Can AI Help You Write High-Quality Content That Ranks on Google?

Feb 12

8 min read

Get insights on Google's E-E-A-T guidelines and how they affect the usage of AI-generated content. Learn tips and tricks for using AI to create high-quality content for your website.

ChatGPT on a Computer Screen, Bertelli, 2023

Credit to: Bertelli; 2023

Introduction

Imagine you are a small business owner, new to the online space. You are launching your website and you want to dip into blog writing to show your expertise. There is so much writing to do, from "About" descriptions to your blog posts. You're not a marketing agency and you don't have a full marketing team - it's just you and maybe a few other employees. You've heard AI can help you write content, but as you start to research, you find out that AI-generated content might mess up web traffic to your site and now you're not sure what to do next.

With the rise of AI-powered writing tools, content creators are exploring how to use artificial intelligence to produce online content. However, Google has set stringent quality guidelines for AI-generated content, particularly those outlined in Google's E-E-A-T (Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) framework (1). While Google does not use E-E-A-T as a direct ranking factor in its search algorithm, it is a guideline used by search quality raters in evaluating the overall quality of search results and shared as feedback to Google. In this way, following these guidelines can indirectly improve search traffic to your site (2).

Now, is all AI-generated content bad for rankings or is there a way to use it to help you write high-quality content that will allow your prospective customers to find you and learn what you do? The answer is not straightforward, so we will start with Google's public statements on the topic. Google prioritizes quality over the method of content creation (3). This essentially means that AI-generated content can be used as long as it follows Google's E-E-A-T guidelines. In this guide, we'll discuss how to leverage AI to write high-quality content that adheres to modern best practices for search engine optimization (SEO), while maintaining authentic engagement and learning opportunities for readers.

Understanding Google’s Approach to AI-Generated Content

As previously mentioned, Google does not penalize AI-generated content outright but instead evaluates it based on the quality, originality, and usefulness of the content (3). To rank well, AI-assisted content must:

Have a “people first” approach - this means that content is created to be helpful to people and not primarily to drive traffic to your site (1)
Be informative, reliable, and valuable to users (4)
Avoid manipulative tactics like keyword stuffing and mass production of low-quality content (5)
Demonstrate expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (1)

Best Practices for Using AI in Content Creation

1. Use AI as a Drafting Tool, Not a Replacement for Human Creativity

Anyone who has used ChatGPT or similar AI software before knows that it does a great job at getting the ball rolling. Type in any question and it has an answer. Maybe it's not always the answer you're looking for, but it helps you brainstorm. AI can help you generate ideas, outlines, and drafts quickly. However, it can make mistakes, it doesn't always cite sources and, most importantly, it often lacks personality. It can't tell your story, the story of your brand, your business, your products, or your expertise the way you can. With a little editing, you can refine the tone, verify facts, and ensure the authenticity of your content. AI complements creativity—it gives us more time to do our best work. But it doesn’t replace human creativity and needs your collaboration to make truly great content.

2. Prioritize Originality and Depth

Google rewards content that provides unique insights and a fresh perspective. AI-generated text often lacks true originality, so as a content writer for your business, your job is to edit, edit, edit. Add your own in-depth analysis, case studies, expert opinions, and lived experience to make content original & valuable to your audience

3. Enhance Content with AI-Powered Research and Keyword Optimization

You can use AI tools to analyze search trends and suggest keywords that align more closely with user intent. Grok, X's AI Assistant, is a great tool for this kind of research as it offers real-time web searching, trend analysis, and even citations (6). However, keyword integration should feel natural and meaningful. Overuse of keywords or keywords used out of context can lead to penalties from Google in search rankings.

4. Ensure Content Follows E-E-A-T Guidelines

You might be wondering what guidelines Google uses to rank websites in relation to user search queries. According to Google, their search quality raters give better feedback to Google about content (1) when it demonstrates:

Experience: Content reflects personal insights, hands-on knowledge, or user testimonials (2).
Expertise: Content is authored by knowledgeable individuals with relevant backgrounds or experience (2).
Authoritativeness: Content is supported by reputable sources, citations, studies, or other external validation (2).
Trustworthiness: Content is factually accurate and free from misleading or false information. Trust is perhaps the most important component of the E-E-A-T guidelines because all other categories—expertise, experience, and authoritativeness—lead to user trust & improved user experience (2).

To ensure that your content follows the E-E-A-T guidelines, intentional editing is needed to verify the information and enhance the credibility of your content by linking to authoritative sources.

5. Leverage AI for Content Enhancement, Not Just Generation

Have you ever experienced the total frustration of writer’s block? You know what you want to say, but every way you think of saying it, it comes out wrong. AI can help with readability improvements like this, as well as grammar checks and even headline optimization. Try feeding tools like Grammarly, Hemingway Editor, and ChatGPT a sentence or a whole block of text to edit. This can help you ensure clear messaging and coherence in your writing, without the additional editing time.

6. Make Improvements for a Natural & Engaging Tone That Tells Your Brand Story

AI-generated content can often sound robotic or overly generic. Start by making edits to the tone to make it more conversational, engaging, and aligned with the brand’s voice. Your job is to find your brand’s voice through your edits and tell your story the way only you know how to.

7. Optimize for User Experience

High-ranking content isn't just about text. Google also considers factors that contribute to user experience on your site, like:

Page load speed (7)
Mobile responsiveness (7)
Clear formatting with headings, subheadings, and bullet points for readability (8)
Interactive elements like images, infographics, and videos (8)

Make sure you or your web designer consider these factors to create a better experience for site visitors and improve the quality of your content.

Avoiding Common Pitfalls of AI-Generated Content

1. Over-Reliance on AI

We've touched on all the ways you can use AI to help you write great content for your site. But, keep in mind that relying too much on AI can lead to repetitive or superficial content. It's important that AI be used as a tool for content creation, not as the sole creator.

2. Lack of Fact-Checking

You might get excited about having clean, good-looking content with just a few strokes of a keyboard. I've been there—I get it. But AI can get it wrong. Some AI, like Grok, generates responses based on user posts. While this can be a great tool for trend analysis, for example, it may not have entirely accurate information about current events.

Some AI have strengths in particular areas, but not others. I once asked ChatGPT to convert amounts from one unit of measurement to another unit for a recipe. I noticed one of the amounts looked really off, and when I asked ChatGPT, it corrected the amounts. ChatGPT has a very strong language model, but it was not designed to do calculations and the earlier version I used at the time was prone to these kinds of mistakes. That’s why it’s important to always cross-check facts and information with credible sources before publishing.

3. Ignoring User Intent

Content should align with what users are searching for, right? It’s common sense. This is helpful for ranking, but it also means that you have content on your site that people want to read about. Make sure you refine your AI-generated content to match audience intent for search queries, whether they are looking for educational, transactional, or navigational content. Your content should be purposeful in answering the question they intended to ask. Spamming site visitors with unrelated content that has a misleading title or redirecting them to content they don't want violates Google’s spam policies (5).

Conclusion

As a small business owner with budgeting and personnel limitations, you know the importance of having tools available to increase efficiency. And as a person who loves what they do, you may also want to write great content that tells people who you are and what you do, in a way that feels genuine. AI is a powerful tool for content creation that you can use to write online content more efficiently and effectively. However high-ranking content still requires human creativity, expertise, and editorial oversight. By leveraging AI strategically—using it for research, drafting, and enhancement, while adhering to Google's E-E-A-T guidelines—you can create content that ranks well and engages your audience.

By adopting this hybrid approach, content creators like you can take advantage of AI's efficiency while maintaining the depth, credibility, and originality of their content. You're now ready to get started on your content creation journey and to know what to look for in your content writers if you decide to hire out!

Morgan Valdivieso is a Marketing & Communications professional with a decade of experience working with businesses & nonprofits. She is currently offering online marketing and web design services through Gimbel Vision & Sound.

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References

1. Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content. Google Search Central. February 4, 2025. https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/creating-helpful-content.

2. Southern MG. Google E-E-A-T: What Is It & How To Demonstrate It For SEO. Search Engine Journal. Published April 24, 2024. https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-e-e-a-t-how-to-demonstrate-first-hand-experience/474446/.

3. Google Search’s guidance about AI-generated content. Google Search Central. February 8, 2023. https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2023/02/google-search-and-ai-content.

4. How Search works. Google Search. Accessed February 11, 2025. https://www.google.com/search/howsearchworks/how-search-works/ranking-results/.

5. Spam policies for Google web search. Google Search Central. February 4, 2025. https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies#scaled-content.

6. Bringing Grok to Everyone. x.ai Blog. Published December 12, 2024. https://x.ai/blog/grok-1212.

7. Teodoro J. 10 Reasons Why Google Penalizes a Website (And How to Recover). LinkedIn Pulse. Published June 3, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/10-reasons-why-google-penalizes-website-how-recover-jeffrey-teodoro.

8. Overview of SEO and How to Improve Google Rankings. The University of Toledo. 2025. Accessed February 11, 2025. https://www.utoledo.edu/offices/marketing/toolkit/web/seo-overview.html.

9. Bertelli M. Chat GPT Welcome Screen on Computer. Pexels; 2023. https://www.pexels.com/photo/chat-gpt-welcome-screen-on-computer-16027824/.