{"id":10946,"date":"2023-01-31T12:38:31","date_gmt":"2023-01-31T12:38:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brainlabsdigital.com\/?p=10946"},"modified":"2025-06-20T23:07:43","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T23:07:43","slug":"brainlabsdigital-com-blog-seopinions-q1-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brainlabsdigital.com\/brainlabsdigital-com-blog-seopinions-q1-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"SEOpinions Q1 2023 – E-E-A-T, AI & ChatGPT, & Algorithm Changes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SEOpinions is a quarterly newsletter by Brainlabs to cut through the cruft, inform you of important SEO updates, and predict upcoming changes so you can prioritize your SEO roadmap accordingly. Read the last edition here<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2023: The Year Pandora\u2019s Box Opened for AI in Search<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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There has been *so much hubbub* in the SEO industry since the release of ChatGPT less than two months ago on November 30th, 2022. And with all that noise, it can be hard to know what to prioritize in your SEO roadmap. 
Rest assured (Google and boss), this article was *not<\/strong>* written by generative AI, but not for lack of trying! After many attempts of trying to generate something<\/em> in ChatGPT, it was clear that my experience and expertise were going to be the only things to stitch together my scattered thoughts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Double E-EAT This For Lunch<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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In a previous SEOpinions<\/a>, I discussed the importance of E-A-T (Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness), how you can leverage it to see better content performance, and how Google is shifting its algorithm to prefer content written with E-A-T in mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To address shoddy content\u2014especially in a world of generative AI content\u2014Google has updated its search rater guidelines to include an extra E for Experience in what is now \u201cExperience-Expertise-Authority-Trustworthiness\u201d (E-E-A-T). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This extra E highlights the effort Google is making to ensure that ranked content is written by an author with experience, and is of appropriate quality for the topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See Google\u2019s guidelines on E-E-A-T here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experience, Expertise, and Authority all bubble up to higher levels of trustworthiness, which is stated as the most important criterion by Google.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind topics classified as Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) require a higher level of trust than other topics\u2014and this can vary on a page-by-page basis so it is essential to have well-researched, expert-driven content for any topic that may veer into the YMYL category. Google states:
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\u201cYou’ll also see clearer guidance throughout the guidelines underscoring the importance of content created to be original and helpful for people, and explaining that helpful information can come in a variety of different formats and from a range of sources.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In regards to YMYL, there may be instances where content is entirely left to experts in the field rather than folks with experience. Google provides this helpful example in the search rater guidelines (page 28)<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And lastly, are your website pages authored?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another addition to the search rater guidelines<\/a> asks the raters to attempt to understand the author of the page. This addition shows Google\u2019s attempt to get to the bottom of who<\/em> is writing content. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On page 15, Google states:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cStart by finding out who is responsible for the website and who created the content on the page… Then, look for information about the website and\/or content creators on the website itself.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

If it’s unclear, you may say goodbye to better rankings! To make authorship easier for Google to understand, it is best to, A) provide clear and linked citations, B) clear and robust author bios, and C) use schema markup when applicable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Action items: <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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  1. Share your unique story.<\/strong> Product reviews sharing the experience of unboxing will outperform those written by a non-product user. Review content should be spoken from a unique experiential point of view. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Create multimedia content that highlights experience. <\/strong>Multimedia is your golden ticket to success in taking up more real estate in the SERPs. But it\u2019s also a unique way to show Google that you have E-E-A-T as it is more challenging to use generative AI to produce video, infographics, interactive content, etc.\u2014though, there are many companies trying!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Have obvious authors with bios for the website and page. <\/strong>Google is now tasking quality raters with identifying who wrote the page. Having clear authors makes it easy for Google to connect the dots between brands, authors, and topics.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Know when to fold \u2018em. <\/strong>If you are in the YMYL category, there may be some topics that are increasingly challenging for your brand to be an \u201cexpert\u201d in, depending on how Google interprets the brand. It\u2019s worth testing into more expert-based content, especially if you have subject matter experts on hand, but know that there may be more juice to squeeze in other topics.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Takeaway: <\/strong>Unique and helpful content that engages E-E-A-T will continue to outperform content that doesn\u2019t have these elements. Consider changing your content briefs to include author bios and subject matter expert pull quotes\/involvement, and ensure to invest in multi-media content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    AI is here to stay: ChatGPT, Content, and the Value of Human Experience<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Using AI content is not new. In fact, GPT-1 (short for Generative Pre-trained Transformer)\u2014OpenAI\u2019s language model\u2014came out in 2018. Even before then, using semantic SEO to generate content was common for larger retailer and aggregator sites like Zillow. Companies like Jasper AI and Copy.Ai have been around for several years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Nevertheless, ChatGPT\u2014built on GPT-3.5\u2014opened Pandora’s box of interest in generative AI content when it was released and I suspect that interest will continue to grow. The two important differences today compared to 2018 when GPT-1 came out: 1. the accessibility and knowledge of generative AI is more vast, and 2. the quality of content produced is better (but still not stellar). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    1. As can be seen using Google trends data, AI is a lot more mainstream than it was in 2018. In my own experience, I\u2019ve been asked more about AI in the last 6 months than I have in my previous 10 years in marketing.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Source: Google Trends<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      2. GPT-3 is capable of a far better content output than GPT-1 simply due to the number of parameters available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Source: Semrush<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Nevertheless, ChatGPT and GPT-3 are still not accurate and, in the case of ChatGPT, don\u2019t provide clear citations for the sources of information. This leaves us with an overly confident output that can misinform en masse. In fact, ChatGPT even provides a clear list of limitations on the dashboard homepage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      My POV on AI content:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      I\u2019ll cut to the chase from my experience working with a large retail site with tens of thousands of SKUs where AI-generated content was the best way to scale efforts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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      1. AI-generated content will rank, but it won\u2019t rank competitively. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
      2. To improve AI content\u2019s chance to rank in a competitive position (top 5), it requires human review and optimization. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
      3. More importantly, to avoid common errors with AI content, content needs to be reviewed and edited. In fact, CNET is in hot water regarding AI content that didn\u2019t have an appropriate level of human review (Futurism<\/a>).  <\/li>\n\n\n\n
      4. As with most content, there is a correlation between dofollow links to the domain and ranking performance for AI content as well (Kevin Indig<\/a>). <\/li>\n\n\n\n
      5. AI content is better served for simple, utility content like product descriptions and FAQs rather than thought leadership content. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
      6. AI content performs better in some industries\/markets than others, as can be said for any content.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      7. In my opinion, generative AI is just heating up and will continue to make a splash in 2023 and beyond. Those who learn to integrate generative AI into their workflows will be far ahead of those who don\u2019t. However, those who entirely rely on generative AI may see initial success, but will eventually be on the wrong side of search engines.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Quick FAQs about AI content:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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        1. Can Google differentiate AI content from human content?\n