The latest (March 2024) Google update is rolling out now.

If you write your own content and use ChatGPT or other AI to help, you need to read this. 

The latest Google update is going to affect you. and here’s what you need to know.

Like most copywriters, when ChatGPT became available to the masses, I saw clients and businesses big and small swoon at it.

I saw writers lose jobs to it. Companies saw a way to trim their budgets and produce content at scale, much faster. It seemed pretty ‘passable’ content too.

And for FREE!

I get it. I’d probably have done the same if I wasn’t a copywriter or didn’t know much about SEO.

But we’re now seeing (not the first) but probably the biggest crackdown on scaled AI content.

Google updates happen regularly. Sometimes they don’t even tell us when they’re happening. And sometime, when they’re very significant, they do.

Right now, Google is in the middle of a core update.

Here’s what it’s looking at. Straight from the horse’s mouth.

Improved quality ranking: (They’re making algorithmic enhancements to their core ranking systems to make the most helpful content appear more and reduce unoriginal content in search results.)

New and improved spam policies: (They’re updating their spam policies to keep the lowest-quality content out of Search.)

They expect that the combination of this update and their previous efforts will collectively reduce low-quality, unoriginal content in search results by 40%. (That’s a lot!)

You can read the full info about this Google update here.

SO WHAT ABOUT AI AND CHATGPT?

The use of ChatGPT or other AI isn’t being targeted by Google updates. It’s not banned by Google or considered inherently bad. UNLESS you use it to produce content, at scale, with the goal of manipulating search rankings. This is called Scaled Content Abuse.

This kind of content is all about putting stuff out there for the sake of it, because you think it will help you, but without adding real value for your audience.

While there are lots of useful guidelines about what Google deems helpful content, (like E-E-A-T) you should always be writing for PEOPLE NOT GOOGLE.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU

• If you stopped writing or using a copywriter to create a couple of blog posts a month in favour of using ChatGPT to produce more posts, more quickly and for free, and posting them as is, that’s scaled content abuse.
• If you’ve used ChatGPT to create loads of headlines, meta descriptions or product descriptions and used them without re-writing to be more helpful or relevant to your business, that’s scaled content abuse.
  
• If you’ve used ChatGPT to re-write a bunch of guide and blog posts from your competitors, that’s scaled content abuse.
• If you’ve used ChatGPT to batch write your social media posts and then posted them without any re-writes or tweaks to make them relevant and helpful to your audience – yep, you’ve guessed it, that’s scaled content abuse.

If you’ve done any of these things, you might also have noticed a decrease in your engagement.

But the worst case scenario is that your website gets de-indexed or heavily penalised by Google. That means no one will see it.

All your hard work and digital presence – gone. Wiped out. Buried.

Coming back from that is challenging and takes time (and money). There’s no quick fix. And if anyone tells you different, run the other way. Fast.

A lot more effort than if you’d invested in the right way to begin with and followed the advice of those in the know.

If you’re worried, message me, I’m happy to advise. Because this update isn’t finished and there’ll be more.

See you next time

Danielle

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