ChatGPT Can’t EAT With Google
AI tool’s use for web content is reminiscent of the content mill days
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard of ChatGPT. The AI Chatbot was released in November 2022 and it’s been making headlines ever since for its ability to draft statements, write novels, create code, and even pass exams.
ChatGPT can obviously write. But can it write well?
When it comes to content marketing, quality is key. Your copy is a reflection of your business and your brand, so it has to be perfect. Whether you’re crafting product promotions or blogging about your industry, it’s vital to hit the right tone and produce content that engages your audience. Not to mention grabbing the attention of search engines so you can maximize your web traffic.
ChatGPT isn’t there yet. That’s not to say it’s not a helpful tool to have in your kit, but it’s not quite the content-machine it’s hyped up to be. Embracing this emerging technology requires a thoughtful and holistic approach to content creation.
What is ChatGPT good for?
When you just need a few lines of content, ChatGPT can save you a lot of time, stress, and effort. The AI tool excels at quickly churning out simple sentences so it’s best used to:
Create social media posts about news & events
Communicate basic messages to clients (and we mean basic - don’t rely on ChatGPT to parse industry jargon or convey sophisticated ideas)
Draft sales landing pages (e.g. the pages attached to your Google Ads). These should always be reviewed by a marketing copywriter before final sign-off to ensure follow all Google Ad rules and will convert any visitors.
ChatGPT limitations
ChatGPT is not suitable for:
Thought leadership blog posts (e.g. ones ghostwritten for execs at your company to position them as thought leaders)
Web page and landing page content
Any content more complex than basic blogs or posts
Anything requiring "sales" language (landing pages, etc.)
EEAT & GPT
If you’re already using ChatGPT as part of your content strategy, you may have noticed a slight bump in your engagement. Especially if you weren’t producing much content beforehand.
Don’t be fooled. You should never judge a marketing strategy in the first phases. Often companies see a new-content bounce that doesn’t last which won’t generate good quality leads or conversions over the long-term.
Apart from the limitations around its content, ChatGPT won’t get your marketing where it needs to be for one important reason - Google.
Back in the era of content mills (remember those?) Google devised a content quality score to push back against all the low-quality writing, stuffed with keywords and purchased cheaply by businesses for use across their websites and social media.
This content quality score has evolved over time to become even more eagle-eyed at spotting bad writing. Now known as EEAT (Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness), it’s the difference between your content appearing in prime position on SERP or languishing unnoticed in a dusty corner of the internet.
Given its current capabilities, it’s highly likely that ChatGPT content will fail the EEAT test and, like content-mill-copy before it, be scrubbed from search engines.
Google has already issued content creators with a warning, advising in a recent update that “using automation—including AI—to generate content with the primary purpose of manipulating ranking in search results is a violation of our spam policies.”
Ever-alert to companies trying to game the system, Google has said it will take a zero tolerance approach to this AI-created ‘spam’, leaving companies that were reliant on the tool turning to the professionals for hasty rewrites or ditching the offending copy entirely.
Quality > Quantity
ChatGPT is undoubtedly a great revolution in work and will facilitate more creative content creation. But the technology still has some growing up to do.
In a few more years it will likely be a lead-generating powerhouse. Until then, there’s no replacement for a dedicated digital writing professional with expertise in SEO. Use it wisely and sparingly but don’t forget the lessons of the now-extinct content mills. Google is watching and quality content will always rank higher than a quick fix.
Our team can help your business build a long-term digital marketing strategy focused on SEO and audience engagement - ensuring your content drives and supports your organization’s goals. Contact us today to get started!
