MHM#43 The price of AI-generated content

AI is, of course, here to stay and will only continue to become more sophisticated and widely used.

AI-generated content can dramatically increase efficiency, enabling you to write social posts, blog articles, and website content much more quickly than writing from scratch.

As a practice owner, you’re juggling many balls and wearing many hats, so it’s tempting to let ChatGPT (or other AI tools) write your content for you.

But there is a price to pay…

It can make it harder for your website to rank on Google.

It can reduce brand authenticity.

I’ll go into more detail about this, but firstly, here are the main challenges with AI-generated content:

• It can be generic and formulaic.
• It lacks lived experience and first-hand expertise.
• It can fabricate information and references.
• It’s based on existing data, not new insights.
• It can produce similar content for multiple users.
• It isn’t unique or personal to you.
• It struggles to reflect your authentic voice.

The impact of AI content on your visibility in Google (your ranking)

Every day, billions of pieces of content are published on Google, and this number continues to increase due to the growing ease of AI content creation.

Most people don’t go past the first page of Google, so getting your content on your website to rank is already challenging.

Google doesn’t penalise content just for being AI-generated. What matters is whether it’s helpful, original, and demonstrates experience and expertise. Google’s automated ranking systems prioritise content that is:

• Helpful and people-first
• Original and high quality
• Written with first-hand experience, expertise, and authority

Google explains this in its E‑E‑A‑T guidelines (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness), with trust being the most important factor.

So while Google isn’t “against” AI content, you can see how generic AI text often fails to meet these criteria.

To ensure your content follows Google’s guidelines, ask yourself:

• Does the page or article have a clear purpose or topic?
• Would my ideal client find this helpful and relevant?
• Does it demonstrate first-hand expertise? Why am I the right person to write about this?
• Does it include a fresh perspective and unique ideas?
• Will someone leave feeling they’ve learned enough that they don’t need to look further?
• Is it easy to read and understand for my ideal client?

The importance of brand authenticity

Prospective clients are assessing different therapists to decide who feels like the best fit. They want to know:

• Will this therapist “get” me?
• Do they specialise in helping other people like me with similar issues to mine?
• Will I feel comfortable with them?
• What will they be like in a session?
• What’s their approach to therapy?

Your marketing plays a key role in setting accurate expectations. If your content doesn’t reflect who you are, you risk clients arriving at an initial free consult with the wrong impression, which can lead to a poor experience or them deciding you’re not the right fit after all.

Authenticity is built in the nuances of your communication – the way you phrase things, the words you use, and your tone. All these elements combine to create a voice that reflects your unique identity as a therapist.

Your voice is an extension of your practice. For a consistent client experience, it should be reflected in your website, social media, videos, and the way you communicate during sessions.

ChatGPT struggles to capture that unique voice. As a result, AI-written content often sounds different from how you speak in person or on video, which creates inconsistency.

How to incorporate AI into your marketing

AI has a valuable role to play, but it should support you, not replace you.

Here are some ways to use it:

• Idea generation - brainstorm blog or social media topics.
• First drafts – ask ChatGPT to draft something, and then edit into your own voice, incorporating your unique expertise and insights.
• Tidy up - draft very rough notes about what you want to say, and ask ChatGPT to refine them without changing the words or tone.
• Repurposing content – paste a video transcript into ChatGPT and have it tidied into a blog post.

No matter how you use it to support you, always add your expertise, personality, and real-life insights. And make sure it sounds like you.

Website, directory, blogs, social media content - any content from you and your practice that will be seen by prospective clients or referrers has a crucial role to play. This content is responsible for connecting with the right people (your ideal client or referrer), accurately reflecting you and your practice, and building trust so prospective clients or referrers feel confident to take that next step and book an appointment or refer.

Sometimes, writing content can feel like an annoying task to quickly get off your list, but it deserves time, love, and attention, as it’s an essential part of building a thriving solo therapy practice.