80% of marketers use AI for content creation, according to HubSpot’s 2026 State of Marketing Report. This is now the new normal. AI-generated content is everywhere, in the blogs we read online, the videos we watch on socials and the AI posters from businesses littering your Facebook grumbler.
So, how did we get to this point? Since the introduction of ChatGPT in 2022 and the integration of AI into most marketing tools, it has become second nature to rely on AI rather than tap into our own fully functioning brains.
Now I’m a content writer by trade, so I approach AI-generated content (AIGC) with trepidation, but there is use for AI in careful doses. In this article, I’ll cover the impact of this content type on marketing and how to best use it to improve your content strategy.
TL;DR
- Most marketers use AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini to brainstorm, draft and optimise content.
- Relying on AI without human intervention leads to strategic blind spots, vague content briefs and generic copy that requires hours of editing to align with brand voice and content goals.
- Google doesn’t penalise you for using AI-generated content. You can still use content and rank well in SERPs as long as it’s high-quality and helpful.
- Top-ranking pages on SERPs are predominantly human-written or heavily edited to ensure the content provides enough helpful, relatable value to readers.
- AI tools are good for overcoming creative blocks and speeding up workflows. A content marketing expert is best placed to provide real-world strategy, brand voice guidance and overall quality control.
What is AI-generated content (AIGC)?
AI-generated content, or AIGC, refers to web content, ad copy, audio, videos, images and other creative content produced by AI tools. These tools include popular LLMs such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude, which use machine learning algorithms to analyse large datasets and generate content based on a user’s prompt.
The state of AI content creation in 2026
With AI tools now so accessible, it’s no surprise that AI-generated content is found and used almost everywhere in marketing. The latest statistics:
- One-third of webpages on the internet are generated or heavily edited by AI (Pew Research Center)
- One in ten (9.35%) webpages with a .com domain show signs of AI authorship (Pew Research Center)
- 75% of marketers use AI for media production (HubSpot)
- More than 40% of long-form content on LinkedIn is flagged as AI-generated, and 45.9% on Twitter/X as fully AI-generated or assisted (Pangram)
- 1.3 billion videos on TikTok are labelled as AI-generated (Guardian)
- 80 million AI images are generated every day (Imagera AI)
- 48% of marketers use AI to brainstorm content ideas and 38% use it to create content briefs (Semrush)
- 60% of marketers use ChatGPT and similar tools to research keywords for content (Semrush)
How does AI-generated content impact digital marketing?
Easier content ideation vs. strategic blind spots
We all know first-hand how helpful AI can be in the brainstorming process. Not all of us are creative, and that’s ok – because we now have AI to help guide the way. Even as a copywriter, I can hold my hand up and say how AI has helped me get past writer’s block and generate content ideas for new clients in industries I haven’t yet got to grips with. A good prompt, and off you go.
But when using AI for ideation becomes an overreliance, how do we know our own ideas from AI’s? We have seen this firsthand at Trio, where brands are sending AI-generated briefs for website projects and other creative work. As an agency, we know a thing or two about a good brief (we’re actually developing an AI tool to do just that – more on that later). So, when we receive an AI brief with no human input, it’s harder to work from, since the person sending it usually doesn’t know what they want for their website and hasn’t read the brief to see if it actually aligns with their business’ goals and needs.
The AI model assumes on your behalf. It lacks real-world understanding, so the ideas aren’t always accurate or reproducible. Not only that, but AI won’t consider your strategy or what success looks like for your brand (unless prompted), so the foundations behind your content or brief may not align with the wider picture.
Next time you use AI for content ideation, ask yourself: “Do I actually know what I want from it?” If no is the answer, you’ll need to go back to the drawing board.
Quick first drafts vs. endless editing
With a model’s instant content creation abilities, it’s easy to wave goodbye to the hours spent procrastinating, staring at blank documents and tinkering between design options. Usually, if you’ve given a solid prompt, you’ll receive an initial draft that’s usable and then after that, it’s on you.
This is where most brands fall short. Many will accept the first AI draft as the final. Or if edits are needed, AI carries them out… and therein lies the vicious cycle of AI-generated content. AI brainstorms, briefs, creates and edits. Where do you sit within this? If you have no say, how can you believe in what you’re sharing? Content is core to any brand; it’s a direct way for your audience to get to know you. A half-hearted piece of AIGC will only throw you into the growing pit of all the look-alike AI voices that flood the internet.
Another impact of AI-generated content is the edits that come with it. When I’ve worked with AI first drafts of web content, there is either too much or not enough to work with. You’re either editing down mounds of repetitive content or dealing with generic statements with bold claims and no evidence to back them up. Hours of editing go by, and you realise you could have done this all yourself.
I must say that not all AI-generated copy is bad. It really depends on what you feed the AI model and how much time you spend editing it. When you use AI for any content, you need to accept that editing is a step you cannot skip.
Further reading: Need help with editing? Find out our top 5 copywriting mistakes to avoid.
Scalable SEO reach vs. Bad content penalty
As a follow-on to writing copy, AI models can also optimise your content for AI SEO so it meets the changing needs of the search landscape. You can also use these tools for keyword research, content audits, metadata and alt text generation.
If validated with the right tools (e.g., Google Search Console and Semrush) and edited properly, your content will help increase your visibility on traditional search and AI platforms.
Many would assume that AI-generated content would be punished by Google. In fact, Google only cares if your content is good or not – not if it’s made by AI. Ahrefs’ recent study (2026) proves just that:
- 82.2% of pages in top-3 rankings have heavily AI-generated content (under 50% of page content is AI-generated)
- 5.3% of top-ranking pages are 100% AI-generated
- Low- and moderately used AI-content webpages received 2-3x the organic impressions of high AI-content pages
- Google will index even the most heavily AI-generated content, with 40% of pages in the study still indexed
While this shows AI-generated content ranking well in some cases, Ahrefs found that a majority of top-ranking pages are mostly human-written. Performance worsens when AI is overused, and content quality generally declines in tandem. As such, Google will reward your content if it’s high quality, however it’s produced. This all goes back to the same hallmarks of creating helpful, reliable, people-first content that satisfies Google’s quality rater guidelines: E-E-A-T.
- More on E-E-A-T:
You are what you E-E-A-T: An Introduction (Part 1) - You are what you E-E-A-T: Experience and expertise (Part 2)
- You are what you E-E-A-T: Authority & trustworthiness (Part 3)
The point to take away here is that AI-generated content will ultimately never be as good as human-generated content. Yes, it is entirely possible to create helpful, well-researched content using AI; the issue, however, is that most people do not. That’s where editing and validation come into play.
Further reading: Is your content paying off on AI search? Measure your AI visibility to discover whether your brand is appearing in the right place.
Trio’s view on AI-generated content
At Trio, we believe that:
- AI tools should support content creation rather than replace human judgement. These models offer great value during the initial research, audit and content mapping, but they lack the contextual understanding required to build a distinct brand and content strategy.
- Often, the biggest bottleneck in creative work isn’t the first draft. It’s defining the objective, audience and strategy before the content is generated. This is why it’s important to rely on experts to set your brand’s content strategy. They are more likely to understand your content goals and read between the lines to deliver value to your audience and brand.
- Not everyone is a natural copywriter. Using AI tools to help structure a blog and organise thoughts is fine. But please, proofread the AI-generated content! You should always edit AIGC to match your brand tone of voice, provide value to your audience and offer additional insights and expertise that help your content stand out from what’s already available.
- AI is just a retrieval engine. It can’t come up with new or unique ideas; it only knows what it was trained on (even if that training data is vast). To be truly innovative and creative, you will always need to use a human mind; otherwise, you will end up with a lot of regurgitated AI slop that is hard to differentiate between brands.
- Watch out for new guidelines asking content producers to mark AI-generated content. It will quickly become awkward and off-putting for your audience if all of your marketing content is labelled as ‘AI-generated’. Audiences still prefer to think that you’re creating content especially for them, not using AI to cut corners.
Want better content? Speak to Trio
Search engines don’t reward generic AI content – they reward content with real value. As AI SEO specialists, Trio creates expert-led, people-first content designed to rank well, earn AI citations and convert real readers.
Contact Trio today to elevate your content strategy.
FAQs
Yes, if the content is of good quality. Google doesn’t punish you for using AI content; in fact, a recent Ahrefs study shows that even heavily AI-generated content can rank in the top-3 positions (this is not a regular occurrence, though). If you overrely on AI content, your content is unlikely to rank well in search engines, as quality often declines with increased AI usage.
AI slop is a colloquial term for low-quality content produced in high volumes by artificial intelligence. This type of content has flooded social media, leaving many users overexposed to mass-produced content that lacks accuracy, originality or effort. Social platforms like LinkedIn have recently introduced a feature to report AI slop, so there is less of this content online.
