Since the boom in the use of Artificial Intelligence, many have raised questions about its impact on the quality of internet searches, the content delivered to the audience, and user experience.
Marketing experts are debating the excessive use of AI-generated content without human editing and its notable consequences, and, more recently, Google’s latest core update confirmed what we already suspected: content quality is essential for bringing results.
But what does this mean? Does it imply that only content made by humans can succeed?
In this article, we will analyze a recent study carried out by Neil Patel, a global marketing personality, a recent search conducted by HubSpot on AI, and some of our own results at Rock Content, to answer with data the following question: Are AI-generated content as capable of bringing marketing results as human content?
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Neil Patel’s Recent Study: Human Content vs. AI Content
In May 2023, during his participation in the Web Summit Rio, Neil Patel emphasized his argument in defense of keeping content humanized and using technology in other marketing processes:
“If everyone uses AI to create content, and if AI uses data already available to develop these projects, we won’t have anything new and authentic anymore.” – Neil Patel
According to him, in a scenario where technology levels the field, those who deliver something unique stand out, with experience, authority, trust, and expertise.
Also read: How to Rank Higher on Google in 7 Steps
In February 2024, even before Google’s big March update, Patel shared data from a comparative analysis he carried out on 68 websites that collectively created 744 articles merging AI with human talents.
The first piece of data obtained is obvious: Artificial Intelligence makes us faster.
When we use AI to produce content, we can complete the process from writing to publication in up to 16 minutes, while humans take, on average, 69 minutes.
But despite this efficiency, some setbacks impact everything, from User Experience to organic business results:
The image above is an excellent example of how human content is more relevant and generates more traffic than AI-generated content. Over the five months reported, content created by Artificial Intelligence had low and inconsistent growth, while humanized content increased significantly.
When we analyze the comparison of traffic generated by time spent, even with a smaller difference, humanized content continues to stand out.
So, the conclusion we get is not to stop using Artificial Intelligence but to understand that it is not yet efficient for creating content, at least not in its current format. The human touch for review and editing remains essential from both the point of view of quality and results.
Also read: How We Humanize AI Content at Rock Content: A step-by-step guide
HubSpot and Artificial Intelligence Trends for Marketing
Another recent survey on AI trends was conducted by HubSpot, concluding that 68% of marketing leaders use automation and Artificial Intelligence in different stages, from producing content to conducting research.
Among the main forms of use are:
- Brainstorming and finding new ideas
- SEO planning and Keyword Research
- Creating and updating content
The main challenge cited by marketing teams when using AI is data inaccuracy, with 50% of professionals saying they have already encountered incorrect information.
Even though content production is cited, professionals reinforce that AI does not replace human skills and knowledge. Only 5% of marketers use AI to create the whole content – and when we add this data to Neil Patel’s study and Google’s recent update, we see it all coming together.
Another point mentioned in HubSpot’s research is the incoherence and incompatibility of information present in content generated by AI. The main challenge cited by marketing teams when using AI is data inaccuracy, with 50% of professionals saying they have already encountered incorrect information.
Google Core Update in March 2024
We’ve talked a few times here in this article about Google’s core update and how it is in line with recent studies on the use of AI to create content.
Amidst so much buzz in the marketing scenario, it was already expected that Google would not take long to act given the impact on the quality of the search engine’s search results. In March, Google released the 2024 Core Update, declaring war against low quality and spam and shaking up the SEO landscape.
The new update focuses on points such as improvement in quality ranking, new anti-spam policies, reduction of non-original results, and penalties for websites that do not follow Google’s guidelines.
Also read: Google March Core Update: Will I Be Penalized for Using AI to Create Content?
Shortly after the March 2024 update, several reports emerged of sites being completely de-indexed and “disappearing” from the search engine, which proves the danger of relying entirely on Artificial Intelligence.
We always like to emphasize here that Google’s battle is not against AI per se. Its objective is solely to improve the quality of searches, prioritizing original and relevant content. Something that Mordy Oberstein, head of SEO at Wix, had already highlighted in an exclusive interview with Rock Content:
“If the content is written by AI, it will not have the necessary level of experience and knowledge unless you heavily edit and modify it. We’re seeing Google’s ability to eliminate AI-written content, not because they’re necessarily targeting it, but because they’re targeting content that isn’t based on experience and expertise, which is fundamentally AI-written content.” – Mordy Oberstein, head of SEO at Wix
This has been proven by us here at Rock Content. Recent strategies adopted for our own clients suggest that the greater the specialized human involvement, the more organic results we achieve:
The graphic shows a Rock Content client’s organic growth after adopting the expert-driven content strategy
This type of content is based on interviews with experts on the subject who offer knowledge, perspective, opinion, and authority. It has become an extremely important strategy for bringing reliability, making the content unique, providing the human opinion that the user seeks, and answering questions from the target audience.
Also read: Expert-Driven Content is Key to Organic Growth In 2024
Conclusion
To answer the article’s question: no. Although it helps us gain speed and scale quickly, Artificial Intelligence does not bring more traffic than human-written content.
But, as we have seen, the use of AI does not need to be neglected but rather moderated. If your goal is to stand out on Google, bring original, humanized, and relevant content. Focus on quality and on responding to your target audience’s search intent.
Using AI to optimize processes like topic mapping, keyword research, and other automation can save your team time and budget so you can focus on what really matters: human creativity in content production.
And, if you want, we can help you with the humanization of your content. WriterAccess Humanizer is the missing link between AI efficiency and human connection.
As Content Marketing evolves with the use of Artificial Intelligence, Humanizer combines technology with human insight, ensuring your content not only informs but also inspires. Read more about the tool here and try it for 14 days for free here.
