Every time I hear about a Google spam update my first thought is: I have been using ChatGPT to write blogs; will my website get in trouble?
I know why you are worried. Writing blogs requires a lot of work and AI can help you make content faster. It is easy to write blog post after blog post and not think about whether any of the content that I am writing’s actually helpful.
I am Safa, a freelance digital marketing expert in Thrissur. I use AI to help with content research and ideas. It is unlikely that publishing everything a tool suggests will help your SEO. The draft is rarely perfect. Always needs editing before it is published.
Here is what I would suggest you watch for when it comes to AI-generated blogs and spam updates.
What Does a Google Spam Update Mean for Your Website?
The first thing to understand is what Google is trying to stop.
Google’s spam policies apply to methods used to change search rankings. Include scaled content abuse, among other things.
Scaled content abuse means creating an amount of content specifically to change rankings and not for a real need.
For example a company might publish a series of articles about the benefits of marketing services in different cities. The different cities are changed in the title. The information, examples and advice are the same. Even if you swap out ‘Thrissur’ with ‘Kochi’ it doesn’t automatically make the content more relevant to another area.
AI tools are very useful for creating pages of information. The purpose and value of the content should always be considered before it is published.
If you want to understand what Google considers spam make sure to read their Google Search spam policies.
Does Google Punish AI-Written Blogs?
Not just because they are written with AI.
Think about two bloggers writing about the topic. One might use ChatGPT to help with the outline check the information included and provide examples to help the reader understand the subject. The other blogger might use the tool to create dozens of articles and publish them without making sure the advice is correct or helpful.
Both bloggers used AI to create their blog posts but the effort put into one is much greater than the other, which’s important to remember.
This is why I wouldn’t recommend removing your AI-written articles just because you are worried about a Google spam update. The content itself should be the thing to be checked.
Do they answer the question the reader is asking? Is the information correct and accurate? Did you explain something in a way that the reader can use. Did you just repeat something that can be found on many other websites?
Google’s guide to helpful, reliable people-first content is a thing to read before making any changes to your blog.
7 AI Blogging Mistakes to Avoid
- Publishing the draft without reading it carefully
ChatGPT gives a full article in seconds but this doesn’t always mean the article is ready to be published.
It is easy to be tempted to publish away if your first impression of the article is positive. What you might be forgetting is that the draft may not fully explain or solve the problem it claims to. Some advice may be generic like telling a business owner to improve their SEO without explaining how to do it.
This is why editing and adding relevant and specific information is very important.
- Making articles about almost the same topic
When you are building a blog it is easy to look at a list of keywords and think every word or phrase deserves its own blog post. However this doesn’t always take into account that multiple keywords may be asking the very similar questions.
Of writing dozens of similar-sounding blog posts ask yourself if one complete piece of writing can handle them all. Create blog posts if the search intent or information required is different.
- Believing every fact that AI gives you
AI tools can be wrong. There is always a chance of giving or receiving information.
This is especially important to be aware of if you’re talking about Google spam updates, search rankings or anything that needs specific information. One small mistake can make the rest of the advice not reliable.
Always check claims before you publish and avoid making claims that cannot be proven to be correct.
- Using the focus keyword everywhere
SEO tools will usually tell you to include your focus keyword in the title, headings, introduction and body of your blog. These tips are helpful. It is easy to overdo it.
If you have included the phrase ‘Google spam update’ in every paragraph the overall quality of your writing can be damaged. Use the phrase where it makes sense then continue writing. Supporting phrases and words can be used to help explain the word or phrase of repeating it over and over.
- Giving readers advice they already know
The phrase ‘create quality content’ is often suggested to bloggers. However that advice doesn’t explain what the business owner should do. A better explanation might be to look into the five service pages that’re most relevant to their needs and ensure they cover the questions asked and the issues experienced by their customers.
The point is to explain how to use the advice not to say what should be done.
- Writing for search engines of your audience
Before you publish a blog imagine you are the reader.
A small business owner might want to know why their website isn’t getting leads. They are unlikely to gain anything from having paragraphs of technical language before finding a practical solution. Write for the person who has the problem not for search engines. Use keywords to help search engines understand what the page is about, but not to the point where it feels forced.
- Publishing without a check
It is easy to forget this when you are trying to publish blogs regularly.
Read through the article to make sure there aren’t any repeated ideas, unsupported claims, unclear explanations or sections that don’t answer the question. You don’t need every sentence to sound impressive; you need to make sure everything is clearly written and worth reading.
How I Use AI for Blogging
When I create a blog I find it more useful to use AI as a tool than rely on its suggestions alone.
I may use ChatGPT to research a topic suggest headings and questions to answer. From there I review the information edit suggestions and check the accuracy of any claims.
When it comes to SEO I also check the title, meta description, headings, internal links and image alt text. Rank Math is very helpful in this process. I don’t see a high score from the plugin as a sign that an article is ready to be published.
For example when writing about improving visibility in AI search simply saying ‘you should publish high-quality content’ isn’t enough. I will explain what a business owner can look for on their website and what additional information can be added to make the page more useful.
That information is the difference between a suggestion and a real explanation.
I also try to be honest about my experiences. If I haven’t personally fixed a website after a Google spam update I won’t pretend to. I can explain Google’s advice for businesses. Give a good explanation of how to check for a drop in traffic but it shouldn’t be presented as my personal experience.
In short being open about what you know have. Don’t know can help you give better advice.
What If You Have Already Published 50 AI- Posts?
It is normal to want to delete every article away but I would advise against doing that quickly.
The number of posts can’t show there is a problem. I would suggest going through a few of your blog posts and looking for anything that needs to be improved.
Ask yourself the following questions:
- Do your articles give useful information or are they repeating themselves?
- Is the information given correct and up to date?
- Do your articles answer the question in the title?
- Are pages targeting the same topic unnecessarily?
- Have you checked how well these pages are performing?
If you find an article that’s useful but too general improve it. If there are two articles think about whether combining them would be better. If there is a page with no value decide whether it should be deleted or changed.
Don’t assume every AI-assisted article is bad. Always check each page on its own.
What to Check When Your Blog Traffic Drops
A drop, in traffic can be worrying especially if your website is a source of business leads but the timing of a Google spam update isn’t always a sign of a problem.
My first step would be to check Google Search Console.
By comparing clicks and impressions before and after the drop I can see if the decrease affects the website or just some articles. I might use the Search Console Performance report to look at search queries, clicks, impressions and average position before looking further.
After this I’ll think about what else could be a cause. A core update, technical issue, seasonal change or increased competition are all possibilities. Once I’ve narrowed these down I can review the affected pages. Look for patterns.
If multiple pages experiencing a drop have content are repetitive or were created primarily to target search traffic this gives me a reason to look at their purposes and value more closely.
Improve the pages you can address the spam-policy violations you’ve identified and continue to monitor performance. Don’t expect changes to have an immediate noticeable impact.
If organic traffic is a source of revenue for your business I’d recommend hiring an experienced SEO professional to review your website before making any large-scale deletions.
Asked Questions
- Does Google penalise AI-generated content?
Not simply because AI was used. Google’s spam policies address practices, including scaled content abuse. AI-assisted content can still be useful when it meets readers’ needs.
- Is AI content for SEO?
It can be. Review the information, mistakes and make sure the article offers something useful. Publishing amounts of unreviewed content is a riskier approach.
- How AI-written articles can I publish?
There’s no safe number published by Google. Focus on the purpose and usefulness of your content than setting an arbitrary limit.
- Should I delete AI-written blogs after a Google spam update?
No, not automatically. Review the affected pages first. Improve articles combine overlapping content where appropriate and consider removing pages that have no meaningful value.
- How long does it take to recover from a Google spam update?
There isn’t a fixed timeline and recovery isn’t guaranteed. The next steps depend on the cause of the decline the changes made and when Google reassesses the website.
Final Thoughts
I don’t think business owners need to avoid AI. It can be useful when you’re short on time or need help organising your ideas.
The problem starts when publishing becomes more important than the content itself. Producing another ten articles won’t necessarily help your website if those articles repeat what’s already there.
Before publishing your blog take a little time to check the facts add practical details and remove anything that doesn’t serve the reader.
You don’t need every article to be perfect. You don’t need to publish every day. You do need a reason for each page to exist.
Use AI to make the work easier. Make the final decisions yourself. That’s a sensible approach, to blogging than worrying about how many words a tool can generate.