Can Google Detect AI Content? (Read This Before It’s Too Late)
Last Updated on March 8, 2023 by Jordan Alexo
Are you afraid that Google may penalize your website because of AI-generated content? It’s a legitimate concern, and the answer is yes – Google can detect AI-generated content.
Google has become increasingly sophisticated in its detection methods over the years, and AI content is no exception.
But do they care? What do they care about? Fortunately, this post is here to answer all your questions about AI content and Google.
You’ll learn the basics of how Google detects AI-generated content and what you can do to make sure your website remains as safe as possible.
We’ll also discuss the consequences of using AI-generated content and what you can do to minimize the risk. So keep reading!
Key Takeaways
- Google algorithm: can detect AI content because it lacks the human element.
- Follow Google’s E-E-A-T: Your content should be Engaging, Entertaining, Authoritative, and Trustworthy.
- Google doesn’t care about AI content: As long as it reads naturally and is high-quality.
- Two methods to easily detect AI content: Your experience and the help of AI detection tools like Originality AI.
Just keep reading to get more in-depth details about each point.
What Is AI Content?
AI content is generated by artificial intelligence, machine learning algorithms, and natural language processing models.
This content can range from videos and images to written content. However, in this post, let’s talk mainly about the problem with AI-created text.
See, AI writers like Jasper AI, ChatGPT, Rytr, and Copy AI can produce fantastic content. Sometimes hard to distinguish between a human writer and a robot.
But often, it also creates generic and overall monotonous content. Also, many website owners are concerned that Google considers AI-written content cheating.
And if one day they make wake up and their site overnight went from having thousands of visitors to none, then it’s too late.
What Are Google’s E-E-A-T Guidelines?
Google’s E-A-T (Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness) guidelines are the foundation for determining which content is allowed in its search engine results.
When it comes to this type of content, Google requires that any AI-created article should follow the rules of good quality content. This includes:
- Providing well-researched information written professionally
- The information is factual
- It should contain clear citations referencing other sources
- Plagiarism or copyright free
When you write a blog post, it is essential to say who wrote it. Give credit to the person who wrote it, so readers know where the content originated from.
A few weeks ago, Google launched a bombshell because most people were going nuts over the whole AI content affair. They announced that any software-generated content, whether machine learning or natural language processing models, was okay as long as it provided value to their users.
So, don’t be scared about using AI content on your site. As long as you follow these guidelines, then you should be good to go.
Just make sure that you’re providing high-quality and valuable content to your readers. The fact is Google hates low-quality and spammy content.
Can Google Detect AI-Generated Text?
The quick answer is “YES.” Google can detect AI-generated content. Their “Search Quality Raters” are constantly looking for signs of machine-generated writing in their results, and they can tell when a machine wrote something.
However, as I mentioned, you don’t need to worry too much if you write high-quality and valuable content. That’s the whole goal of Google’s E-A-T guidelines: to ensure that their visitors are only getting the best content available.
How Does Google Detect AI Content?
Google has several ways to detect AI-generated content, but the most effective one lies in its use of advanced algorithms and machine learning.
We don’t know exactly how Google’s algorithm is coded. However, they know that humans write content differently. We have our own unique writing styles, preferences, and mannerisms. Also, we tend to repeat the same words fewer times compared to artificial intelligence.
In other words, humans are more random while writing content.
Google’s algorithms are trained to recognize these patterns in content. If a word can be predicted throughout a piece of content, then it’s more likely to be AI-generated.
So the less Google can predict the words appearing in a text, the more likely it is to be written by a human.
Also, Google looks at the overall structure of a piece of content. Usually, AI-generated writing tends to be repetitive and has little variation in sentence length or complexity.
Finally, they also look at the formatting of content. Often, content created by a machine is less organized as it usually follows the same pattern and layout.
How Does This Affect AI Content Creation?
Well, it means you can use artificial intelligence to produce more content to your heart’s content. However, here are three things you should take into consideration:
1) Provide High-Quality Content
High-quality content that replies to people’s search queries the best way possible. I see nowadays, more than ever, websites using AI for their content production. And typically, their content doesn’t provide any new insights. Instead, they focus on filler and generic content.
So include your experiences, expertise, and knowledge on a particular topic. Remember, AI-writing tools should only be an assistant and not your replacement.
2) Edit Your Content
Don’t push the auto generator button from an AI-writing tool like Jasper and copy your content. Instead, take the time to edit it and make sure it provides the following:
- Factual information: often, AI writers mess this part up.
- Grammarly: this is a great tool to help you fix any mistakes your content might have.
- Plagiarism Checker: use this tool to check your content for any possible traces of plagiarism.
- Format Your Content Properly: Google pays attention to the formatting of your content. So make sure you are using proper headings, subheadings, and paragraphs.
- Use E-A-T Guidelines: Google’s E-A-T guidelines (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) are essential if you want your content to rank high on search engines.
Make sure your content provides accurate and up-to-date information from reliable sources. Also, include your qualifications or expertise in a particular subject. Lastly, cite any information you use from other sources.
What Are The Risks Of Posting AI Content?
The only people who should be afraid are the ones posting garbage content on their sites. If you are writing content without value, then Google’s algorithm might detect it quickly.
But in the end, is Google penalizing your site for AI or poor-quality content? The answer is probably low-quality content.
See, Google’s goal is not to punish sites that use AI-writing tools. As I already mentioned before, AI-writing tools are here to help you.
They should never replace the work of a human being and be used with caution. I have no problem saying, “I use Jasper AI for all my blog posts.” But do you notice it? Nope!
Take the time to format, edit and optimize your content for SEO. That is the best way to guarantee your AI-generated content doesn’t affect your rankings. Also, most of your content should provide insightful information.
I noticed AI tends to generate filler sentences. In other words, sentences that don’t add any value to your content. So make sure you are using the tool correctly, and if something doesn’t come out right, don’t hesitate to delete it.
Although artificial intelligence can help you out, for instance:
I can now write two articles in a day, while before took me more than two days for each.
But always remember that AI tools are only an assistant. In the end, you’re the one in charge of your content marketing and building your brand. You certainly want people to remember your brand has quality and trust.
So use AI the right way, and you won’t need to worry about Google penalizing your website for using artificial intelligence.
How To Check Your Content For AI?
Now let’s get to the meaty part, how can you detect artificially generated content?
Why Do You Want To Concern Yourself?
First, you already know Google doesn’t care if you’re using AI or not.
What they do care about is whether your content provides valuable and accurate information. However, there are some situations where you want to guarantee you don’t have artificially created content.
…When is that?
- Before Hiring A Freelance: If you’re hiring a freelancer to do the job, verifying they are writing the content by themselves is vital.
- Before Publishing Your Content: You want to check that your content doesn’t sound robotic and still has a human touch. As you can imagine, it’s boring for a reader to read something without any personality.
Those are the two reasons why you should concern yourself with AI-generated content.
2 Methods To Easily Detect AI Content
If you want to learn more details about the methods, read this article here.
Method 1: Human Eye
Usually, AI content sounds robotic, and a keen eye can detect it. In particular, if it’s a newb who recently discovered ChatGPT (which often is the case) and doesn’t edit its content.
You’ll notice repetitive words, redundant phrases, and phrases that don’t make sense.
Also, you can try Jasper AI (they have a 5-day free trial) or ChatGPT to get an idea of what AI-written content looks like. After spending my days staring at artificial content, I can often tell the difference between an AI-written and a human-written article.
Sometimes, I don’t have to read the whole article – I can spot AI-written content within the first few sentences. Other cases are harder to detect when the author knows what he is doing.
Method 2: AI Detection Tools
Fortunately, there are tools out there to help identify AI-written content. My favorite one is Originality AI. I enjoy the fact that this tool also comes with a plagiarism checker. So, two birds with one stone!
Plus, it’s inexpensive compared to other solutions. You don’t have an annoying monthly subscription, which is excellent. Instead, you pay only for the credits you need.
Take the following steps to use it:
1) Log in to your Originality account
2) Click on “Start New Scan”
3) Copy and paste your content to the blank box and press “Scan Now.”
You get an originality score based on how much your content is identified as AI-generated.
Another tool you can test out is the OpenAI detector. Now, this is a free option, but one of the problems is that it needs to be updated. Their system only detects AI content generated through GPT-2.
In contrast, the paid solutions update their system to keep customers happy.
But if you want to try this tool, follow the next steps:
1) Head to the Open AI site
2) Copy and paste your content
You automatically obtain a result on the bar below. The higher percentage of “real” content, the lower the AI-generated score.
Last Thoughts
So, now you know you can run free like the wind when it comes to AI-generated content. As long as you don’t provide low-quality that makes your audience yawn, you can rest assured that Google won’t penalize you.
To make sure your content is 100% human-written, you can always use AI detection tools like Originality AI or OpenAI detector. They will help you identify if your content is artificially generated or not so you can take the necessary steps.
Remember, it’s always better to be safe than sorry! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to leave me a comment in the box below. Thanks!
