If ChatGPT wrote some of your website, what does that mean for AI content and Google rankings? You are not in trouble with Google for using AI alone. Plenty of WA tradies and local service owners have used it to draft a service page, or paid someone who did. What Google has now put in writing is the step people skip: a human checks AI-generated claims before they go live. That check also covers the bits you probably never read, like the page title and image descriptions.
It matters because an AI tool can describe what a plumber usually offers. It has no idea whether your plumber goes to Ellenbrook, charges a call-out fee or picks up the phone at midnight. So it guesses, confidently.
Key takeaways
- Google’s guidance says AI-generated content should be manually fact-checked before publishing, including titles, meta descriptions, structured data and image alt text.
- Using AI to draft is not a published ranking penalty. An unchecked promise can still mislead a customer.
- Test every claim against how the business really runs, and give one named person the final sign-off.
What does Google say about AI content?
Google’s guidance on using generative AI content puts it plainly: “It is critical to manually factcheck and review all AI-generated content for accuracy and trustworthiness before publishing.” The same paragraph says the review applies to title elements, meta descriptions, structured data and image alt text, because those can show up in search results.
Google hasn’t announced an AI penalty or an AI detector. Checking your pages won’t guarantee a ranking lift either. This is a quality expectation about accuracy. You’d want that from your website anyway.
Its helpful content guidance adds two points worth knowing. Using generative AI to produce large amounts of text without manual oversight or curation counts as “little to no effort”. And fabricating creator profiles, such as AI headshots, made-up names or false credentials, is described as “a form of deception”. That page also lists titles and headings as part of a page’s main content.
Where an AI-drafted service page goes wrong
Say you ask an AI tool for a blocked drains page for a Perth plumbing business. What comes back reads well. Same-day service, licensed plumbers, a tidy list of suburbs. None of it came from your booking calendar or your licence records. The tool filled the gaps with what plumbing pages usually say.
Here is a hypothetical draft run through a fact-check. It covers five claim types that AI drafts often get wrong, and the places each one can hide.
| Claim the AI draft makes | Where it can appear | What to confirm with the business |
|---|---|---|
| “24/7, same-day service” | Body copy, title tag, meta description | Real phone hours, booking windows and whether same-day applies to every job. |
| “Fully licensed and certified” | Body copy, structured data, image alt text | Who holds which licence, whether it is current and whether it covers this type of work. |
| “Servicing all Perth suburbs” | Body copy, title tag, meta description, structured data | The actual service area, plus any limits on distance or after-hours call-outs. |
| “No call-out fee” or a fixed price | Body copy, meta description, structured data | The current price list, conditions and exclusions. |
| “Lifetime warranty” | Body copy, title tag, image alt text | The written warranty terms: how long, and which repairs it covers. |
Alt text is where this slips through. A line like “licensed plumber clearing a drain in Fremantle” makes two claims in seven words. Is the person licensed? Was the job in Fremantle? If it’s a stock photo, the honest answer to both is no. Structured data works the same way: it should describe the business as it is, not a tidier version the AI made up.
A pre-publish checklist to hand to whoever writes your site
The writer can fix the wording. Only someone who knows the business can confirm the facts. If a claim can’t be backed up, cut it or narrow it until it can.
| Check | Question to ask | Evidence or action |
|---|---|---|
| Service promises | Can we keep every response time and availability promise on this page? | Compare against real hours and bookings. Add the exceptions. |
| Credentials and authors | Are licences, bylines and staff photos genuine and current? | Check the records. Remove any invented author or headshot. |
| Coverage and offers | Are the suburbs, prices, fees and warranty terms right today? | Confirm against the service map, price list and written terms. |
| Visible page | Do the headline, headings, body and images match the evidence? | Read the final version, not the first draft. |
| Search fields | Do the title tag and meta description repeat a claim nobody checked? | Preview both and correct them. |
| Behind the page | Is the structured data accurate? Does each alt text describe its image truthfully? | Open both in the editor, or ask your web person to show you. |
| Sign-off | Who checked the claims after the last edit? | Record a named approver, then look at the live page once it’s published. |
For a wider second pass, our checklist of content AI can’t finish covers what still needs a person. If you’re weighing up where search is heading, read what content still works in AI search and our guide to Google AI Overviews.
A checked page is a better page
AI will keep getting faster at writing service pages. It still won’t know your hours, your licences or where your vans actually go. That knowledge sits with you, and Google is now asking you to apply it before you hit publish. If you wouldn’t make a promise to a customer face to face, why leave it on your website?
Sources
- Google Search Central, Guidance on using generative AI content on your website, checked 5 October 2026.
- Google Search Central, Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content, checked 5 October 2026.
