AI-generated content is text, images, audio or video created fully or partly with generative AI. Google allows it in Search if it follows Search Essentials and the spam policies. What counts is the value the pages give users.
What does Google say about AI-generated content?
Google’s guidance says generative AI can help with research and with structuring original content. It warns that generative models predict likely word sequences and do not retrieve facts, so output can contain errors that need checking before publication. Titles, meta descriptions, structured data and image alt text generated by AI also need review.
Problems start when tools produce many pages without adding value. Google’s spam policies name this as an example of scaled content abuse: using generative AI tools to generate many pages without adding value for users. For product data in Google Merchant Center, Google asks merchants to mark AI-generated images with the IPTC value TrainedAlgorithmicMedia and to flag AI-generated product details.
Labeling under EU law
Article 50 of the EU AI Act sets transparency duties, and the European Commission states they apply from August 2, 2026. Under Article 50(4), deployers disclose deepfakes. The same applies to AI-generated or manipulated text published to inform the public on matters of public interest, unless the content has undergone human review or editorial control and a natural or legal person holds editorial responsibility. The Commission offers optional EU icons and a voluntary code of practice. Providers of AI systems that generate synthetic content and were placed on the market before August 2, 2026 must apply the machine-readable marking under Article 50(2) by December 2, 2026 (Article 111(4), added by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744).
This is not legal advice.
Example
An online shop has descriptions for 5,000 products generated by AI and publishes them unchecked. The texts barely differ and add nothing the manufacturer does not already say. That matches the pattern Google describes as scaled content abuse. If a specialist reviews each description and adds first-hand details on use and dimensions, the pages serve users.
Common mistakes
- Unchecked facts, figures or sources from an AI draft.
- Many similar pages published in a short time with no original information.
FAQ
Does Google penalize AI content? Google says value to users decides. Mass-produced pages that mainly aim to manipulate rankings can violate its spam policies.
When must AI content be labeled? Article 50 covers specific cases, such as deepfakes and unreviewed texts on matters of public interest.
Sources
- Google Search's guidance on using generative AI content – Google Search Centraldevelopers.google.com
- Spam policies for Google web search – Google Search Centraldevelopers.google.com
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (AI Act), Article 50 – EUR-Lex, checked 7.10.2026eur-lex.europa.eu
- Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 (Digital Omnibus on AI), Art. 1 point (39) (Art. 111(4) AI Act) – EUR-Lex, English version, checked 7.10.2026eur-lex.europa.eu
- Code of Practice on AI-generated content (Article 50) – European Commissiondigital-strategy.ec.europa.eu
- EU icons for labelling AI-generated content – European Commissiondigital-strategy.ec.europa.eu
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