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Tatjana, are AI and SEO bad for your Google ranking?

More and more content is being created with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). What should you look out for with AI-generated content in search engine optimisation (SEO)? And: does it have a negative effect on your Google ranking? We talked to Tatjana Greber, Group Head of Marketing, about just that.

Tatjana Greber-Probst, Group Head of Marketing Apostroph Group

Tatjana, how do you feel about AI?

(laughs)

What’s so funny about the question?

Well, it’s a bit like asking a mechanic: how do you feel about spanners? What I mean is, technical aids, machine learning and artificial intelligence are standard tools of our everyday work. We’ve been using translation memories for years now to be able to access existing translations and thus guarantee consistency and recognition. And then there are the termbases to make sure we are using the right terms for the particular company or perhaps the correct legal terms. Large Language Models (LLM) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) are impressive and dynamic – you can hardly keep up with the developments. I am totally impressed by the possibilities of AI technologies such as ChatGPT & Co. You can compare working with them to working in a lab: we test, try things out and identify their strengths and weaknesses to find out how we can use them sensibly and how we can best integrate them in our daily work.

What specifically do you and your team use the AI tools for?

We find ideas for blog articles, take a look at suggestions on the structure of articles and websites. And if we have to produce something ultra-quickly, we have it throw out a few suggestions for headlines, claims or even entire paragraphs for corporate marketing content. Ultimately, it is about realising your communication goals and ensuring the corporate language of the particular company is reflected in every text. This means that for us, AI represents inspiration and gives us ideas to work on. The final result is only achieved with careful editing and revision. AI in combination with the in-depth knowledge of our language experts: knowledge about the company and the sector – for me that’s a perfect match for excellent text quality, particularly for web content.

When it comes to web content, does a combination of SEO and AI make sense?

Definitely. After keyword research, we analyse texts with SEO tools. When we discover that we need to add additional keywords, AI helps us with the task. The SEO analysis shows us where a section has to be rephrased or more text is necessary. This is another task that AI can take care of. And then finally, there are the metatexts. It is a real challenge to ensure that the title and the description have the essence of what you want to say in a form that will be clicked. AI is an amazing help here. I get AI to provide me with a few suggestions, then I select what I like, edit and combine.

SEO-Optimierung with AI

Does Google punish AI-generated content in the ranking?

Good question. There have been long, heated discussions about that over the last few months. Initially, Google preached the gospel of “content written for people, by people”. But now we have reached the point where we can see that Google cannot clearly identify AI-generated content. In February, there was a clear statement on this in the Google blog. It stated that Google attaches importance to the quality of the content and not to how it was produced. Just a few weeks ago, Google published an update of its SEO playbook. The principle of content written by people as a criterion for good Google ranking has been removed. So in terms of the ranking, there is nothing to be said against using AI.

But there is something we should never lose sight of: it is the people that should remain our focus, in other words the users. Content must deliver added value, give comprehensible answers, provide credible information. Wherever users spend a long time on a particular site or even indulge in some interaction, an important criterion for a good Google ranking has been satisfied. The content creators can make the difference here: with skilful prompting …

Sorry, … prompting?

Prompts are explicit instructions – things I give the machine as input. They control AI tools. Prompting is how content creators get the machine to produce exactly the content they require. And then our text experts take over with their knowledge of a particular sector, their expertise and a pretty large portion of creativity. The text is given its final polish, it becomes independent and has that certain something. And above all: the text grabs people’s attention, is “clickable” and achieves the specific communication goals of the company in question.

So what is your verdict then? Your recommendation?

AI tools such as ChatGPT & Co. are a valuable aid in the creation of content, particularly web content, and can also fire SEO. They provide ideas so messages can be phrased well. But ultimately the content has to have palpable added value for users, and obviously stick to the subject and not just be prepared for search engines. It is only a person who can decide whether content is valuable or not, and that is something that can be measured in the length of time someone stays on a website and in the interaction that takes place there (conversions).

AI tools are fascinating. It’s certainly worth everyone’s while to experiment with them and find out how to use them and what for. And then you quickly learn about the strengths and weakness of these tools.

Thanks, Tatjana.

You’re welcome!

Tatjana Greber-Probst

Group Head of Marketing Apostroph Group

Tatjana Greber is Group Head of Marketing at the Apostroph Group. The former competitive athlete holds a degree in translation and an MBA in Integrated Management. She is a proven expert in digital marketing, SEO and multilingual corporate marketing content. As a qualified translator, her heart beats for first-class content in word, image and video. The challenge with the ever new possibilities that are arising with language technology and AI is Tatjana’s great passion. Together with her team, she is always working on new ways of integrating AI into existing processes.

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Head of Customer Success

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