I have been seeing a lot of discussion around AI-generated content in digital marketing, websites, and online search, and Google has now made its guidance a little more interesting. On October 1, 2026, Google updated its official Search Central documentation on using generative AI content on websites, adding information from its Search Quality Raters Guidelines. People around the world who review and rate search results based on Google's guidelines. They help Google evaluate how well its search systems are performing.
For me, the important point is that Google is not saying, “Do not use AI.” Google says generative AI can be useful for researching a topic and adding structure to original content. The problem comes when AI or similar tools are used to create large amounts of content without adding real value for users. This is what Google refers to as scaled content abuse. In simple words, it means producing lots of pages mainly to get more content into Search, while putting little effort, originality, or useful information into those pages. So, I see the October 1 update less as a warning against AI and more as a reminder that how AI is used and the value of the final content matter more than simply whether AI was involved.
Google’s Guidance on Using Generative AI
I checked Google's official documentation on using generative AI content on websites, and the message is actually quite straightforward. Google is not saying that using AI to create content is automatically against its guidelines.
Google says generative AI can be particularly useful when researching a topic and adding structure to original content. I can use AI to help me research a subject, organize my ideas, or create a structure for an article. But I still need to make sure the final content provides something useful for the people reading it.
The concern starts when AI tools or similar tools are used to create many pages without adding value for users. Google refers to this as scaled content abuse when large amounts of content are created mainly to manipulate Search rankings than to help people. This can include using AI to generate pages with little original information, copying or combining content from other sources without adding meaningful value or creating large numbers of pages that provide little or no benefit to the reader
Google also recommends that if I use generative AI content on my website I should follow Google Search Essentials and its spam policies. In terms Search Essentials are Googles basic requirements and best practices for making a website eligible to appear in Google Search, including technical requirements, spam policies and other key best practices. Googles spam policies explain the practices that can make content ineligible for Search especially when content is created to manipulate rankings of helping users.
So, using AI itself is not the main concern. The important question is what I am using AI for and whether the final content provides real value to the user. Google says AI or automation used primarily to manipulate Search rankings can violate its spam policies.
Search Quality Raters Guidelines
Google's Search Quality Rater Guidelines are instructions used by Google's search quality raters when they evaluate the quality of Search results. Search quality raters are real people who review Search results and provide Google with feedback about whether its search systems appear to be producing useful and relevant results. Google has said that there are more than 10,000 search quality raters around the world.
I want to make one thing clear here: search raters do not decide where a website ranks. Their ratings do not directly change the ranking of an individual website or page. Instead, Google uses their feedback to evaluate how well its ranking systems are working. So, I would think of search raters as quality reviewers for Google's Search systems, rather than people who manually rank websites.
Content Quality Factors Used by Search Raters
The Search Quality Rater Guidelines give raters a framework for evaluating the quality of pages and Search results. One of the most important areas is the quality of the Main Content, which is the part of the page that directly helps the page achieve its purpose.
Effort
Google looks at how much human work went into creating the content or the systems behind it. For example, analysis useful research or building a useful tool can demonstrate effort. On the hand automatically producing thousands of pages without proper oversight or manual curation can demonstrate little to no effort.
This is particularly relevant when I use AI. If I simply generate an amount of content and publish it without reviewing or improving it I am not adding much human effort to the final result.
Quality and Relevance
Google also considers whether the content provides quality and relevant information that's useful, to visitors. The content should be accurate, clear and focused on what the user's actually looking for.
For example, an article answering a question should provide information that directly addresses that question instead of adding unnecessary information just to make the article longer. The important point is that the content should provide accurate and relevant information that fulfils the users purpose and gives them a satisfying experience
Originality
Google also looks at whether the content provides unique information or perspectives that are not already available elsewhere. This is something I think SEO service providers should pay attention to.
If my article simply summarizes five other articles without adding anything new, I should ask myself what makes my page worth reading. I could add my own experience, examples, testing, analysis, screenshots, case studies or a different explanation that makes the information easier to understand.
Expertise
Google also considers whether the content demonstrates the expertise needed to provide a satisfying and useful experience for visitors. The level of expertise will naturally depend on the topic and the type of content.
For example, a technical article should demonstrate a proper understanding of the subject, while an article based on personal experience should clearly reflect genuine first-hand knowledge. The important point is that the content should be created with enough relevant expertise and understanding to fulfil its purpose and give users useful information.
Accuracy
Google also tells raters to consider whether informational content is factually accurate. For topics that can significantly affect people's health, finances or safety, Google places particular importance on accuracy and consistency with established expert consensus.
This is one reason I would never publish AI-generated information without checking it.
AI can produce an answer that sounds completely confident and still contain incorrect information. Google specifically warns that generative AI outputs can contain inaccuracies, so AI-generated content should be manually fact-checked and reviewed before publishing.
E-E-A-T Still Matters
Google talks about E-E-A-T, which stands for:
- Experience – First-hand experience demonstrated through practical knowledge, examples or real-world insights.
- Expertise – knowledge and understanding of the subject.
- Authoritativeness – Recognition of the creator or website as a source.
- Trustworthiness – information, credible sources and a trustworthy website and creator.
Google says E-E-A-T itself is not a specific ranking factor. Instead, it is a useful way to think about the qualities that help make content helpful and trustworthy.
If the content is useful, helpful, original and satisfies aspects of E-E-A-T, Google says it might do well in Search. Using AI does not give content any special ranking advantage.
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Key Areas to Focus on When Using AI
When using AI to create content for a website, I suggest to focus on more than just the main content. Also need to review the different elements that appear on the website and make sure they are accurate and useful.
Here are the main areas I should focus on:
- Website Content: Make sure the information is accurate, relevant, useful, and provides real value to visitors.
- Title: Make sure the title accurately describes the page and matches what visitors are looking for.
- Meta Description: Check whether it correctly describes the page instead of using a generic AI-generated description.
- Structured Data: Make sure the structured data accurately represents the content on the website.
- Image Alt Text: Make sure the alt text genuinely describes the image.
- Author Information: Where appropriate, provide clear information about who created the content and their relevant experience.
- Facts and Claims: Check important facts, statistics, dates, quotes, and other claims before publishing.
- Originality: Make sure the website adds something original instead of simply rewriting or summarizing information already available elsewhere.
- First-Hand Experience: Where relevant, include genuine experience, examples, observations, or insights that demonstrate knowledge of the subject.
- User Experience: Make sure visitors can easily understand the information and find what they need without unnecessary content or confusion.
- Transparency: Where appropriate, provide context about how the content was created, particularly when AI or automation played a significant role.
- AI-Generated Information: Fact-check AI-generated information and correct anything inaccurate or misleading
- Overall Relevance: Make sure all the information supports the purpose of the website instead of adding content simply to attract search traffic.
E-commerce and AI-Generated Images
There is another area to consider when working with an e-commerce website: Google Merchant Centre.
Google has requirements for AI-generated product content. If AI is used to create product images the images need to include metadata identifying them as AI-generated. Google specifies the IPTC DigitalSourceType value TrainedAlgorithmicMedia for this purpose.
The same applies to AI-generated product titles and descriptions. These need to be submitted through the Merchant Centre attributes and identified as AI-generated. So when working on an e-commerce website I would check product images, product titles, product descriptions and their Merchant Centre data separately. Generated product content needs to follow the specific Merchant Centre requirements rather than being treated like ordinary website content.
Warning About Programmatic SEO
There is another point from the SEO community that caught my attention.
John Mueller, a Google Search Advocate who works with Google’s Search Relations team, has also commented on the risks of programmatic SEO, saying it often leads to a site that is spam, borderline spam, or low quality.
In simple terms, programmatic SEO means creating a large number of website pages using a structured or automated process, often from a database or template. For example, a business might create separate pages for hundreds of locations, products, services, or combinations of keywords using the same basic page structure.
Programmatic SEO itself is not automatically a problem. The concern starts when many pages are created mainly to target search queries but provide unique or useful information for visitors.
This is where the term borderline spam comes in. It describes content that may not look like spam but is getting close to that line because it offers little real value and is created mainly for search visibility. For example creating thousands of location pages by changing the city name, keyword and a few sentences may make the pages technically different but if each page does not provide meaningful information about that location the pages can become low-value at scale.
The concern is creating amounts of unoriginal content primarily to manipulate Search rankings rather than to help users.
What This Means for the SEO Community
For me Googles updated guidance matters, to the SEO community because it changes how we should think about using AI and creating content at scale.
AI can absolutely be part of the SEO workflow. I can use it for research, brainstorming, outlining organizing information, summarizing and generating ideas. The final content still needs human judgment fact-checking originality, relevant expertise and useful information.
It also means SEO professionals should not focus only on how many pages they can publish. Creating hundreds or thousands of pages does not automatically create more opportunities to rank. If those pages are similar, provide little unique value, or are created mainly to target search queries, they can become low-value content at scale.
For digital marketing agencies, SEO agencies and website owners this means the focus should move from "How content can we produce?" to "How much useful content can we create?" Each page should have a purpose satisfy the users intent and provide something genuinely valuable.
That is why this update matters to SEO, AI can make content production faster. SEO still depends on the quality, usefulness and value of what is actually published.