073: The Risks of AI-Generated Content at Scale: How One Business’s Strategy Led to Traffic Declines (Office Hours)

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In this special episode, Senior SEO Strategist Mandy Politi reveals key strategies for mastering SEO in the age of AI, focusing on Google's EEAT guidelines. Through the compelling case study of a real Optidge client, Mandy and Danny highlight the risks of relying too heavily on AI-generated content for the sake of ramping up quantity, emphasizing the importance of aligning content with user intent. The conversation shares expert insights on on-page and local SEO, comprehensive content audits, addressing technical challenges, and best practices to ensure long-term success in search rankings.
An Optidge "Office Hours" Episode

Our Office Hours episodes are your go-to for details, how-to’s, and advice on specific marketing topics. Join our fellow Optidge team members, and sometimes even 1:1 teachings from Danny himself, in these shorter, marketing-focused episodes every few weeks. Get ready to get marketing!
Episode Highlights:

• Mandy emphasized that AI is a valuable tool but must be used in alignment with Google’s EEAT guidelines. Content created at scale using AI can lead to a dramatic drop in traffic if it prioritizes search rankings over user experience and relevance, as seen with Client X.
• Taking the approach of targeting every possible keyword, even those that are irrelevant, and producing low-quality content are both harmful tactics for a website’s long-term performance. These strategies were especially detrimental for a business in the medical field, where establishing trustworthiness is essential. Unqualified traffic results in users quickly exiting the site, signaling to Google that the content is irrelevant, leading to drops in rankings and overall site performance.
• The conversation highlighted that duplicating content, especially using AI, dilutes SEO value and confuses Google about which pages to rank. For Client X, this led to non-indexed pages, poor rankings, and irrelevant traffic, showing the importance of targeting the right keywords and maintaining content quality.
• The solution lies in a thorough content and technical audit, focusing on removing irrelevant content, resolving duplication, and optimizing for qualified traffic. By following these best practices, the client could see improvements in traffic and conversions over time.

Episode Links:

• Mandy’s LinkedIn
• Another TDMM episode with Mandy
• Optidge blog on this case study

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Kapitler

1. 073: The Risks of AI-Generated Content at Scale: How One Business’s Strategy Led to Traffic Declines (Office Hours) (00:00:00)

2. SEO Best Practices and AI Usage (00:00:05)

3. Avoid Unqualified Traffic for Website Success (00:06:37)

4. Importance of on-Page SEO Optimization (00:16:27)

5. Optimizing Location Pages With AI (00:26:37)

6. Fixing Website Performance Through Audits (00:32:03)

7. Implementing Local SEO for Website Success (00:38:33)