Tell-tale signs of AI content and how small businesses can avoid them and stay authentic
There’s a lot of commentary online at the moment about AI-generated content and how to spot it. There’s eye-rolling and arguing over the correct use of an em dash and playing bingo with words and phrases commonly used by AI. If that makes you nervous, don’t be. There’s nothing wrong with using these fantastic tools to help you write your content and there are a few things to look out for and correct before you hit post. I’ve got you covered in this article 😉
Some of the ‘bingo words’
AI-written marketing content often has distinct characteristics that vary depending on how advanced or customised the AI system is and whether the content was reviewed or edited by a human. Here are some common words to look out for:
Thus
Indeed
Moreover
Hence
However
Therefore
In conclusion
Furthermore
Significantly
Accordingly
Cornerstone
Dissect
These words come off as generic, overly formal, and slightly unnatural (I bet you don’t really speak like that). AI often lacks the nuanced authenticity of human emotion or the ability to write conversationally without going too far the other way and coming off as silly or fluffy.
Example: "This product will undoubtedly revolutionise your life and bring unparalleled convenience."
The cool part is you can take out bits like that and run them back through your AI to make them sound better.
AI also tends to favour trendy industry jargon, often without adding any depth or nuance. So, depending on your industry, you may spot phrases like "synergy," "game-changer," or "customer-centric innovation."
Example: "To achieve your marketing goals effectively, one must embrace innovative strategies that align with overarching objectives."...umm what?
Mixed metaphor mayhem
I find the quickest way to spot AI is when I’m reading content that’s loaded with metaphors that often have no relevance to the business. Space and rocket metaphors, gardening metaphors, superhero metaphors, fishing or just general fluff about nothing. Do you really need the metaphor to make the point? Can you follow that thread through the rest of your content or, like the example below, is it just a piece of fluff for one day?
Repetition, repetition, repetition
I’m a fan of reiterating key concepts and I do believe that repetition in many instances is important. AI knows this but you’ll notice it might repeat key phrases, words or ideas to fill space. Look out for this and remove them when you think it’s repeating too often.
Example: Using "innovative solutions" or "cutting-edge" multiple times in a short piece.
What’s the context?
If you’re new to writing prompts, your AI content writer might not fully get the context of your business or even the lingo and location of your audience. Aussie slang, cultural humour, local trends, or even Americanised spelling can make the content feel a bit off or out of touch.
Example: Using Americanised expressions in a piece intended for an Australian audience.
Tip: Asking AI to make something sound more Australian can result in some pretty funny use of Aussie slang and sterotypes. Worth a laugh but not super useful. Best to just go over it yourself and make sure it sounds like you or your brand voice.
Formulas and listicles
AI-generated content often sticks to templates or standard structures. In paid versions and for the more experienced, you can set these structures and templates up yourself. But, if you’re starting out or just using it day-to-day, you’ll find the responses may include predictable hooks, listicles*, or calls-to-action. If you’re asking it to create social media content, it’s going to include stacks of emoji too.
* A listicle is an article or passage written in the form of a list. It's a way of presenting information that’s easy to read and digest, with each point or item focusing on a specific idea. The content is usually broken down into smaller, bite-sized sections, making it more engaging and straightforward for readers to follow.
Example: "Step 1: Identify your needs. Step 2: Choose our product. Step 3: Enjoy the benefits!"
Shallow insights and generic statements
If the AI you are using hasn’t been given any background or context, you’ll find it glosses over important information, giving your content a superficial and meh vibe.
Example: I asked ChatGPT what small businesses should do with their social media and it presented this fluffy listicle (I took out all the emoji):
Engage: Spend 10 minutes liking, commenting, and sharing other people’s posts.
Delight your followers: Create content that they’ll love and want to share.
Use high-end quality visuals: Tell your story including both photos and videos.
Optimize your content: Include relevant keywords to make it easily searchable.
Analyze your insights: Track your progress and see what’s working (and what’s not).
The problem with that is not that it’s wrong, it’s all just ripped from other people’s content and provides no expertise. I like my advice with a generous helping of real advice. Otherwise, it’s just noise with no value and it won’t get you far.
You can’t hear your own voice
Without loading in your brand voice and letting the AI get to know you, it’s going to struggle to maintain a consistent voice, especially when generating longer or multi-part content. You might find it also switches from casual to formal tone abruptly and you’ll find your content moves further and further away from your brand voice. If you’ve grown a community already, they will probably notice and it may damage the relationship you have with them. If you haven’t yet grown your community, this distance and inability to get to know your brand may turn people off.
Storytelling and originality
You should know this by now - storytelling makes for excellent content. I don’t believe you need to always write long-form or pack too much information into marketing content, but it does help if you have a brand narrative that you can stick to and from that, tell stories. Unless you have loaded that whole narrative into your AI content buddy, it’s going to struggle to incorporate your personal touch.
Example: Your content will be missing customer stories or behind-the-scenes details that make it more engaging, authentic and relatable.
True originality is hard but if you can put your thoughts, examples and insights into your content you can get around AI’s reliance on existing data, popular content and patterns.
Visual hallmarks of AI-generated content
Em dashes: Funnily enough, these are often grammatically correct, but because they are somewhat old-fashioned, using them in your writing can be a giveaway and, to the average person they can appear wrong.
Emoji: I love them in moderation, but as soon as you ask AI to write a social media post it will go crazy with them. Be like Coco Chanel and remove a few before you hit post.
Listicles: As I described earlier. Lists can be very easy to read and accessible but are also a staple of AI-generated content.
Generic or inconsistent imagery: If you’re coupling your text with suggested images or AI-generated images your own visual identity will start to fade.
Overstructured titles and sub-headings: Gee those robots LOVE a good looong subheading.
Uniform sentence and paragraph lengths. This is particularly relevant if you’re writing longer-form content. It’s much nicer to read when paragraphs aren’t uniformly structured.
Not the end, just the beginning
Hopefully, this has given you lots to think about and a checklist of things to look for when you’re generating your content using AI. If I wasn’t clear at the start, I do encourage you to use AI if it helps you get where you need to go. The intent, of this article, is to help you do that without sounding like everyone else, losing your brand identity or potentially turning people off who notice you’re not ‘there’ anymore.
If you’d like more personalised tips, help with setting up your brand identity and voice or any other marketing help please reach out, I’d love to be the superhero who answers your distress signal..hah. Take care 🫶 Erika
❤️ Hi I’m Erika ✌️
I’m a marketing specialist with a BA in Media and Comms, Masters of Marketing, Certificate in CX (Customer Experience) and 28 years marketing experience.
I’m well-placed to help you navigate the sometimes overwhelming world of marketing and social media. I work with you one-on-one or create fun and action-oriented workshops and webinars for groups, organisations and businesses.
Connect with me on social media for more tips or to start a conversation 👇
