Don’t Be a Copycat or a Suck-up!

Generative AI in content creation (specifically writing) has changed the game. For better? Yes. For worse? Also yes. We know that the benefits are speed, efficiency and incredible scalability. On the flip side, gen AI has turned writing, content creation and content consumption on its head. As businesses scramble to meet the increasing demand for content volume, content heads and editors pull their hair at the mediocrity regurgitated by ‘content writers’, whereas writers feel the pressure and often cave into the ease of generative AI. Ironically, in this smog of AI, the future of content is very clearly ‘human content’ – efficiently placed and distributed by using tech (or SEO) techniques.

So how can businesses rank well on search and answer engines? How can they make their online presence more discoverable via search? What is the future of content and SEO? How to connect with Millennials, Gen Z and increasingly Gen Alpha? The short answer: Be real and helpful (or ‘no cap’ content in Gen Z lingo). The long answer, however, is to consider these guidelines when creating and distributing content:

Thanks to gen AI, there has been an exponential increase in the amount of AI-written low-value content. Google knows that AI-infused, rehashed, keyword-laden content doesn’t resonate with audiences. It also needs new content to keep its data sets learning, adapting and growing. This is why Google and similar companies prefer personality-driven, credible and authentic content. Even when writing for brands, writers need to pepper their output with their unique perspectives and experiences, making it a compelling read that you can’t find anywhere else on the web.

Search engines, especially Google, are progressively prioritising content that demonstrates authority. Google defines authority as a combination of experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T). To put this into action, brands and businesses should:

• Aim to become the go-to source for comprehensive information on a topic or niche.

• Publish well-researched content that cites credible sources and ensure the content is original, substantial and provides valuable insights.

• Build a deep catalogue of content on related topics and subtopics on their website or social accounts.

• Implement a site architecture that makes it easy for humans and bots to discover relevant and related content.

In 2025, Google’s standards for high-quality content will go beyond E-E-A-T to the expanded notability, experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness (N-E-E-A-T). Google is rewarding businesses and brands that highlight writers who bring experience and expertise to the table. A brand can achieve this by highlighting author credentials on their websites or socials. This includes the author’s bio, achievements, their social media links, etc. Dedicated author pages work very well too. All this aligns with Google’s updated standards and builds lasting trust with audiences. Credibility is not just about content quality; it is also about the authority of the person behind it.

Answer engines are AI-powered technologies that synthesise information to answer conversational queries for users. Think: ChatGPT, Google SGE, Gemini, Reddit, Quora, etc. Answer engine optimisation (AEO) is the process of optimising content to obtain higher visibility on these platforms. Here are tips to optimise performing well on answer engines:

• Implement a Q&A-style format in your content. Include FAQs on your website. Identify and incorporate conversational and long-tail keywords users may use in conversational searches (words like what, where, when and how).

• Create content in a format favoured for featured snippets and AI overviews, such as bullet points, tables or short paragraphs.

• Implement schema markup to help search engines understand the context and content of your page.

Search engines are still dominant, but social search and especially video-centric platforms are growing in popularity among Gen Z, Millennials and Gen Alpha; 31% of Gen Z consumers use social search when looking for answers to questions and prefer social search over search engines. To optimise content for social search, content creators and marketers need to include relevant hashtags and keywords in their social posts and then aggressively pursue video creation, long-form and especially short-form, such as Reels or Shorts. Search engines are becoming better at indexing videos and ranking directly on search engine results pages (SERPs). Use techniques such as geotagging locations, alt text, localising content, cross-promoting and repurposing content to rank better and gain more visibility.

The future of content is high-quality, value-adding content that is distributed and presented intelligently. Don’t let the lure of easily created AI content fool you into thinking you don’t need to use your brain or creative muscles. Even machines respect and prioritise human ingenuity. Let’s start doing it as well.

Amber Arshad is Senior Marketing Manager at Enterprise64. amber.arshad@enterprise64.com