Treat generated text as material to verify, not evidence
Generative AI can help organise research, expose missing questions and produce a workable first structure. It can also state an invented detail with the same confidence as a verified fact. Google’s updated guidance stresses that generative models predict likely sequences of words rather than retrieving facts, so accuracy and trustworthiness require manual fact-checking before publication.
Begin by separating claims from expression. Names, dates, figures, quotations, product details, legal or medical statements, platform features and descriptions of an organisation all need an identified source. If a claim cannot be supported, remove it, qualify it or replace it with something the organisation genuinely knows. A polished sentence is not proof.
Define the value a scaled summary cannot provide
A page needs a reason to exist beyond combining information already available elsewhere. Before drafting, write down the audience, decision, evidence and perspective the page will contribute. Useful additions may include first-hand observations, an original framework, local context, tested examples, limitations, implementation detail or a clearer synthesis of primary sources.
This is particularly important when many similar pages could be produced from one prompt. Google’s scaled-content policy focuses on pages created primarily to manipulate rankings rather than help people, regardless of whether the production method is AI, human or a mixture. Publishing fewer pages with distinct evidence is safer and more useful than filling every slight keyword variation.
- Name the reader and the decision the page supports
- Identify first-hand knowledge or primary evidence
- State what this page adds to existing results
- Check that it has a distinct purpose within the site
- Remove claims that exist only because the model supplied them
Build a claim-and-source review
Review the draft sentence by sentence for factual assertions. Link changing platform guidance to the current official source and record the date checked. For business claims, use records the organisation controls or credible independent corroboration. For recommendations, explain the reasoning and the circumstances in which the advice may not apply.
Source quality matters as much as source presence. A search-result summary, another unsourced article or an AI answer can help locate evidence, but should not become the final authority when a primary document is available. Keep quotations short and exact, distinguish fact from interpretation and never manufacture a case study, credential, client result or customer view.
Test intent, originality and duplication
Read the draft without its target phrase in mind. It should still resolve a genuine question and give the reader a useful next step. Check whether the opening answers the real intent, whether important qualifications appear near the claim they affect, and whether the page earns its length. Generated copy often repeats the premise in several forms while leaving the difficult decision unanswered.
Compare the draft with existing pages on the same site. Consolidate overlapping explanations, choose one definitive URL for each purpose and create contextual internal links where they help the journey. Changing a title, place name or service label does not create a new intent. Distinct pages need distinct audiences, evidence or decisions.
Review every search-facing field
Quality control extends beyond the visible article. Google explicitly includes titles, meta descriptions, structured data and image alternative text in its warning about inaccurate AI-assisted output. Check that each field describes the final page rather than the prompt or an earlier draft, and that structured data contains no claim visitors cannot verify in the visible content.
Titles should be specific without promising more than the page delivers. Descriptions should help someone decide whether to visit, not repeat a list of keywords. Alternative text should describe the image’s useful purpose. Schema should connect real entities and eligible content; it is not a place to add invisible ratings, locations, services or credentials.
- Title and description match the final page and search intent
- Canonical URL identifies the preferred version
- Headings describe the actual information hierarchy
- Image alternative text is contextual and accurate
- Structured data matches visible facts and validates cleanly
- Internal links use descriptive, relevant anchor text
Give readers appropriate creation context
Google says information about how content was created can give readers useful context, especially when automation is involved. That is not a blanket instruction to place the same AI label on every page. The appropriate explanation depends on why the method would matter to the audience, the sensitivity of the topic and the degree of human expertise or verification involved.
Transparency should clarify responsibility rather than shift it. Name the author or accountable organisation accurately, show publication and revision dates where freshness matters, link primary guidance, and explain material automation when it affects how a reader should evaluate the work. Do not imply first-hand testing, interviews or professional review that did not happen.
Use a release gate and monitor the result
A repeatable release gate turns good intentions into practice. Require factual review, source checks, duplication review, metadata review, structured-data validation, accessibility checks and a named publishing decision. For high-risk topics, add an appropriately qualified reviewer. Keep the source notes needed to update or correct the page later.
After publication, monitor more than impressions. Look for engagement with the promised answer, useful conversions, unexpected queries, factual corrections, canonical or indexation problems and overlap with other pages. Update the content when evidence changes. Remove or consolidate pages that never establish a distinct purpose rather than preserving them merely because they were inexpensive to create.