Does Google Hate AI Content? Kinda… But Not Really.
Ok, so, there’s this big ol’ misconception floating around that Google is out for blood when it comes to AI-generated content. Makes sense — spammy AI garbage is clogging the internet like hair in a shower drain.
But the thing is… Google’s not allergic to AI. It’s just allergic to bad AI. You know, the “copy-paste-a-thousand-articles-and-hope-for-the-best” kind.
Now, if you actually take the time to clean up the AI mess and make it work for you, Google seems to be pretty into it.
I tested this myself by using AI to sneak my way to featured snippets — and yes, that means I ended up knocking Wikipedia down a few pegs.
Here’s how it went down (and how you can do the same thing).
Step 1 — Hunting for Snippets to Steal (Like a Digital Bounty Hunter)
So, I fired up Ahrefs’ Webmaster Tools (the free version, because we’re all ballin’ on a budget) and wandered over to the Organic Keywords Report.
Now, here’s the lazy SEO trick:
1. I filtered the report to show featured snippets I wasn’t holding.
2. Let Ahrefs spit out 7,000+ keywords where my pages were already lurking somewhere in the top 10.
3. Picked through ’em like I was sifting for gold nuggets.
Now, not every snippet is worth fighting for. So, I set a few rules to avoid wasting time:
Rule 1 — Content Has to Actually Make Sense
– If someone’s Googling “best ways to build a sales funnel,” I’m not about to shove “SEO for beginners” in their face. Relevance matters. Stick to stuff your page already talks about.
Rule 2 — Fight the Big Guys (But Not Too Big)
– I went after pages owned by sites with similar or higher authority. If you’re gunning for that snippet, might as well aim high.
Rule 3 — Don’t Chase Snippets You Just Had
– Snagging a snippet for two days and losing it isn’t the flex you think it is. I skipped any keywords where I’d recently held the top spot for a while.
Step 2 — Let AI Do the Dirty Work (So You Don’t Have To)
I grabbed the first keyword that caught my eye — “marketing funnel.”
HotJar had the snippet, and frankly, it was just a short definition. Nothing special.
So, I hit up ChatGPT and said:
HotJar owns the featured snippet for “marketing funnel.”
Here’s what they wrote: [Paste Snippet].
Now, here’s my version: [Paste My Content].
Make it better.
Now, here’s the thing — ChatGPT didn’t just “make it better.” It spat out a whole essay. We’re talking deep-dive, three-course-meal-level stuff. Not exactly what I needed.
Step 3 — Teaching AI to Chill Out
AI is like that overachiever in class who does way too much. So, I had to dial it back.
I literally told ChatGPT:
Pretend you’re an SEO expert. Your job is to make definitions better for Google snippets. What makes one snippet beat another?
It gave me seven simple points:
• Get to the point.
• Keep it short.
• Use lists if possible.
• Add images or tables for funsies.
• Speak like you’re explaining it to a friend.
I handed over the original snippet and told ChatGPT to follow those rules — no fluff, no side quests.
The SEO Trick Nobody Talks About (And Why It Works)
After I plugged the AI-generated snippet into my post, I waited… and nothing happened.
Then I realized the published date was still ancient. Rookie move.
So, I just changed the date to the day I edited the post. Literally, that’s all I did.
Three days later? I had the snippet.
What Happened Next (Spoiler: It Didn’t Last Forever)
A few weeks rolled by, and I had snippets for:
• SEO vs SEM
• PageRank
• Marketing funnel
I even bumped Wikipedia down for one of them. Felt pretty good.
Then I got a little curious — what happens if I put the original, non-AI content back?
I tried it. Three hours later, I lost every single snippet.
So, What’s the Takeaway?
• AI content isn’t some sketchy hack — it just makes content clearer.
• Google’s down with AI as long as the content actually answers questions.
• Simple beats fancy.
• And apparently, changing the publish date is still a thing.
So, if you’ve got some stale content sitting around, maybe let AI clean it up.
And for the love of all things SEO… don’t forget to update the date.