Can AI Content Rank on Google?

Key Takeaways

• AI content can rank on Google: In a sample of 20,000 URLs ranking in the top 20, AI content performed almost as well as human-written content. For example, 57% of AI text and 58% of human text appear in the top 10.
• Marketers report positive results with AI content: 39% of marketers noticed increased organic traffic after publishing AI content, and 33% said it performed better than human-written content.
• Blending AI and human input works best: 73% of marketers use a combination of AI and human writing for content creation. It’s the key formula for success.
• Optimizing and enhancing AI content is key: 69% of marketers refine AI drafts with human editing, 48% build on initial AI drafts, and 55% conduct original research to strengthen their content.
• SEO remains valuable for 99% of marketers: However, adapting your approach is crucial to achieve the best results.

Our Methodology

Google claims it doesn't penalize AI-written content. Yet many business owners and marketers remain hesitant.

We wanted real answers, so we dug into data to look at the situation from every possible angle.

Here’s what we did to see if AI content can rank on Google:

• 1.

  Analysis of top-ranking articles: We selected 20,000 random keywords and filtered them based on specific criteria. We then pulled the top 20 Google results for each, which gave us 350,000 URLs. We filtered for blog-specific URLs, which narrowed it down to 50,000, from which we selected a random sample of 20,000 URLs. We then used GPT Zero to detect AI-generated content and compared its organic performance to human text.

• 2.

  Survey: We also surveyed over 700 marketers, search engine optimizers (SEOs), and business owners about their experiences with AI content over the past year.

• 3.

  Expert insights: Finally, we connected with industry experts such as Ross Simmonds (CEO at Foundation Marketing) and Ann Smarty (Co-Founder at Smarty Marketing) to get their perspectives on whether AI content can rank in search.

So, Can AI Content Rank on Google?

Yes, AI content can rank in search.

In fact, it performs similarly to human-created content.

About 8% of the URLs we analyzed were categorized as “Likely generated by AI”. This was the average number for the past 12 months, which is consistent with other industry reports.

While this number is low for now, it continues to grow.

We then looked at top search positions for AI and human content. Here’s what we found:

Share of articles in top positions (%)

For example, 57% of the AI content and 58% of the human content we analyzed ended up in the top 10. Meaning they have the same likelihood of ranking on page one.

Here’s how they compare across all positions:

• Top position: Human content performs just 2.1 percentage points higher than AI content
• Top 3: Human content performs 6.2 percentage points higher
• Top 5: Human content performs 4.6 percentage points higher
• Top 10: The difference is minimal—human content edges out by just 1 percentage point

So, while human content has a slight advantage in top spots, AI content competes surprisingly well.

We then surveyed 700+ Semrush users to see if their experience aligns with these findings.

Compared to human-written content, how well does your AI content perform in search engine rankings?

The result?

• 31% of marketers find that AI content performs about the same as human content
• Another 33% say it performs better
• And only 9% of users think that AI content performs worse

When it comes to traffic, many marketers are also seeing positive shifts after publishing AI content.

How has your website's organic traffic changed after publishing AI content?

• 34% of our respondents didn’t see a significant change
• 39% saw an increase in organic traffic
• Only 4.8% experience a traffic decrease

All this confirms Google’s official stance: it doesn’t penalize AI content. Instead, it’s after low-quality pages—irrespective of whether they’re produced by humans or AI.

The exciting part?

The research we published earlier this year revealed that AI brings numerous operational benefits to businesses.

For example, it saves time, speeds up research, and opens new opportunities—especially for smaller companies.

How AI content boosts SEO and content ROI

In other words, you can get the same—or even better—results while saving your resources and enhancing your workflows.

Does that mean you can blindly trust AI to create all your content for you? Of course not.

Most of our respondents use a combination of AI and human research and writing. Keep reading to see how it works.

What Do These Findings Mean?

Just as human-written content doesn’t automatically guarantee quality, AI-generated copy isn’t low-quality by default.

AI is simply a tool—it can be used by both good and bad writers.

The difference lies in how you leverage it.

When used responsibly, AI can help you create high-ranking content that’s valuable for both your readers and search engines.

And it’s not just about rankings.

For instance, we found that combining human writers with AI content led to a moderate improvement in conversions for 52% of users.

The bottom line: search engines don’t penalize AI content—they penalize low-quality content.

So, what makes the difference? Let’s see what our respondents had to say.

How Businesses Use AI to Create Organic Content

We asked Semrush users how exactly they use AI and what they do to improve the output.

Here’s what we found:

How do you primarily create content for your website or clients?

• 73% of respondents use a combination of AI and human writing (whether by working with human writers or creating content themselves)
• Only 5% rely mostly on AI without much human oversight
• 18% still don’t use AI at all

This trend is consistent with what we see working well: it’s the synergy of AI and human work that gets you the best results.

Ross Simmonds, the CEO at Foundation Marketing, also sees AI as a key part of today’s creative toolkit. In our interview with him, he stated:

“I think AI is the equivalent of spell check today; it’s something every creator should consider as part of their toolkit to be more efficient and effective at prioritizing the areas they need to focus on.

This ensures their voice is coming across, their message is clear, and the story they’re telling is captivating and uniquely theirs.

I leverage AI in different ways over the course of the day, but I wouldn’t consider the content I create to be AI-generated. I’d consider it augmented with AI, much like a blog post or book I write would be enhanced by spell check.”

In our research, we also saw that AI has various use cases for content marketing and SEO—even beyond writing. These were the top 5 use cases:

How do you incorporate AI into content creation?

We also asked about the most popular content formats created with AI. The top 5?

What type of content for SEO do you create with AI?

As you can see, AI tools can be helpful at each stage of the process.

You can use them to find content opportunities, create copy, optimize it, and rewrite it when needed. It also serves for both long-form content creation and technical writing.

How Businesses Enhance AI-generated Content

Next, we wanted to learn how exactly our users manage to achieve such positive results with AI content.

The secret? Using various methods to enhance it and increase its value for users.

Here are the top tactics we discovered:

How AI content boosts SEO and content ROI

Marketers who use AI-generated content aren’t simply hitting “publish” on the first draft.

Instead, they’re enhancing it to make it more engaging, relatable, and valuable for readers.

Ross Simmonds highlights the critical role of human involvement.

He told us:

“In my opinion, there is one important element: while AI can help you create content, you should always have a human involved in the process. It’ll help you create something that actually aligns with your search intent, meets certain standards of content excellence, and ensures that the stories you’re telling are truly representative of your brand and not exclusively that of the Large Language Model (LLM).”

Our respondents also take important steps to favor E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness), making sure their content is useful and original.

Here’s how:

How do you make your content more original and expertise-driven?

As long as your content provides value and helps users, it can rank on Google.

Your real focus should be on relevance, quality, and value—not on whether the content was written by AI or a human.

You can achieve this by equipping yourself (or your writers) with AI tools that will enhance their workflows.

Here’s a recipe for success:

• Use a combination of human and AI writing
• Enhance your AI content with original research, expert interviews, statistics, and personal experiences
• Improve your AI content’s readability
• Make sure that your AI copy doesn’t sound dry and robotic
• Work with tools that provide real-time SEO data

How Can You Adjust Your Strategy?

AI isn’t the problem—the problem is when it’s misused.

Here’s what you need to know about using AI well for your SEO and content marketing efforts.

1. Don’t Be Afraid to Use Generative AI—But Do So Responsibly

There’s no need to shy away from using AI. But make sure to use it responsibly.

What does this mean?

Well, don’t use AI as a replacement for your writers. Instead, think of it as your assistant.

Use it to speed up your process, generate ideas, or refine your drafts.

Ann Smarty, Co-Founder of Smarty Marketing, sums it up well:

“Using AI is completely fine—as long as it's part of a thoughtful process. When we work with writers, we usually provide briefs with inputs from subject matter experts or research.

Writers can use these inputs with AI tools to write faster, but it still involves about 50% AI and 50% human effort, including writing and editing. The key is balance. Creating everything from scratch in one click and hoping it works doesn’t make sense.

Zero AI tolerance policies often feel like stubbornness to me—AI, when used responsibly, is just another tool to get better results.”

Here’s a recipe for success:

• Using real-time keyword and search intent data
• Integrating original research, ideas, and expertise
• Making it sound more human and engaging
• Improving its readability and structure
• Adding visuals like images and video

2. Don’t Believe Anyone Who Says SEO is Dead

For the majority of businesses, SEO is still a top priority. We confirmed it with our survey:

How valuable do you consider SEO to be for your business right now?

Our findings show that 99% of marketers still find value in SEO for their business.

That said, the way we approach SEO is changing. Ann explains:

“Google has been sending fewer clicks to publishers for over 10 years now. People often find answers directly in search results—whether it’s through autocomplete, the 'People Also Ask' section, or images. Organic clicks are harder to come by and more expensive to secure.

On top of that, tools like Gemini, ChatGPT, and others are shifting search behaviors even further. People are starting to discover trends, brands, and products by asking these tools instead of searching on Google. This means fewer clicks and fewer traditional keywords driving traffic. Businesses need to adapt to this reality.”

So, is SEO dead? Absolutely not. But it’s evolving.

The focus isn’t just on ranking in Google anymore.

Build a presence wherever your audience is searching, not just through SEO—be it social media, AI platforms, or other emerging channels.

3. Diversify Your Marketing Efforts

SEO is not going anywhere.

But that doesn’t mean you should solely rely on search engines to drive traffic to your site.

People are now searching for information across multiple platforms, like YouTube, TikTok, Reddit and Instagram. If you want to stay ahead, you need to adapt.

Ross Simmonds highlights the importance of diversifying your marketing efforts.

He says:

“The biggest change around search that is going to happen in 2025 is the continued diversification of channels in which people are conducting their search.

From YouTube to Reddit and TikTok to Instagram, the search behaviors of our audience are no longer limited to Google.

For those who want to prepare for it, the best thing they could do is to conduct in-depth channel-specific research around their audience, their customers, and their search intent associated with more diverse channels.

Upon conducting this research, they should be able to get more clarity into understanding how they can rank—not just in Google, but also in other channels.

And as a result of that, they will be able to implement generative engine optimization efforts to influence the responses that are coming back from AI overviews and other LLMs by simply being in more places than their competitors.”

4. Implement Core SEO Practices, But Also Think Outside the Box

To improve SEO performance, marketers continue to rely on tried-and-tested strategies.

What strategies do marketers implement to improve SEO performance?

But these are just basic SEO practices.

SEO today requires going beyond the basics.

According to Ross Simmonds:

“Success in SEO today starts by understanding that search engine optimization is not as linear as it once was. You’re now competing with many more media publications and brands than ever before. You’re also competing with AI tools that are helping customers find answers, and with other places outside of Google where users can search.

As such, SEOs need to think outside of just the written word.

SEOs need to be thinking about how video content is appearing in search, how Reddit content is showing up in the SERP, and how to distribute their content more effectively across various channels.

One simple example of this is some of the success we’re having with our partners on Reddit.

Instead of just submitting links to Reddit and hoping this helps with ranking, we’re working with our partners to answer questions that are ranking in the SERP, including links directly to valuable pieces, supporting them in creating native content for Reddit, and in turn, we’re helping them improve their visibility for high-quality search terms in the SERP.”