GenAI: the brand and bottom line killer?
Generative AI platforms such as ChatGPT are great for supporting content creation. But there is a significant reputational and financial risk to businesses publishing the content such platforms produce.
In a world where Generative AI is rapidly reshaping how we create and consume content, the question of its impact on Public Relations looms large. Join me as I delve into the dynamic intersection of technology, communication, and reputation management in our newsletter dedicated to exploring the nuanced debate.
What do you think about this as an opening paragraph? I won’t be offended if you dislike it.
That’s because these are not my words. They were written by ChatGPT.
The result wasn’t too bad, but it wasn’t me. It didn’t use language in the same way that I do. ‘Dynamic’ and ‘intersection’, for example, would never enter my lexicon or that of Cleary PR as they don’t fit with our brand personality.
And that’s the key when it comes to using generative AI to create content for social media posts, blogs and articles, newsletters, and guides etc. If your organisation’s marketing team is increasingly relying on the likes of ChatGPT, Gemini, or copyAI for creating fresh content, there are serious reputational and potential financial implications of doing so.
The reputation threat
Businesses and brands are increasingly turning to AI to help them create thought leadership content. But the ‘thoughts’ are not theirs. Generative AI works by scraping the internet and mashing up the ideas of others into a single piece of content.
Our definition of thought leadership is about building on the thinking in your area of expertise, and creating content that provides context, relevance, meaning and value to your audience. The ideas shared are distinctly original and provide unique perspectives and insights into a subject. This is outside the scope of what generative AI can deliver.
Research that Clearly PR conducted in 2024 found that 20% of businesses feel that AI-generated content lacks depth or originality and 49% can spot a piece of content that has been created by AI.
- Get started with your thought leadership strategy with our Thought Leader Strategy and Development service
This impairs their perception of those businesses and brands and leads them to question the claims they make as to their expertise. It therefore follows that this is a turn off when it comes to choosing a product or service provider of choice.
Until generative AI can access your brain to extrapolate the wisdom inside your head, the content that such platforms produce simply cannot possibly be considered ‘thought leadership.’
The financial threat
Did you know that content created by generative AI is penalised by search engines? Indeed, Google’s Quality Raters (yup, that’s what they’re called) evaluate the quality of content based on four key criteria for it to be optimised and seen:
- Experience: Does the author know their arse from their elbow on this subject?
- Expertise: Does the author have the nouse and creds to justifiably speak on this topic?
- Authoritativeness: Is the author regarded by their peers as a leader in this space and known for creating content that adds value?
- Trustworthiness: Is it clear who the author is, is the content factually accurate, and is it easy to access without having to jump through a gazillion hoops designed to keep you on the site for longer and capture your data?
So, what does this mean for you? Simply put, you will need to spend more money and accept that you are also leaving money on the table at the same time.
Using the likes of ChatGPT is appealing in that you can churn as much content out as you like for free. But as we have explained above, Google will penalise you for publishing what is technically known as ‘crap.’
This then means that you grab the attention of the customers and clients you want to attract, you will need to increase your SEO budget. Even then, when your target audience finally lands on your website and sees the ‘crap’ on there, they will question the validity of your claims as being an expert in your space.
Closing thoughts
Our LinkedIn feeds are rapidly being flooded with content that is both awful and meaningless. Although tempting to allow oneself to be seduced by AI’s super-fast-content-on-demand allure, especially when the cost point is so low, the language and tone of most of the platforms lacks any semblance of personality, authenticity, or real conviction.
The question to consider is what is most important to you? You can save money by using generative AI to help you double down on your content marketing output, but the financial cost and damage to your organisation’s reputation could be long lasting.
Generative AI has its place, but it’s not about replacing human generated content. rather, it needs to act in unison with it through prompts, outline suggestions, and source collection. That is how I use it (to great effect), and it is the approach we recommend you take too.
