Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not taking over the world, but in the last few years, it is affecting each and every industry, their work and operations. For a large group, it is cost-effective, saving time and effort but another group is concerned about its development impact.
In a session at the World Economic Forum’s ongoing five-day annual meeting, Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella stated that technology will provide more and more ways to bring people together. And the “golden age” of artificial intelligence is “underway,” reshaping work and business as we know it.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is in trend and it is affecting the digital marketing sector as well. Meanwhile, we want to clarify that AI has always been an important part of Google and many search engines have been using it for years to improve user experience and provide better results. However, it seems that now the power is in the hands of the users as well.
In this blog, we will discuss AI and Its Impact on Google and SEO. We will also talk about how the process of digital marketing is changing. We will also provide an answer to one of the most talked about questions on the internet — Is it ok to use AI in marketing, especially content marketing?
What is AI?
AI is an acronym for Artificial Intelligence. It is a type of computer science that involves making machines or software learn and function in order to replicate or exceed human performance. It uses algorithms or artificial neural networks to process data and make decisions. To get an example of what this means, please review this video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy3zjXK4ao4&ab_channel=ColdFusion
AI can be used in many different areas such as speech recognition, image recognition, natural language processing and autonomous driving. In the field of SEO, AI is used to aid in the search engine optimization process by providing insights on what improvements can be made to a website in order to rank better on Google. Another trending use of AI in this area is the content generation for websites. This content can be anything from text, images, videos, or entire blog posts.
How Google has been Using AI in SEO?
As we mentioned above AI has been a key role in the working of search engines including Google. As per an article published on Search Engine Land, one of the most prominent uses of AI in Google’s search engine is its RankBrain algorithm. This algorithm uses machine learning to identify patterns in user queries and to determine how to best match those queries to results. Google also uses AI in its Knowledge Graph, which helps it to understand relationships between different concepts and to provide more relevant results.
Furthermore, AI is used to power its Autocomplete and Smart Compose features, which provide users with faster and more accurate search results. Finally, AI is also used to power Google’s voice search and image search capabilities.
How AI is helping Content Creators and marketers?
AI tools are now available to users, searchers and content creators as well. In just a year or two the internet world is getting inundated with such tools.
The ability of these AI tools to analyze vast amounts of already published data has made them essential for SEO ranking considerations. These tools provide very essential data and marketers can easily utilize this information to enhance and optimize their content for both people and search engines.
AI also aids in the detection of external signals that may have an impact on organic visibility, such as backlinks or mentions. For example, AI can detect context clues when analyzing web pages or blog posts using machine learning algorithms and natural language processing tools, which can help determine whether a subject is authoritative, valuable, highly topical, and so on. This data can be used to prioritize topics or pages on your website that have the potential for increased visibility.
Content writing is a major part of SEO, and it is heavily impacted by these tools. As you are aware, every creator requires content on a regular basis in order to remain active on the internet. These AI tools are helping them by providing an unlimited supply of content.
If you have never used any such tool, then you may ask “how AI is doing that?”. The answer is, these tools are capable of collecting data from all over the web. After collecting enough data these tools can rewrite them or generate new content as per their understanding. And then they can also present it to the creators in the way they want.
As a result, when creating content or performing SEO, it can save a significant amount of money, time, and effort. Meanwhile, data and continuous content supply is one thing, but whether it is ethical in Google’s eyes is something that most people who use AI are concerned about.
What does Google think? Will websites using AI be punished?
People have a few questions in mind about the use of AI and the possible outcome. A few questions in this matter which are asked most of the time are:
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- Is Google okay with crawling and ranking AI-generated content?
- If not, does Google mind if such content is reviewed by humans before it is published?
Google has not yet made any official statements about “what is and is not fair in this case”. However, it is likely that the search engine behemoth is employing a variety of technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), to identify patterns in user search queries, content quality, and website performance. SEO activity and content that meets all of their criteria will be unaffected, whether or not AI is used in their SEO operation.
Danny Sullivan, Google Search Liason recently tweeted that “content created primarily for search engine rankings, however, it is done, is against our guidance.” But he also added that “if the content is helpful & created for people first, that’s not an issue.” Hence, as far as punishment is concerned, Google has not indicated that websites that use AI will be penalized. Google, on the other hand, is likely to take action against websites that use artificial intelligence to manipulate search rankings or engage in other unethical practices. As a result, website owners must ensure that they are using AI responsibly and ethically.
Do we have to think only of Google?
Google search has a huge role to play in online businesses, but Google isn’t the only thing that marketers and content creators who are using AI need to worry about. Many AI platforms are currently in beta version and thus lack clarity and some essential features, and tend to make mistakes.
The use of AI is still new to our society and in such a case the business may lose its reputation in the eyes of its audience. It was revealed last month that CNET and Bankrate, sister sites, had been using AI to create financial explainers.
Regular readers and a few online sources noticed it and expressed their dissatisfaction with the lack of an official announcement, the poor quality of the pieces produced, and the impression that it was a test project designed to lay off entry-level writers.
Following a difficult week of headlines, Red Ventures, the company that owns CNET and Bankrate, announced that it will stop publishing AI-generated content at both publications as well as other websites in its vast portfolio. But only for a short time. Company executives stated that the program would be restarted as soon as the negative news coverage subsided.
Thus, even if you are using AI tools for content and SEO, you need to go through the generated content to make it error free (if any). You should also strive to make your machine-generated work as authentic as possible. It is not about hiding the fact that you are using AI, but it is about providing the reliable information so your readers would not have anything to complain about.
How to future-proof your SEO efforts?
AI is in trend and it is making new headlines every day. There are many positive impact of AI on SEO but precautions are necessary to keep your website’s future intact. These precautionary steps include:
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- One dedicated person to check these AI generated content and SEO efforts.
- Properly checking of all the details, data and sources of data AI tools are providing.
- Regular maintenance and update of all such content.
- Include good plagiarism and readability tools in your SEO marketing strategy.
With these steps, you can harness the true power of AI without any risk. They also allow you to be sure about the published content and avoid the ill effects of any future Google algorithm changes.
So, what is the future of AI in SEO?
Over the years, AI has been helping people find results, services and products faster and now these tools are helping them in marketing and content creation as well. The future of AI is bright; It is helping people all over the world directly or indirectly.
Like every great story, with great power comes great responsibility, and if you don’t use the power of AI ethically, your website will be punished today or tomorrow. Therefore, marketers and content creators need to use it responsibly and ethically. AI is still in beta stage and has limitations. However, it is learning, improving and growing rapidly in order to be more reliable. We have to use them responsibly and in a limit now and wait for a good time before fully adopting them in our SEO strategy.
Reference Links:
- https://searchengineland.com/how-google-uses-artificial-intelligence-in-google-search-379746
- https://futurism.com/cnet-bankrate-pausing-ai-generated-content-backlash
- https://www.wordtracker.com/blog/content/google-responds-to-companies-using-ai-generated-content/
- https://twitter.com/searchliaison/status/1613462881248448512
