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The steady, and arguably hastened, integration of AI into our society and workforce is reshaping the content creation landscape and practices, removing the final barriers of entry to media production, which is topical expertise. Existing platforms like YouTube, social media and podcasts tore down the largest barrier, which was distribution/publication, with anyone able to share content to a global audience. This democratisation has been greatly beneficial, enabling small-medium businesses to compete with industry giants that once dominated the market through massive working budgets.
However, AI now adds to an existing issue to marketing, oversaturation. Where expertise was once required to produce quality content, this knowledge barrier has been lowered as AI tools can scour vast amounts of data, produce topically relevant content for virtually any topic in large quantities and to a quality that previously distinguished experts and novices.
While these tools offer an intermediary level of expertise, as discussed with our in our previous blog, the market is already oversaturated with digital and physical ads, making it harder to stand out. In this crowded space, the only way to reach a targeted audience is by creating relevant, meaningful content that genuinely adds value to their lives, now with AI producing a higher quality of topical expertise the market will now be more flooded in areas that previously required greater required knowledge.
Now with this AI – generated content becoming more prevalent, we predict that consumers will quickly be able to recognise and disengage with content produced by these programs, with 50% of the market able to spot AI-generated copy already & 52% of users disengaging from suspected AI-content, as they prefer human-written content that is authentic and more insightful. Google’s recent announcement of the Google Helpful Content Update supports this opinion, as it will now penalise content generated by AI, favouring websites with authoritative content created with genuine intent, building an established trust with these search engines that you are generating clear content.
Search Agenda’s Priorities: User’s & Search Intent
Now this search engine update by Google, is centred around improving the user experience by prioritising content and sites that match with the user’s search intent.
Essentially, Google is aiming to deliver the most useful, genuine and relevant content at the top of the search results.
Search Engines understand that if a user simply wanted an AI-generated response, they would use the program directly, recognising that human expertise- especially when dealing with complex or nuanced topics (which AI cannot) – is irreplaceable and this is what users are searching for.
The update is designed to filter out the superficial, AI-generated content and push it lower in the SERPs, AI excels at collating and summarising information but falls short when it comes to deeper analysis or interpretation of complex subjects. AI is, after all, essentially a ‘Jack of all trades, master of none’, it can provide great introductory and ‘How To’ content, but it cannot offer the same insight or critical analysis that comes from human experience.
AI-generated content tends to lack the personality, creativity, and the nuance/natural language that resonates with audiences. The grammar can be awkward, the phrasing can be stilted, and the general tone may be too robotic, funny enough. If you rely too heavily on AI for all of your content marketing, this new search engine agenda will flag your site as low-quality and unhelpful by these engines and penalise you, damaging your authority and rankings. Worse, you run the risk of blending in with the other disingenuous businesses spamming AI-content to disinterested consumers, which will have detrimental effects to your business’s reputation/good-will.
As AI-generated content becomes more saturated, Google and users will continuously improve at recognising and discounting it. As such with this impending future, it is most important for a business’s content marketing strategy to focus on E.E.A.T. – Expertise, Experience, Authority, and Trust. Your content must reflect competence and real-world experience to stand out as trustworthy, we identify this as the key to dominate the SERPs in 2025, to deliver quality, user-focused content that directly addresses their search questions and intent.
Expertise, Experience, Authority, and Trust
Therein lies the challenge with AI, it’s incredible at data gathering and summarising, it is not capable of providing in-depth analysis and insights on complex issues. We don’t believe that AI will forever be unable to understand nuanced topics, but for AI to become more advanced it must be tried and tested, which will frustrate consumers as this advancement is powered through overuse.
AI as a Support
Now AI can be used exceptionally to support the above factors when used correctly, when refreshing your site’s authority & upkeeping Google’s trust. One of the most important strategies ahead for 2025 is the updating of content. Any content that is older than a year is considered ‘stagnant, outdated and junk’ so to keep your expertise consistently conveyed to Google you must update your content site-wide using AI to update short form content, keyword mapping and competitor analysis.
AI’s Fall shorts
AI can be reliable, but not always, therein lies the issue with its overreliance and user’s lack of validity checks with other sources, AI can easily perpetuate misinformation or cite sources that are not credible. In contrast, human based content must have vigorous – fact checking, analysing multiple perspectives, injecting their own viewpoint and adding flair, nuance and context to their writing that AI struggles to replicate.
Operating in 2025
If businesses want to stay competitive in the content-marketing space post-AI, they must shift their focus toward producing long-form, deeply researched, and original posts. This is one of the most effective strategies for outranking competitors. Instead of simply recycling information and rewording information from competitors, focus on creating content that adds value through your own analysis or in-depth exploration of a topic. Diving into the details, whether that’s through blog posts 2000 words or more, comprehensive guides or even multi-minute videos, will stand out.
The key is consistency. Regularly publishing well-researched, relevant content will speak directly to your audience’s needs and queries, not only building trust with your consumer’s but signals expertise and authority to search engines. By writing in a manner that is naturally flowing, in a conversational tone that actually reflects human manners, this will go a long way to separate yourself from the generic spam.
AI’s Place in Content Marketing & SEO
We recognize that AI is not a failed invention or just a machine—it has its place in the world, whilst there fear mongering about it completely replacing human jobs, we believe its most effective role and most likely position will be as a supportive tool for human workers. In this context, AI can assist with website development, reduce costs, and handle repetitive tasks for marketers. Which will open up the creatives to be more productive, spending their time on creating high-value content that will draw in the market, allowing their pieces to stand out amidst the generic content.
For businesses looking to integrate AI into their SEO and content generation strategies, it is most effectively used for:
- Mapping keyword opportunities
- Refreshing meta descriptions
- Conducting competitor analysis
- Optimizing H1 tags
- Generating content ideas
- Refreshing existing content
A key theme consistently mentioned throughout this blog is the importance of building your site’s authority, cultivating your brand and raising your image with Google and consumers, is the sure-fire way to achieve this. As such, strengthening and prioritising your content marketing strategy is essential. While ad-supported methods can be useful for initially reaching your target market, they are “in the process of dying, due to a lack of Google traffic” and is not a sustainable method.
In this process, AI serves as a powerful tool for analysing competitors’ strategies and understanding your own audience’s content preferences, whether this be favourability towards articles, videos, podcasts or etc. By delivering this content, you drive conversions, build brand reputation and loyal customers, ultimately enhancing your authority.
Conclusion
Now hopefully this blog has helped you disillusion yourself against the future of AI, which you may be dreading, there is a place for it in marketing and it is to not take away your job but to eliminate the grunt work, supporting you best to show you intensity and expertise.
We have discussed the manners in which AI can help your content marketing strategy, but if you would like to learn more about developing your own strategy, please click here.
Or if you would like to discuss with ourselves, an SEO Content Marketing Agency, for a quote or call regarding your marketing strategy, please click here.
