Mass-produced AI content is in Google’s crosshairs. That’s the message from its newly published guidance on how the search engine ranks web pages.
Google’s updated direction names four qualities its search quality raters use to judge content: effort, originality, talent or skill, and accuracy. Treat the guidance as Google telling us what its systems are trying to reward.
“Effort” looks at “the extent to which human work went into creating the content or the systems powering it”.
Note the use of the word “human” there.
Pumping out large volumes of AI text with little oversight or curation will count as low-effort and will not perform as well.
Why effort matters for AI search
Since Google introduced the concept of “helpful content” in 2022, it’s been the guiding thought I use to advise clients on creating content that’s discoverable in search and engaging for readers.
With this new guidance in mind, content should include original analysis, first-hand experience, and custom maps and graphics. Add proprietary data and expert interviews, and that gives any content team a solid formula to work with.
Effort counts off your site too. AI answers draw heavily on third-party coverage and expert commentary, which is why earned media matters for AI visibility. Google still uses the E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness) framework, and of the four, it says “trust is most important”.
It’s worth flagging that, despite the shift in user behaviour from traditional search to AI mode, Google is still a far more valuable source of traffic than LLMs like Claude or ChatGPT. Across 115,000 sites tracked by Ahrefs in September, Google drove 24% of all traffic, while every AI assistant combined drove under 0.5%.
How to add ‘effort’ to your B2B content strategy
This blog post isn’t to say you shouldn’t use AI in your content processes. Of course it has a role to play (here’s how we think about AI in communications at Delphi).
My advice is to focus your best efforts into the content where it will matter the most – think thought leadership content, data indices, and executive perspectives. It’s these types of content that Google and AI engines will reward. For tech brands, I see three factors which will help cement true “effort” into your content creation and digital storytelling:
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- 📊 Your own data, linked to what you do. Our client Netskope is a great example – they use data from platform telemetry to create the AI Index, which feeds their day-to-day content engine.
- 🧑💼 Real experts that you can put behind proper author profiles on your website, with an active LinkedIn presence. Note: “AI-generated headshots, made-up names, or false credentials” will be flagged as deception.
- 🗡️ Unique points of view that can only come from your brand or exec (and not regurgitated from a ChatGPT response). This is the edge that helps your brand stand out in a sea of slop.
If you need help with any of these factors or want a broader chat about supporting your content programme, get in touch.
John Crossley
