Google does not penalize AI-generated content per se, according to its policies. However, recent trends show Google applying manual actions to websites filled with AI-generated spam content created using large language models (LLMs).
How does this work in practice? The SEO industry continuously experiments and probes these aspects. Here, I share the latest experimental report from GOTCH SEO.
This study analyzed 487 search results, confirming that Google’s algorithm favors non-AI-generated content while also identifying and penalizing low-quality AI content.
Key Findings
Prevalence of AI Content:
- The study found that 83% of the top 5 Google search results showed no AI-generated content, indicating that most high-ranking content is still human-created.
Google Algorithm’s Detection Capability:
- Evidence suggests that Google’s algorithm can identify AI-generated content. In some cases, such content was demoted due to its AI-generated nature.
Algorithm Updates and Content Quality:
- Recent Google algorithm updates have manually penalized websites using low-quality AI-generated content, leading to complete removal of such content from Google’s index.
Recovery and Rebuilding Content Quality:
- When low-quality AI content was replaced with high-quality human-generated content, the pages were quickly re-indexed and achieved good rankings in Google search results.
These findings indicate that while Google does not automatically penalize all AI-generated content, its algorithms can detect and penalize low-quality AI content. This emphasizes the importance of creating high-quality, human-reviewed content—whether using AI technology or purely human efforts.
