The “AI revolution” (bleurgh, I just did a little bit of sick in my mouth, sorry!) has brought out the absolute worst in SEO grifters. Every day, some LinkedIn “expert” is flogging a new “AI-powered SEO hack” that’s supposedly going to transform your search rankings overnight.
These techniques aren’t just useless – they’re actively harmful. They’ll tank your traditional SEO, get you penalised by Google, and potentially destroy years of legitimate SEO work. Yet people keep falling for them because they’re wrapped up in shiny AI terminology.
And because I don’t want you to be sucked in, I’m going to tell you why these AI SEO “innovations” are digital poison for your website.
| 🔴 AI SEO “hacks” like fake reviews and mass content dumps will get your entire website penalised, not just the dodgy content. 🔴 Recovery from AI SEO penalties takes years and you’re starting from a penalised position, not a clean slate. 🔴 Use AI to enhance human expertise through research and editing, not to replace genuine content with automated spam. |
It’s an AI SEO snake oil epidemic!
Since ChatGPT exploded onto the scene, every two-bit marketing consultant has suddenly become an “AI SEO specialist.” They’re peddling techniques that are either rebranded versions of ancient black-hat tactics or completely new ways to violate Google’s guidelines.
And you know what? These techniques might work for a few weeks. But what happens when Google’s systems catch up? I’ll tell you what happens – you’re left with a penalised website and a consultant who’s mysteriously disappeared to sell the next shiny object to the next unfortunate business owner.
Some of the dodgy AI techniques destroying websites
These are the most common AI-powered methods being sold as SEO “solutions”, and why each one will damage your website’s search performance.
Mass AI content dumps
This has been going on for a number of years now (who remembers ‘article spinners’?), but it’s still being sold as a valid SEO strategy. It involves generating hundreds or thousands of AI articles and dumping them onto websites. “Scale your content with AI!” they cry, while completely ignoring that Google specifically cracked down on this exact practice.
What actually happens is Google’s spam detection systems flag your site for thin content. Your domain authority gets demolished, existing quality content gets buried under AI-generated rubbish, and your site gets caught in algorithm updates targeting low-quality content.
Google’s helpful content updates have for a long time specifically targeted sites with large amounts of AI-generated content that doesn’t serve users. Mass content dumps are like painting a target on your website’s back for the next penalty.
AI-generated fake reviews
“Boost your local SEO with AI-powered review generation!” sounds brilliant until Google’s review spam detection catches you. These systems are developed specifically to spot patterns in fake reviews.
The technical damage includes Google Business Profile suspension, removal of all reviews (including legitimate ones), local search visibility completely destroyed, and potential manual penalties affecting your entire domain.
Google’s review spam detection looks at language patterns, posting velocity, reviewer profiles, and dozens of other signals. AI-generated reviews create obvious patterns that these systems spot faster than you can say “five stars.”
Hidden AI text techniques
The white-text-on-white-background trick has been around since the 1990s, but now it’s back with an AI twist. People are using AI to generate keyword-rich content and hiding it on pages to “boost relevance.”
This destroys your SEO because Google’s technology easily spots hidden content. Or manual reviewers flag your site for deceptive practices, your entire domain gets marked as spam, and recovery from hidden text penalties can take years.
Modern search engines render pages exactly like browsers do. If you can’t see the text, neither can your users – but Google definitely can, and they’ll hammer you for it.
Automated AI link schemes
AI tools are being used to generate guest posts, forum and social media comments (I’m looking at you, LinkedIn!), and directory submissions at scale. The promise is “thousands of high-quality backlinks through AI automation.”
The reality is that Google’s link spam algorithms detect unnatural patterns instantly. Your site gets hit with link-based penalties, existing legitimate backlinks lose their value, and your domain authority plummets across all search engines.
Google’s link spam updates are specifically designed to catch automated link building. When they detect these patterns, they don’t just ignore the bad links – they actively penalise your entire site.
AI-powered keyword stuffing
New AI tools promise to “naturally integrate keywords” into content, but they’re just averagely-sophisticated keyword stuffing machines. They create content that reads oddly and serves algorithms rather than humans.
Technical consequences include content quality scores plummeting, user engagement metrics (bounce rate, time on page) suffering, and Google’s natural language processing spotting the manipulation. Your content gets filtered out of search results entirely.
Google’s algorithms are specifically trained to detect content written for search engines rather than humans. AI keyword stuffing creates exactly the patterns these systems are designed to catch.
Fake AI-generated schema markup
Some tools generate elaborate schema markup that doesn’t match your actual content. The promise is “enhanced search visibility through AI-optimised structured data.”
What actually happens is Google’s structured data penalties hit your rich snippets, your existing markup gets distrusted, manual reviewers flag your site for misleading information, and your search appearance gets stripped of all enhancements.
Misleading schema markup is one of the fastest ways to lose Google’s trust. Once they catch you lying about your content through structured data, they assume everything else is suspect too.
Why Google’s cracking down hard
Google’s not just passively detecting this stuff – they’re actively hunting for it. Recent algorithm updates have specifically targeted sites with large volumes of AI-generated content, automated review generation, scaled content creation without human oversight, link schemes using AI tools, and hidden content techniques regardless of how they’re generated.
The March 2024 core update alone wiped out thousands of sites using these techniques. The helpful content update continues to target AI content farms. Google’s spam team is specifically calling out these practices in their communications.
How these techniques fuck up your legitimate SEO
These AI techniques don’t just fail – they cause untold and untrackable damage to your legitimate SEO efforts.
Your entire site gets penalised, not just the dodgy content
When Google penalises your site, it doesn’t just affect the problematic content. Your entire domain loses authority, making it harder to rank for anything – even terms you previously dominated.
You’re polluting the good content you already have
Mass AI content pollutes your site’s index with low-quality pages. Google starts viewing your entire domain as low-quality, affecting how they crawl and rank all your content.
Your visitors start hating your website
AI-generated content typically performs poorly with users. High bounce rates, low engagement, and poor conversion rates send negative signals that hurt your entire site’s performance.
Recovery takes years, not months
Recovering from AI SEO penalties takes exponentially longer than building legitimate SEO from scratch. You’re not just starting over – you’re starting from a penalised position.
Spotting the AI SEO charlatans
Want to avoid getting suckered by these digital snake oil salespeople? Watch for these red flags.
- “Scale your content 10x with AI automation!”
Translation: “We’re going to flood your site with low-quality content until Google penalises you.” - “AI-powered review generation for instant local dominance!”
Translation: “We’re going to get your Google Business Profile suspended.” - “Our AI creates undetectable optimised content!”
Translation: “We’re using techniques that violate Google’s guidelines and hoping we don’t get caught.” - “Revolutionary AI techniques the big agencies don’t want you to know!”
Translation: “We’re using black-hat methods that legitimate professionals avoid because they destroy websites.”
- “Guaranteed rankings through proprietary AI algorithms!”
Translation: “We have no idea what we’re doing, but AI sounds impressive.”
Questions that make AI SEO fraudsters squirm
Ask these questions and watch their faces when they start mumbling about “algorithm shifts” or “evolving strategies.”
- “Can you show me case studies of sites that used these techniques and maintained their rankings after 12 months?” Most can’t, because these techniques don’t work long-term.
- “What’s your recovery plan if Google penalises my site for these techniques?” Legitimate professionals will have contingency plans. Fraudsters will blame Google or algorithm changes.
- “Do these methods comply with Google’s latest quality guidelines?” If they can’t give you a straight yes, that’s your answer.
- “How do you ensure AI-generated content serves user intent rather than just search engines?” Real experts understand the difference. Charlatans focus only on gaming algorithms.
- “What happens to my existing SEO when these techniques stop working?” This question reveals whether they understand the long-term damage these methods cause.
AI isn’t all bad
AI can absolutely help with SEO – but not through these manipulative techniques. Legitimate AI use includes research and ideation for human-created content, technical analysis and site auditing, data processing and pattern recognition, content editing and improvement suggestions, and workflow automation for manual tasks.
The key difference? These approaches enhance human expertise rather than replacing it with automated spam.
Stop poisoning your website
These dodgy AI SEO techniques aren’t shortcuts to success – they’re a fast train to digital disaster. The consultants selling them are either ignorant of the technical consequences or deliberately misleading you about the risks.
Your website’s search visibility is too valuable to gamble on techniques that Google is actively hunting down and penalising. Focus on creating genuinely helpful content, building real authority, and using AI as a tool to enhance human expertise – not replace it with automated garbage.
The AI revolution in SEO isn’t about finding new ways to manipulate search engines. It’s about using technology to create better experiences for real users. Everything else is just digital poison dressed up as “innovation”.
Worried about AI SEO and what it means for your website? Grab a chat with me and let’s see if I can help.
