AI-generated content and Google: what the rules actually say
Google does not ban AI-written content, but it penalises content made to game rankings. What its guidance says, what scaled content abuse is, and what is safe.
Two opposite myths circulate: that Google detects and punishes anything written with AI, and that AI lets you publish a thousand pages and rank for everything. Google's own guidance contradicts both.
What Google says
Google's Search Central guidance, published in 2023, says it focuses on the quality of content rather than how it is produced, and that appropriate use of AI or automation is not against its guidelines. The same guidance says using automation to generate content primarily to manipulate rankings violates its spam policies.
Scaled content abuse
In 2024 Google introduced a spam policy for scaled content abuse: many pages generated primarily to manipulate rankings and not to help users. It applies regardless of how the pages were made. The warning signs are volume without value: hundreds of near-identical pages, pages targeting searches the site knows nothing about, rewritten copies of other sites.
What is safe
| Fine | Risky |
|---|---|
| AI drafts a post you review, correct and add to | Publishing drafts no one has read |
| A steady pace of useful posts | Hundreds of pages at once on thin topics |
| Your own first-hand detail in each post | Paraphrased copies of top-ranking pages |
| Posts on what your business knows | Posts on anything with search volume |
The test
Would this page exist if search engines did not? If the answer is yes, because your customers ask this question and you know the answer, the tool used to write it is not the issue. The practical side is in writing SEO blog posts with Claude and how often to blog for SEO.
SEO Blog Writer is designed on the safe side of that line: one post a week, aimed at a search your buyers type, with one detail from you in every post and no invented facts, checked before you publish it.
Questions
Does Google penalise AI-generated content?
Not for being AI-generated. Google's guidance says it rewards helpful content however it is produced. Using automation to produce content mainly to manipulate rankings is against its spam policies.
What is scaled content abuse?
A spam policy Google introduced in 2024: producing many pages primarily to manipulate rankings rather than help people, whether by AI, by people, or both.
Should I disclose that a post used AI?
Google suggests considering disclosure where readers would reasonably want to know how content was made. Many sites note it for heavily automated content; for AI-assisted writing a person reviewed, it is a judgement call.