AI content put to the test: What the update to Google’s Quality Rater Guidelines means for your SEO

AI content is now part of Google’s Quality Rater Guidelines. Is this the turning point everyone has been waiting for? Will AI-generated content now be rigorously penalised? And what does this mean for your SEO and your reach? We’ve looked into all this for you and bring you the latest information.

Every day, more and more content is generated by artificial intelligence, be it text, images, video or sound. AI content detectors, such as Originality.ai, even estimate that up to 19% of Google search results are now made up of AI content (as of January 2025). 

From the very beginning, SEOs and website owners have discussed the possible effects on website rankings: does (presumed) AI-generated content mean that my website will automatically rank poorly and lose reach? To what extent can I use AI, and to what extent can’t I? For a long time, there were no clear guidelines to refer to, and there was a lot of uncertainty.  

With the update of the Quality Rater Guidelines on 23 January 2025, Google has shed more light on the issue: for the first time, AI tools are clearly defined by the search engine leader and their influence on the ‘Lowest Quality Pages’ ranking is explained. But what exactly does this mean for you and your search engine optimisation measures? 

Quality Rater Guidelines updated on 23 January 2025 

Google regularly updates its Search Quality Evaluation Guidelines. The 23 January 2025 adaptation was a routine update, but it made a few waves. For the first time, the guidelines address the use of artificial intelligence tools and their possible influence on the quality of web pages. 

In this context, AI is clearly defined by Google for the first time:  

“Generative AI is a type of machine learning (ML) model that can take what it has learned from the examples it has been provided to create new content, such as text, images, music, and code. … Different tools leverage these models to create generative AI content. Generative AI can be a helpful tool for content creation, but like any tool, it can also be misused.”  

— (Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines (PDF), 2.1, page 10; consulted on 02.05.2025) 

The explanations in Chapter 4.0, ‘Lowest Quality Pages’, are particularly interesting for your SEO. According to this chapter, AI-generated content should indeed play an important role in the lowest quality ranking. John Mueller, Google’s Senior Search Analyst and head of the Search Relations team, spoke on this subject on 9 April 2025 at Search Central Live in Madrid. He called on the Quality Raters (i.e., the real people who review web content for the company) to evaluate content according to very specific criteria: Has the main content been generated automatically or by artificial intelligence? And if so, at what level (lowest rated) should it be ranked? 

No added value? Low ranking! 

It was, above all, Mueller’s choice of words that caused website owners and SEOs to react. In particular, he spoke of ‘lowest rated’, which led many to believe that AI content always indicates a low-quality page. The description in point 4.6.6 of the guidelines also contributed to this (once the update was published):  

“The Lowest rating applies if all or almost all of the MC on the page (including text, images, audio, videos, etc.) is copied, paraphrased, embedded, auto or AI generated, or reposted from other sources with little to no effort, little to no originality, and little to no added value for visitors to the website. Such pages should be rated Lowest, even if the page assigns credit for the content to another source.”  

— (Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines (PDF), 4.6.6, page 42; consulted on 02.05.2025) 

AI as an automatic indicator of low quality? 

Anyone who loses the context of the expression ‘generated by the user or the AI’ (which can happen because of the length of this sentence) quickly interprets that the ‘Lowest rating’ is valid for all types of content generated by AI. However, this is not the case. What’s important here is the “with little to no effort, little to no originality, and little to no added value for visitors to the website” part. Low page quality would, therefore, only be explicitly attributed if the AI content met these conditions. 

At the end of the chapter, the guidelines once again make it very clear that the use of AI tools should not automatically be judged negatively. They can be very useful for producing quality content:  

“Likewise, the use of Generative AI tools alone does not determine the level of effort or Page Quality rating. Generative AI tools may be used for high-quality and low-quality content creation. For example, a high level of effort may be involved in creating high-quality original artwork using Generative AI tools.”  

— (Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines (PDF), 4.6.6, page 43; consulted on 02.05.2025) 

What are the Quality Rater Guidelines, and why are they so important for effective SEO? 

There is a set of detailed rules for Google’s Quality Raters: the Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines. They define, very precisely, what characterises good quality web content.   

The guidelines help employees assess the usefulness, reliability and quality of a page for typical visitors. The guidelines are clear. The E-E-A-T criteria are particularly important (see more details below). They reflect experience, expertise, authority and trustworthiness. Other elements are also taken into account, such as ease of use, clarity of the author’s identity, the relevance of the information, and the purpose of the site. 

The most important thing for you and your SEO: the guidelines tell you what criteria are used to evaluate a website. If you know what they are, you can create content that exactly meets the search engine’s expectations and will, therefore, rank well. 

Low-quality content vs. high-quality content 

If you want to keep your SEO at a high level, you need to be able to distinguish low-quality content from high-quality content, whether or not you use AI to create your texts, images, infographics, etc. With the growing popularity of such tools and their recent inclusion in the Google Quality Rater Guidelines, this distinction is becoming even more important. 

In section 4.6.6 of the guidelines, Google clearly describes the types of content that should receive the “Lowest rating” — that is, content ultimately deemed Low Quality. This mainly concerns pages with content that has been copied, slightly rewritten, integrated or created in an automated manner, whether by humans or machines. Content recently published from other sources may also be affected, but only if it has been created with “little to no effort, little to no originality, and little to no added value for visitors to the website”.   

High Quality Content, on the other hand, is recognised as such when — Google describes in its Search Central documentation — the content is useful, trustworthy and user-oriented. 

What matters above all is highlighting personality, a human touch and an understanding of the concerns of the target group in question. Google generally recommends creating content primarily for people, not for search engines. This “people-first” approach is reflected in the E-E-A-T concept mentioned above. 

E-E-A-T: What’s behind Google’s quality principle? 

Google uses many different criteria to evaluate content. For a long time now, the search engine has been looking at more than just keywords and backlinks. User experience has become massively more important over the last 15 years. The decisive factor is whether your content is useful, reliable and credible. This is precisely where E-E-A-T comes in. These four letters stand for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. 

Google itself explains that these characteristics should help to better classify content. Its automated systems don’t just check if something matches the topic; they prioritise content that seems particularly useful to users. Above all, reliability is the decisive factor. 

Important to know: E-E-A-T is not a direct ranking factor based on tangible, measurable signals. Rather, it is a criterion to better recognise content quality. 

What does E-E-A-T mean? 

• Experience: The first E refers to experience. The decisive factor here is whether the person writing the article has a personal connection with the topic. Personal experience, tests or practical knowledge show Google that they know what they’re talking about. 

• Expertise: The second E stands for ‘expertise’ or ‘specialist knowledge’. It concerns how well you know the topic. It’s real know-how that’s being evaluated here — either in relation to you or your team publishing the content or the author mentioned. 

• Authority: Authority is expressed in terms of notoriety and recognition within a subject area. If you or your site is considered a reliable source, this can have a positive effect on your ranking. 

• Reliability: Trust is the basis. Reliability is defined by Google as the most important point in the whole E-E-A-T concept. Only if users can trust you and your content do you have a chance of achieving good visibility. 

When creating content, you should always think: what makes my text credible? What shows that I know my stuff? And how is my contribution really useful for the target group? That’s exactly what Google and – above all – your visitors expect. 

Practical advice: Can I use AI content in an SEO-compliant way — and if so, how? 

Yes, you can use AI to create SEO-compliant content, but only if you use it correctly. The key is that your content is designed for humans, not search engines. Google sums this up in its guidelines:  

 “Pages and websites should exist for the benefit of people who visit the website.”  

— (Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines (PDF) 4.6, page 39; consulted on 02.05.2025)  

 This should be your guideline when publishing text, images or other content, whether created by humans or AI. 

To make sure your content meets Google’s quality requirements, it’s worth taking a look at the questions in the Search Central documentation mentioned above for quality content. Basically, it depends on the following:   

1. Is my content really original, well-researched and targeted at my audience? 

1. Does my content offer real added value, or is it just aiming for a quick increase in traffic? 

To achieve this, you first need to have a clear idea of your target group. Create personas, define their needs, consider where they are in the customer journey, and choose the right tone. Top it all off with good research, well-founded facts and real know-how. This is precisely where AI reaches its limits. While such tools can provide you with content, they don’t automatically know what your target group really needs or how best to address them. 

And even if you feed AI tools with the relevant information, there’s still one thing missing: the personal, human touch that real visitors and, ultimately, Google’s Quality Raters recognise. 

How to use AI successfully 

One example of the successful use of AI comes from Google itself. Danny Sullivan called Amazon’s AI-assisted summary of numerous customer reviews of a product “an example of a positive use of AI“. Instead of reading 100 individual reviews, you get a summarised, useful overview for users. This saves time, adds real value – and shows how AI can help you deliver high-quality content.  

— (Source: Google On Scaled Content: “It’s Going To Be An Issue” (Search Engine Journal); consulted 02.05.2025) 

A good compromise is to treat the content generated by AI as a raw version. You can rework it, adjust the tone, check and adapt the content, and incorporate your additional research. In this way, you turn a generic template into a high-quality, personalised article that really helps your target group. 

We write content that meets Google’s guidelines 

AI content is not in itself a problem for your SEO — it all depends on how you manage it. Google does not evaluate your content according to its origin, but on its usefulness for your target group. It has to be credible, useful and well-crafted. And that’s exactly what you can do with AI — provided you add the necessary finishing touches yourself or have them done by an expert. 

Our writers can do this for you, whether it’s writing completely new content or checking and optimising AI content by adding a human touch. Human control helps guarantee the tone is right, the facts are correct, and that your target group feels genuinely engaged. Google attaches great importance to this ‘human touch’— and for good reason! Artificial intelligence tools can do a lot, but they don’t really understand your target group or its needs.   

Certain principles always apply, whether or not you’re working with AI: define your target group, choose an appropriate approach, provide real, unique and original information, check your sources, and show that you know your stuff. In this way, you’ll create content with added value. That’s exactly what Google and your visitors want to find! 

Do you have any questions about this article or have your own tips on using AI? Then leave us a comment below. We look forward to hearing from you!