
Are you a copywriter worried that AI might take your job? If the answer is no, then we reckon you’re lying. The reality is that AI platforms like ChatGPT are a showcase for the power of AI – and the future potential.
The average blog post length is 1,416 words as of 2023. It takes a typical writer about 4 hours to complete a blog post. Not many marketers or business leaders wants to be doing that – so they’ll outsource to freelance writers.
But the rise of AI means that freelance writers are facing new competition – and it’s causing some issues in the industry.
You’ve probably read the millions of LinkedIn commentators saying AI will never replace humans. But anecdote isn’t evidence and the progress of technology – including AI – seems inexorable. We’re going to leave our personal views to one side and look at the evidence.
We’re learning too. Let’s hope that by the end of this blog, we’ll figure out whether AI will replace SEO copywriters.
What is SEO content?
When we talk about SEO content, we basically mean blogs.
While SEO copywriting can include all elements of on-page content (including website content), in the digital marketing sector, we focus on blogs.
Blogs have been the engine room of SEO for decades. (We’re old enough to remember a time before that, but let’s not go too far into that!)
Blogs still have power. approximately 7.5 million blog posts are published daily? We didn’t, either. Blogs spread globally, with WordPress.com recording over 20 billion page view a month and 409 million users.
You’re reading a blog now.
Why SEO blogging still has power in 2025
You know what a blog is, but do you know what its impact can be on SEO? Here are some stats:
- Lead Generation: SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate, while outbound leads (such as direct mail or print advertising) have a 1.7% close rate. SEO is better at creating leads – and can be cheaper, too (if you write your own blogs, obviously).
- Content creation: This isn’t self-serving. Stats show that 72% of online marketers describe content creation as their most effective SEO tactic. Why? Because it’s a mechanism to create a sustainable advantage.
- Ranking factors: Again, don’t take our word for the power of content. SEO experts believe link building is the third most important SEO ranking factor after content and keywords. Content is king.
- Backlink Impact: Content isn’t about volume it’s about quality. On average, top-ranking results on Google have 3.8 times more backlinks than those below them. Better content is a powerful way to build links. And trust us, you still want links.
- Content length and links: This is absolutely true. Long-form content generates 77.2% more links than shorter articles. While we lack the evidence, we’ve seen in our experience that longer blogs (1000 words +) rank better than shorter ones. While Google wants single answers, it stands to reason that more detailed blogs will provide better levels of detail.
- Content updates: Search engine algorithms and audiences change – and so should your content. But it’s strange because while only 38% of bloggers focus on updating older articles, 34% say that updating content produces strong results. Focus on keeping your content fresh.
OK, so you can take these stats with a pinch of salt. They’re not all peer-reviewed evidence but do provide some good support for our belief that creating content is still one of the best investments your business or brand could make.
But should you pay an agency or AI?
The evidence and arguments for AI copywriting
This blog probably took us a few hours to write, edit, proof and post.
With AI, you could have a blog delivered in a the time it takes for us to write this sentence.
Have you ever used ChatGPT and been disappointed with the results? That’s because ChatGPT is a basic interface. There are much more sophisticated and successful AI copywriting assistants and platforms out there that generate much more convincing results.
How? With a combination of prompt engineering (the instructions you use to ask an AI writing assistant to create content for you) and the ability to train them on your existing content and tone of voice guidelines.
So, are marketers using AI? We dug into the data. (OK, searched on Google.)
- Adoption rate: A significant 88% of marketers incorporate AI into their daily activities, says SurveyMonkey. They’re already using the technology for value-add (and profit generating) work.
- Content creation: It may surprise you but a very precise 76% of marketers use generative AI for content creation and copywriting tasks says Salesforce, and they should know.
- Are marketers *actually* using AI? The stats above paint a worrying picture (if you’re a freelance writer). But, while 59% of marketers recognise the potential of AI for copywriting, tasks only 26% have implemented it in their strategies found eMarketer. This suggests that, at least for now, AI is being used tentatively by pros.
- Satisfaction levels: Some sectors are quicker to introduce the tech. Among B2B marketers, 85% use generative AI, with 76% saying they’re satisfied or highly satisfied with the results, says MarTech.
- Content Personalisation: Two-thirds (71%) of marketers believe AI is a beneficial technology for content creation. Perhaps paradoxically for an LLM-based tech, they also say it can help them to streamline personalization efforts, says Vonazon Full Service Marketing Agency.
It seems that AI is already being used by marketing teams already, and why wouldn’t you?
Some of the benefits of AI are pretty obvious to any cash-strapped created team or digital marketing department:
- Cheap
- Fast
- Easy-to-use
- Content is formatted
- Links are embedded
- Grammar, spelling and syntax are solid
- Content reads professionally
If it sounds too good to be true, then sadly, you’d be right. Let’s look at the other side of this shiny, digital coin.
The evidence and arguments against AI copywriting
AI copywriting turns something creative, fun and inspiring into something transactional. It’s also clear, through evidence of AI hallucination, that content can’t be trusted either. And that’s a big deal.
This isn’t an academic paper, thankfully, but we’ve taken a look at some of the evidence out there against AI. See how you think things stack up:
- Engagement and traffic: A recent study by SEO expert Neil Patel’s NP Digital found that human-generated content received 5.44 times more traffic than AI-generated content. OK, so this was over a 5-month period, but it’s a damning stat.
- Search engine rankings: Perhaps even more important (depending on your content objectives), research by Reboot Online found that human-created content ranked higher in search engine results compared to AI-generated content.
- Quality and relevance: This is an interesting point – and a controversial one. Some agencies claim that Google evaluates content based on its quality and relevance, regardless of whether it’s AI-generated or human-written, says StoryChief. Search Engine Journal disagrees.
- Penalties for low value: Whether it’s generated by woman or machine, content that lacks value to users – even if AI-generated – will be penalised, says IntellectualEAD.
- Indexing problems: This one if more for your technical SEO team, but AI-generated content may experience issues like “discovered but not indexed,” says SEO experts on Reddit.
There is no concrete evidence that AI-generated content is being penalised by Google. That’s true. But if you’re using basic prompts and generic responses (created through ChatGPT for example), you’re not going to see your SEO content achieve, well, anything
The future for AI copywriting
What’s the future for SEO copywriting? We’ll be honest, we’re merely writers blown around in the storm created by the tech giants. We did some digging to see what some experts think before coming to our conclusion.
- Enhanced efficiency: Some leading digital marketers and SEO experts believe AI will drive smarter decision-making. Incorporating it into strategies can enable highly efficient, targeted campaigns say the data nerds at Wunderkind | Performance Marketing.
- At the cost of creativity? The advertising industry is undergoing a major transformation that’s being driven by advanced data analytics and AI technology. There’s a huge risk that this could lead to a decrease in the importance of traditional creative roles, warns the WSJ. If everything is generic junk, then content itself will lose its power and influence, leading readers and audiences to look elsewhere for information and inspiration.
- Human + machine = future: AI is incredible today and tomorrow, well, who knows. Despite the advancements in AI, experts strongly believe that human creativity, intuition and empathy remain irreplaceable in creating content and telling stories. This is vital in creating compelling narratives and content that creates an emotional connection, say the boffins at WIRED.
42group’s view on the future of SEO copywriting
AI can’t replace a human copywriter – but in the future, it won’t need to. The way we search, through long tail keyword typed into a computer, is changing. In a few years, it’ll likely disappear as AI assistants take over. Social media is increasingly used performs the function of a search engine, too, reducing the impact of SEO content.
But, as audience demands change, so must the skills of writers and content agencies. SEO copywriting will, as AI improves, change with human and these advanced algorithms working together to create content that connects with audiences and engages existing and new algorithms.