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Do you own a computer or a smartphone? If so, you’ve come across AI-generated content at least once (if you’re lucky). Most of us have had to navigate a mass explosion of mediocre, emoji-filled texts that say little and are as bland as cottage cheese.
Welcome to the world of contemporary content creation. Everyone can do it in a matter of minutes. Equipped with ChatGPT and minimal prompt writing abilities, most people can now call themselves copywriters.
While this new opportunity makes processes faster, more streamlined, and efficient, it also shapes a landscape of mediocrity as the norm.
Let’s face it – ChatGPT isn’t the most skilled copywriter. It lacks personality, it can’t convey emotions, and don’t get me started on its ability to insert jokes or a fine sense of irony. It’s a machine, for God’s sake, and we simply can’t expect brilliant penmanship from it.
The proliferation of AI content has contributed to a massive shift. Most texts that we come across online suck. They follow the same generic structure, they add very little in terms of reader experience, and they simply regurgitate information and claims most of us have already seen online.
The rise in AI is fueling the death of generic content, making it obsolete while at the same time contributing to its mediocrity.
Written text and thoughtful communication, however, are still as important as they’ve ever been. People want to connect to brands and content creators in a meaningful way. They generally lack trust in all of the available information. So, how do you change the narrative as a business owner or a marketer? Here are a few things you can do to make sure your content isn’t bound to completely destroy your credibility.
The Death of Generic Content: Why
Gone are the days when a simple 500-word blog post did the trick both in terms of search engine optimization (SEO) and online positioning.
ChatGPT and other AI tools can put out 500 words faster than you can say “digital revolution.” Blogs and websites are constantly pumping out new texts, which decreases their effectiveness and gets people to keep their distance from traditional blogs.
Statistics suggest that more than seven million blog posts are published every single day. Nearly 80 percent of bloggers report using AI to some extent, and that was back in 2024. Today, the percentage is probably even higher.
Organic search traffic is declining in some niches, and it’s getting restructured with AI answers and snippets that don’t direct readers to a particular website. These new dynamics are making it more and more difficult to get results with generic content (especially when it’s 100 percent AI-generated).
Optimizing for AI so that the information appears in ChatGPT search results can negate some of these effects, but this new mechanism can’t contribute to a complete recovery. And if you focus predominantly on AI text optimization, you’re once again going to be missing the human element that readers need and are consciously looking for.
Studies suggest that while AI has become a mass phenomenon, readers still largely prefer human-generated content.
Human-generated content outperforms AI texts both in terms of engagement and search metrics. While over 50 percent of the new articles published in late 2025 are AI-generated, nearly three in four readers prefer human content.
These statistics paint an interesting picture, and they clearly demonstrate a disconnect between what marketers use and what audiences want. Trust and authenticity can’t be prompted. They take more to produce, but in the long run, they are the attributes that deliver the best results.
We Live in a Click-Free World
With all of the information people can now find directly via a search page or through ChatGPT, online behaviors are changing drastically.
Internet searches produce click-free responses for the most part.
The trend started way back in 2024. That’s when nearly 60 percent of all Google searches ended without clicks. This means users found the answer to their question without leaving the search engine results page and going to a website.
Data pertaining to 2025 searches shows that the number of click-free experiences has grown to reach anywhere between 60 and 70 percent of all searches. On mobile devices, zero-click searches are even more common, reaching up to 75 percent.
What’s the lesson here?
While getting your blog filled with generic content may help you appear in a results snippet, it’s not going to drive direct traffic. People will get the piece of information they want and move on. Nobody will bother checking where this information came from or digging a bit deeper to discover the other “insightful” content that ChatGPT generated on your behalf.
The Flaws of Generic Content
Generic content is free and quick to produce today, and that’s about it.
Performance-wise, it misses the mark in numerous important ways.
Whenever AI is used to produce content, it doesn’t deliver uniqueness or a point of view. It relies on information that readers can easily find across dozens of pages. The user experience is “meh” at best.
A user experience that is “meh” at best also leads to issues in terms of search engine optimization.
In January 2025, Google launched its Search Quality Rater Guidelines update that focuses on scaled content abuse.
Scaled content abuse is the mass production of new text (usually with the help of AI) to target keywords and ensure good standing across all relevant search phrases. When this approach is employed, however, the quality of the content is poor. It gives the audience almost nothing, which is why Google has undertaken measures to counter the phenomenon.
Such content strategies are now considered an SEO manipulation attempt. So, while having a ton of content may seem like a good idea, it’s going to change your audience’s perception, and it may also lead to negative consequences in terms of optimization.
The bottom line here is this: do you want to have your brand linked to the lack of originality and low effort? I believe the answer is no. Every reader dedicates some time to going through your content. No effort content will leave a sour taste sooner or later. Creating something thoughtful and original requires a lot more effort. In the end, however, this is the approach that yields the biggest returns.
Experience, Emotion, Expertise: Your Recipe for Success
Have you heard of the E-E-A-T formula?
It stands for:
- Experience
- Expertise
- Authoritativeness
- Trustworthiness
This is a Google quality framework that pushes against generic, run-of-the-mill content. The good news is that the framework also reflects accurately what human readers are looking for.
Your experience as an expert in a field matters. First-person accounts and original ideas instantly turn you into THE authority within the respective field. Being seen as an authority establishes your credibility. Credibility becomes a brand attribute, and it positions you in a way that 500 AI generic blog posts will never be capable of.
Content that presents new ideas while being trustworthy sets you apart.
AI content on its own isn’t a bad thing. In fact, AI tools can be great helpers. I use them as a part of brainstorming sessions, sharing ideas, elaborating on them, coming up with new takes, and ways to structure articles.
When it comes to actual information and writing, however, the effort is 100 percent human. I have a point of view. I have stories. I like to feature gentle humor to give each text a bit of personality. No matter how advanced AI is, it can’t draw on these sources.
Winning Content Strategies: Do the Following
What do you do when you see an article intro like this one:
Generic content used to be enough. You could spin up a blog, stitch together a few well-worn ideas, sprinkle in keywords, and watch the traffic roll in. But that era is quietly ending. After working closely with AI-generated content—both its strengths and its glaring limitations—I’ve seen firsthand how the internet is being flooded with polished, predictable, and ultimately forgettable writing. This is a personal account of that shift, and why “good enough” content is no longer good enough at all.
For most people, the answer is simple: they’ll close the tab.
This is an intro I asked ChatGPT to write for the guide you’re currently reading. Now, you can go to the beginning and compare this paragraph to the intro I did on my own.
I’m not saying mine is an example of exemplary prose. The difference, however, is that my intro captures my personality and attempts to immediately grab and interest the reader.
To stay away from the generic content trap, you can rely on the following approaches:
- Write in your own words: That’s a difficult thing to do. You worry whether you sound competent and original enough. Nobody wants to be judged, which is why we often turn to clichés and generic phrases. Guess what, however? Even in those instances, you’re being judged for the lack of originality and the safe approach. Be yourself and be authentic when writing. You can always tone it down during the editing phase. What you can’t do is inject spirit and personality into a piece of blah text once it is finalized and structured.
- Focus heavily on your experience and knowledge: AI doesn’t have experiences and memories to base anecdotes on. This is your biggest strength as a human writer, marketer, or business owner. Lean heavily in the direction of telling people what has happened to you, what inspires you, and what gives your business direction. Not only will such an approach ensure the originality of your content, it will also deliver layers of authenticity that can’t be created in any other way.
- Don’t be afraid of being humorous or emotional when writing: Being silly when writing is fine. A little bit of humor always increases the enjoyment factor when people are reading. The same applies to getting emotional. Getting emotional means you’re passionate about something. That passionate predisposition is going to impact your audience’s perception. Your brand will no longer be a sterile corporation. It will be seen as someone’s dream and passion.
- Know your audience and your brand’s voice: Always think about the people you’re talking to. Always remember what your brand stands for and how you want to communicate that message. Keeping things relevant and niche, rather than attempting to appeal to a generic audience, will make things interesting and enjoyable.
- Storytelling is more important than it’s ever been: Always, always, always (and I mean ALWAYS) tell stories. Storytelling focuses on the human experience. It puts the human experience in context. It’s relatable and deep at the same time. A story can inspire people or get them curious to learn more. It also aligns with your identity and spins a traditional truth in a new way.
- Go deep (or choose some unexpected direction): It’s ok to dig deep, even if your audience doesn’t consist of experts. Complex topics can be explained in simple ways, helping people make sense of issues and subjects that seem abstract. The chance to go deep or express the most unusual point of view is your biggest strength in an ocean of generic content. Instead of drowning your audience in the very same mediocrity, surprise them by revealing expertise or sharing an opinion that’s completely different from the general consensus.
- If you use AI, always do human revisions and editing: AI can be a beneficial tool. It boosts productivity, and you can effortlessly bounce ideas off of it. Becoming overly reliant on AI, however, will make your content lose its soul. If you do AI writing, make sure that the text is “humanized” before it goes live. An editor can do an excellent job, tweaking passages and inserting anecdotes or little snippets that give the content more substance and appeal.
Lazy Content Hurts Your Business, Embrace Originality Now
Lazy content is easy and cheap. As such, it does nothing to make your brand stand out.
Are you trying to position yourself in a highly competitive niche? Do you want to have expertise and spirit linked to your brand? If so, the time has come to detach yourself from generic content and embrace a bolder approach.
I can help you conceptualize a content strategy that shows exactly who you are and what you’re capable of. Let’s talk and make the most of this promotion opportunity for your business.