If content is king, search engine optimization (SEO) is the key to getting your content seen by the right audience. Marketers are constantly exploring new ways to enhance their SEO strategies, the latest and most explosive trend being the use of AI-generated content. But what do the top SEO experts think about this trend?

In this article, we dive into the opinions of five top SEO experts on the use of the AI tool GPT-3. Let’s get started!

What is GPT-3?

GPT-3 stands for generative pre-trained transformer 3. It is an artificial intelligence language learning model developed by the Silicon Valley wunderkind OpenAI. With over 175 billion parameters, GPT-3 is considered one of the most advanced language models to date. It uses ‘deep learning’ (a machine learning technique) to create human-like text, write poetry and movie scripts, chat, translate, and perhaps the most fascinating of all – answer abstract questions!

Predictably, GPT-3 has generated tremendous buzz in the tech industry for its ability to produce high-quality, coherent text. Many developers and companies are exploring how GPT-3 can be integrated into various applications, including chatbots and content creation tools.

But is the buzz all hoopla or is there credibility behind its use for SEO. I looked to five leading thought leaders in the space for insights.

Related: GPT-4 launch

What 5 SEO Experts Think About AI-generated Content

SEO experts have varying opinions about AI-generated content in general, and GPT-3 in particular. Those who view it favorably believe AI-generated content can save businesses time and resources and be a valuable supplement to human-written content. 

Those who disagree with this view argue that AI-generated content lacks both originality and creativity, because of which it can never be as unique or engaging as human-developed content.

Let’s take a closer look at what five top SEO experts have to say on the matter.

Lily Ray

Senior Director, SEO & Head of Organic Research at Amsive Digital

Lily Ray raises significant concerns about the quality of AI-generated content. “There are shortcomings with ChatGPT and all AI content generation tools in their current form,” she says. 

Content-generation tools such as ChatGPT have been known to return wildly incorrect information and biased opinions. While the technology allows users to create content quickly and cost-effectively, the output generated often lacks expert-level or unique insights. This is not in line with Google’s emphasis on E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness), which is why she believes AI-generated content can negatively impact search engine rankings.

However, Lily does advocate for the use of AI in specific situations, such as creating summaries of your content or generating product descriptions. 

Matt Diggity

SEO entrepreneur

Matt Diggity has a largely positive view about using AI for generating content. He is pumped about how tools like ChatGPT can be used to write large volumes of content and conduct keyword research quickly and easily. “Even if AI isn’t your jam, your competitors are using it, so you should know what you’re up against,” he cautions. 

However, he does think it necessary to recheck all AI-generated content for grammatical and factual accuracy and proofread it before uploading. 

Gael Breton

Co-Founder, Authority Hacker

Gael Breton has somewhat of a balanced, if not neutral sentiment toward AI-generated content. However, he believes all web publishers have to deal with it in 2023, regardless of their personal views on the topic. 

Gael believes that most of the time, AI content is bland and can be identified accurately. However, it is possible to tweak the content to evade the tools that detect whether a particular piece of content is human-written or AI-generated. Moreover, Gael also explores how websites like CNET openly state that they are using AI engines to generate content that is then reviewed by humans.

Another interesting insight he shares is Google does not reduce organic traffic to a piece if you use more or less AI to help write it. According to Gael, “factors like keyword selection, competition, and other traditional SEO factors matter much more than the use of AI.”

Sam Oh

VP of Marketing, Ahrefs

Sam Oh explores the different use cases of ChatGPT for SEO and finds most of the ways people are using it will have negative results. However, he is bullish on AI for SEO, just not for writing blog posts.

He believes AI-driven keyword research is unreliable as its results have no search demand. “ChatGPT is insanely cool, but most of the use cases you’ve seen in Twitter or LinkedIn threads or YouTube videos are mostly hyped up for engagement bait,” he reveals. 

However, Sam thinks using ChatGPT to generate titles for blog posts is promising. According to him, the best use case of ChatGPT is creating outlines for your blog posts. This can help you organize your thoughts and get your creative juices flowing, helping you create better content.

Daniel Lofaso

Founder & CEO, Digital Elevator

Daniel Lofaso brings a reasoned judgment to the discussion, insisting that Google will do what Google has always done. He believes it will continue to reward content that is novel, written by subject matter experts (SMEs), and backed by references, examples, or unique takeaways. An article written by GPT-3 is no more than a simple regurgitating of what is already on the web, he says. It is often no different from what you’ll get by outsourcing it to a writer with no real subject matter expertise.

Daniel believes SEOs and content marketers need to step up their game and create systems and processes to make content valuable from an E-E-A-T point of view, conduct interviews with SMEs, and develop content with legitimate value to readers. “I do see the value in utilizing GPT-3 for SEO in many areas (the title of this blog was helpful with GPT-3), but the lazy use of having it rewrite what’s already out there is just not going to rank. Period,” he puts it. 

How is GPT-3 Used in SEO?

GPT-3 has widespread applications across the SEO domain. Whether they are effective or potentially harmful are still up for debate. However, the below are some of the primary applications of using AI-content that some SEOs testing.

They include:

1. Creating Content: You can use GPT-3 to generate content at scale. With its advanced natural language processing capabilities, GPT-3 generates engaging content for websites that can boost search engine rankings. Businesses in any sector can use the technology to create blog posts, meta descriptions, and other content for their web properties.
   • Pros: 
     • Content can be created at scale
     • Helps with writers block
     • Often is surprisingly well-formulated
   • Cons:
     • Content risks being the same as everyone else
     • GPT-3 doesn’t provide references
     • GPT-3 can often be highly inaccurate
2. Conducting Keyword Research: Apart from writing content, GPT-3 can also be used to identify and analyze relevant keywords and search terms for your company. This can help you optimize your content and rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs).
   • Pros:
     • Can get interesting, logically sound keywords
   • Cons:
     • The volume of these keywords is not provided 
3. Creating content calendars: GPT-3 is actually surprisingly good at putting together topically relevant content when prompted to do so. If you suffer from writers block, this can help plan the next sequence of blogs.
   • Pros:
     • The topics provided by GPT-3 are often great and sound interesting.
   • Cons:
     • Again, GPT-3 does not use keyword research so you’d want to layer in anything they propose with actual keyword research and targeting.

What’s the takeaway on AI-generated content?

The debate over AI-generated content is no doubt going to rage on for some time, particularly in the realm of SEO. The takeaway so far is that while AI offers the potential for increased efficiency, it also raises concerns about authenticity and quality, which are primary points of emphasis with Google.

Whether you are a marketer with decades of experience or an SEO newbie, there is but one consensus about AI-generated content so far – be open to change but always prioritize quality over quantity.