A recent study by Ahrefs has confirmed that Google does not penalise AI content in rankings, debunking common myths about AI-driven content being negatively impacted by search algorithms. This finding challenges the widespread belief that using AI in content creation could harm SEO performance.
AI Content In Rankings: Key Insights from the Ahrefs Study
Ahrefs analysed data from 600,000 pages to check the AI content in rankings. It found that the correlation between AI usage and rankings is almost zero, at just 0.011. This reinforces the results from a similar study conducted by Byword in April 2024, where they analyzed 5,000 sites. At the time, many feared that Google’s March 2024 update would de-index AI content, but the study showed that AI wasn’t the problem. Instead, the issue was poor content strategy.
Here are the key takeaways from the Ahrefs study:
- 81.9% of top-ranking pages use a mix of AI and human-generated content.
- Pure AI content rarely ranks in the top position, but neither does pure human content.
- AI content and rankings showed a correlation of just 0.011, proving there is no penalty for using AI.
- Content strategy is key: Sites focusing on niche topics saw an increase of 6.2%, while those with random content suffered a traffic drop of 26.4%.
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The study proves that Google cares about the quality and relevance of content rather than the process behind its creation. Content that serves a niche, is helpful to users, and is high in quality will perform better, regardless of whether it’s created by AI or humans.
If you’ve been hesitant to use AI content for fear of penalties, this data suggests you’ve been optimizing for the wrong thing. As Ahrefs states, “Google probably doesn’t care how you made the content. It simply cares whether searchers find it helpful.”
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