AI was all the rage at the start of 2023. We were enamored with how easy it was to drop a simple prompt into Chat GPT, and an almost perfect blog post would appear.

And so the debate began…

“Now, I don’t need to hire a copywriter.”

“This will save me so much.”

“I won’t be able to make it as a copywriter! Robots are stealing my job.”

“AI is the devil, and we won’t accept any content written by it.”

“Google loves AI!”

“Google hates AI!”

So, after about a year and a half of using AI and seeing the shift in online content, what can we conclude? How does it affect SEO? How can you use AI responsibly? As a health coach, should you use AI at all? As a content/copywriter, do I use AI?

Coming to Terms with AI Content: Changing Our Mindset

I’ll never forget the existential crisis I had the first time I used AI to write a blog post. I was pretty adamant that blogs needed a human touch, and I prided myself in not jumping on the AI bandwagon.

Then, out of curiosity, I tried it. I gave a simple prompt with a blog title I had for my website, and instantly, it spit out a pretty amazing blog post.

I remember laying in the center of the living room, staring at the ceiling, thinking, “I’m irrelevant. A computer has replaced me. What’s next? What does it mean to be human? Is this how the future of humanity will look?”

I got pretty dramatic, not gonna lie.

It wasn’t until I realized that I had actually been using AI for some time. I had already been using Grammarly for a few years but had always thought of it as a tool, not a competitor. And to be honest, it made my writing SO much better.

It was then that I realized that AIs like Chat GPT were just like Grammarly. They are tools that can save you a little time and make the end product even better. You just have to know how to use them.

The Pros and Cons of Using AI-Generated Content

So yes, there is a right way to use AI and a wrong way. And…AI still comes with plenty of limitations. Here are the pros and cons I’ve personally experienced when utilizing AI for content creation.

AI Content Pros

• Saves time
• Creates outlines
• Helps you organize your thoughts
• Brainstorms titles and subjects
• Can write entire blog posts, emails, and SM captions
• Saves businesses money on full-time writers

AI Content Cons

• Easy to spot if not heavily edited
• Research is very basic, especially if you don’t use one that lets you connect to live search results
• Doesn’t always follow instructions (LOL – but for real it’s true. I can say 1000 words over and over and sometimes it just gets hung up on 600 and won’t cooperate. This is for the free versions so I can’t say if the paid versions are much better.
• Doesn’t understand your vision for a post (I used two different AIs for this blog post and ended up scrapping both of them and just taking inspiration from them. Sometimes it just doesn’t get it. More detailed prompts can help, but I already had in my mind where I wanted to take this post, so it was easier just to write it.)
• Misses the “human factor” and can’t add personal antidotes
• Can plagiarize other materials
• Difficult to use for the health field because it will pull from mainstream articles and doesn’t deep dive into studies and nuances around certain health conditions.

How to Get the Best Results with AI

If you’re not using it already, I suggest at least experimenting with AI content. But please, please, please DO NOT publish as is. It may take a little more time, but it is well worth it to heavily edit and add to any blog posts or emails.

Your content needs to sound like you to really connect with your audience, so spend some time adding in personal experiences and rewording things that don’t sound natural.

AI Checklist:

• Add personal antidotes
• Check for accuracy
• Reword so it’s not obvious that it’s AI (get rid of “embarking on journeys” “delving into the wonderful world of” etc.
• Run through Grammarly’s plagiarism tool to make sure it’s 100% original (with paid version but if you’re tackling your own content it’s the best investment you can make)
• Link sources
• Use it for idea generation and outlines
• When using it for a blog post, outline each heading you want in the prompt

How AI Affects SEO

In 2023 Google said that AI content was fine as long as it was helpful. But then people went CRAZY and started posting like 10 blogs a day. At the time, Google algorithm loved that. So as long as you were pumping out crazing amounts of content you would start ranking really fast.

More recently, though, Google updated its algorithm. It still allows you to use AI, but it strongly favors unique content that thoroughly answers readers’ questions.

Realistically, most businesses can’t mass-produce articles that are also top-quality.

Google’s new update is good for you because it means that as long as your content is original and helpful, it will rank above blogs that are just mass-producing content to trick the algorithm.

TLDR: Yes, you can use AI as long as you make your articles original and truly helpful.

My Process for Using AI-Generated Content

Yes, I use AI for my blog posts and those of my clients. Here is my process:

1. I use the AI built into my SEO software, Hike to help me analyze trending keywords and determine whether we have a chance at ranking for them.
2. I ask Gemini or SEOwriting.ai to create a title around the keyword I’ve chosen. Sometimes, I’ll keep it as is, but usually, it needs some adjusting to sound less like AI or more like me or my client.
3. I ask Gemini to create an outline based on the title I’ve chosen. I’ll add to that outline or remove headings that I don’t think are relevant.
4. I add the title and headings to SEOwriting.ai and fill out the rest of the prompt, and then click “RUN”
5. Once the article is complete, I copy and paste it into Grammarly to make sure there are no plagiarism issues.
6. I review the article and add personal antidotes or expand on points that I think need more explanation.
7. I make sure to review all the claims in the article and find their online sources so I can link directly to those studies.
8. If using SEOwriting.ai, I select the meta description option and use the suggestion. Again, I may need to adjust this depending on the length. Sometimes, I’ll copy the article and paste it into Gemini and ask it to write the meta description for me, then edit it as needed.

My Favorite AI Tools

• https://gemini.google.com/
• https://seowriting.ai/
• https://app.grammarly.com/

Note: SEOwriting.ai allows you to post directly to your WordPress website. However, I recommend copy and pasting so you can take time needed to edit before publishing. It also has a built-in AI image generator, which works pretty smoothly. Just make sure to look closely at the images, especially if they have humans or animals. You get some pretty freaky stuff otherwise. Check out this sloth’s funky nails for reference:

Post Your Blogs with Confidence

AI can really improve your content creation process by speeding it up and helping you organize your thoughts. It’s also great for generating ideas.

Whether or not you choose to use AI in your blog writing process, there are simple things you can do to ensure it’s Google-ready. Download my free SEO blog post checklist to publish your next article confidently. If you’re ready to take the next step in your SEO, check out my 15-Day SEO Blueprint.