As AI content continues to flood the internet, the line between real and fake has become so blurred that there is a sea of gray in between.
For now, it is still relatively easy – for humans – to discern fake from real. As for AI figuring out what is AI content and what is human written content…
Let’s just say it is a work in progress, and it is playing catch-up all the time – because the better AI gets, the better AI gets.
Allow me to explain…
AI detection software was developed to discern between AI generated content and human content. Sadly though, it is a mixed bag. In some instances it gets it right, and in others it either allows AI content to pass off as human generated content, or it classifies human written content as AI generated content.
Here’s the problem: Much like the world of car thieves, the people generating AI content are going out of their way to avoid detection. Youtube is filled with method videos on creating AI content that will pass as human content.
So the better the detection systems become, the better those using AI content become at avoiding detection.
Even Google, who arguably has the best possible capacity to develop AI detection software, seems to have given up on doing so. Apparently they will simply be looking at the quality of the content, and judge/rank it accordingly.
To make matters worse…
Once you have the proper prompts figured out, you can use AI to create good content in a matter of minutes. As a result, more and more webmasters are turning to AI generated content, often simply re-writing existing top articles, while possibly adding something to increase the word count.
That, in turn, means that the top results in Google for many search queries are being “recreated” by AI, and published elsewhere. Fair enough, in most cases it is unlikely that the “recreated” articles will rank well, because the websites they are on lack the domain authority of the original website.
But over time, as owners of AI generated websites continue to build backlinks to increase their domain authority…
Who knows?
Where is it heading? And where will it end?
As we have seen with Google’s new “helpful content” algorithm update, search engines are doing their best to – at the very least – provide you with the best possible result to any search query.
For now, that is likely to filter out many “fake” websites, one way or another, but as AI capabilities continue to improve…
At the end of the day, we suspect that Google will have a very hard time discerning real from fake.
To make things even more complicated, there will be – eventually, on most topics – a mass of content that is likely to be quite similar in content and quality.
That is likely to just make it more and more difficult to rank for general keyword phrases.
So where does that leave YOU?
For now, existing small businesses can still focus on local search optimization, and focus on having multiple points of entry to their businesses (Google business listings, Google merchant shopping listings, social profiles and their websites).
However, especially for those in cities (where population numbers make it more viable), AI content is likely to worm its way in. In some places it is already happening.
Eventually it will be very hard to rank your website amidst all of the “noise”, unless you have loads of money to spend on SEO consultants.
The best way to deal with that – for the medium and longer term – is to shift your focus to social media marketing. Yes, AI generated content is making its mark on social media too – but for now, it is relatively easy for humans to detect AI generated content.
Use this time to expand your audience – and build trust. Because as the old saying goes, “people buy from people”.
By the time that AI generated content becomes indistinguishable from human content (even in video), you will have built yourself a solid following who will see your content whenever you put something out there, and interact with it.
Build a social following big enough to provide you with the exposure and traffic you need. It will take time, but by the time you need it, you can have it in place.
And, of course, build yourself a list of email and/or push subscribers. Use whatever traffic you get to build that list. That will be your safeguard not only against AI generated content, but also against any changes on any social platform that reduces your reach and access to your audience.
Plan – and be prepared – for a worst case scenario, and you will be able to thrive no matter what happens.
Of course, that goes for anything you do in your business – not just your marketing or lead generation.