How AI-Generated Content Performs Organically

(Disclaimer: Profanity.)

There are a lot of strong opinions on whether you should use AI content as is or with minimal editing on your website. Some say it will ruin your site and others say there are cases where it can perform as well as human-written content.

I’ve actually seen both sides of the spectrum in practice. I’ve seen AI-generated articles rank in the top three of the SERPs and websites losing all their organic traffic due to it.

So, what’s the catch?

Why do some publications and content marketers get away with it while others face Google’s wrath?

Well, that’s what this article is all about. Let’s dive into the nuances of AI content generation that will help you write articles much quicker without sacrificing any ranking and domain credibility.

Seriously, does AI content perform well

I hate to be that guy, but the answer is it depends.

Look, “performs well” has many meanings. A landing page performs well if it generates high-value leads quickly. For thought-leadership pieces, it’s read time and engagement.

Furthermore, “performs well” also has a comparative element to it. For instance, imagine you have a blog where a typical article gets 100 reads/month. Let’s say you started dropping AI-generated pieces and the average of those is about 85 reads/month.

The question is — is the saved time worth the 15 reads/month drop?

If you can double your output, then, maybe. At the same time, you have to keep an eye on the monthly reads. If they are hitting the estimated traffic count, based on the number of articles you publish, then all is well.

So, there you go. That’s the whole definition of an article “performing well”. Are you reaching your objective (views, engagement, leads, etc.)? Is it comparatively good while being sustainable?

Without any further ado, let’s look at the kinds of articles you should write with LLMs and the ones that deserve a human creator.

Which kind of articles should be written by LLMs

Keyword-rich articles with generic titles that are written solely for SEO should be produced by AI. Even though Google emphasizes that the E-E-A-T framework is the secret to higher rankings but it’s a load of crap and every experienced content marketer knows it.

The game plan to rank on Google is simple. Write long-form articles (2000-2500 words) targeting multiple high-volume keywords, write a few cluster articles (~1200 words) for them for internal link-building, and get backlinks.

And of course, ensure your website loads fast, is bug-free, and delivers a decent reading experience. I believe most websites can easily achieve it, particularly with all the no-code web builders out there and the array of free responsive themes.

Don’t get gaslighted by Google’s sketchy definitions of “useful” content. The game is rigged and this is the only way to win it. If you genuinely think that honest blogging will help you gain organic visibility, stop deluding yourself.

There is a reason why every article on Google reads like the average of five other articles with the same title!

Anyway, that’s all it takes to rank on Google. As you can imagine, it can be algorithmized, and what can be algorithmized can be automated. Following these principles, I created my ChatGPT content creation workflow that works well enough for most, if not all, brands out there.

Speaking of the topics themselves, they should be generic and broad. The “comprehensive guides” and “everything you need to know” type of titles fit in well here. You can also go for “X best products or service providers” type of listicles and comparison articles.

These types of content pieces don’t contain any kind of personal opinions or require you to deliver a fresh perspective. You can include those to make your content stand out from the rest but it does increase the iota of work.

Producing decent content with Gen AI

After you use my ChatGPT content writing workflow (linked above) this is what you need to do:

• Check each section of the article in the Grammarly plagiarism checker. If a section is flagged, find out which paragraph is faulty through trial and error method. Rewrite that paragraph. The entire article should be marked non-plagiarized by Grammarly.

• Give it a read. More often than not, you will find low-hanging fruits that will significantly enhance the quality of the draft. For instance, you will discover longer sentences that read better when broken into two.

• That’s it, you are done. To improve the chances of outranking the competitors, insert a few images but don’t forget to mention sources. Each image should have a keyword-rich alt text.

On average, in a ballpark estimate, this method works well for 80% of the time. It is crucial to not cut any corners throughout the process. Please manually review and tweak the title, outline, and draft as needed.

Kindly refrain from creating spam content. You can’t hustle people out of their time without providing value for long. Soon, the effort won’t be worth the gains. Start with a clear objective and message. Then, create an outline and finally, proceed to create the draft. Each step should be augmented by AI for maximum output value.

Spam, regardless of how intelligently or efficiently created ends up in the bin at the cost of the trust of a potential audience.

Also, don’t lose sight of the limitations of this workflow. AI can’t express opinions and mix emotionally expressive elements into your writing. Articles that fit into categories like thought-leadership pieces, a perspective on a particular ongoing trend, or any personal experience should be manually created. I’ve dived more into the limitations of Gen AI in content writing in the next chapter.

Wrapping up: Use AI to your advantage

The game is rigged. Big publications should have no business in creating opinionated content (think titles like “X best air fresheners for suburban homes”). However, they have taken over those keywords and niches because they have a higher SEO budget. 

They scrape user reviews from e-commerce sites and forums and create their own articles, just hogging over most of the search results. Moreover, Google is showing AI overviews more often which is decreasing the traffic you get.

Hence, if you want to rank higher on Google, target high-volume keywords by writing ~1500-2000 words long articles and build links like a motherfucker. Fuck E-E-A-T.

Game is game.

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Next Chapter: Four Limitations of the AI Content Writing Workflow

Previous Chapter: Why AI Cannot Replace Content Writers

Index (with Prologue): Content Writing With AI: Principles, Strategies, and Prompts

Google is AI-friendly