally, is the critical human element Google requires for high-ranking content). That way, you win the trifecta of market authority: scale, performance and, ultimately, growth.
