In the modern digital landscape, artificial intelligence (AI) has become a driving force, transforming various aspects of our lives. From AI-powered autocorrect on smartphones to virtual assistants such as Alexa, AI is ubiquitous. Within the dental industry, AI is already proving valuable for administrative tasks and diagnostics. AI has recently entered the realm of content creation for dental practice websites. The photo in this article is AI-generated content for Facebook.
Dental professionals are now contemplating the use of AI tools to supercharge their search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. But the key questions are whether AI-generated content can convincingly represent dental practices and whether it can achieve strong rankings on search engines.
Also by Keith Humes: The costs of dental website development and design in 2024
The surge of AI in search engines
AI technology, including OpenAI's ChatGPT, is advancing at an unprecedented pace, offering remarkable potential to assist dental practices in their SEO endeavors. ChatGPT, built on the GPT-3.5 large language model, has the remarkable ability to generate content that closely mimics human writing. It can engage users in natural conversations and even compose entire articles, redefining the landscape of online search capabilities.
Search engines are also quick to embrace these advancements. Bing, for instance, has plans to integrate ChatGPT into its search engine, while Google continually enhances its own AI technologies. As AI products continue to evolve, they are set to revolutionize not only how search engines operate but also how SEO is conducted in various industries, including dentistry.
How search engines assess AI-generated dental content
Despite the promise of AI-generated content, Google and other search engines still classify it as auto-generated, akin to spam. Google's recent "Helpful Content Update" underscores the importance of creating content primarily for human readers, a feat that AI often struggles to achieve. However, given that AI programs such as ChatGPT can produce original content, how proficient is Google at distinguishing it from human-generated text?
Google has made significant strides in identifying auto-generated content as it continues to develop its AI capabilities. To mitigate the risk of penalties, some individuals turn to AI content detection tools. These tools meticulously analyze content for patterns and inconsistencies that might indicate AI usage, providing signals for necessary adjustments. While these tools can be beneficial, they introduce an additional layer to the content creation process and are not infallible.
The inherent limitations of AI in dental SEO
The concept of AI generating dental content is undoubtedly appealing, but it comes with limitations. AI, as exemplified by ChatGPT, can mimic human communication but falls short in terms of content quality. It lacks the capacity to generate fresh ideas or offer a genuine human perspective; instead, it largely reiterates existing information. This raises concerns such as:
- The risk of unintentional plagiarism, which adds little value and could harm search rankings.
- An inherent mechanical tone, as AI, despite grasping language patterns, remains machine based.
- The potential for spreading misinformation or biases, particularly concerning health-care-related content.
- An inability to convey true expertise, as AI may not fully grasp human search intent or provide expert insights.
- The possibility of content being flagged as spam, which results in a decline in search engine rankings.
Leveraging AI in dental content creation
While AI has the potential to generate dental content, the extensive post-generation editing required may render it cost-ineffective. Rather than relying solely on AI for content creation, it should be viewed as a valuable tool within the content development process. By harnessing AI's capabilities to gain insights into how people search, dental professionals can optimize their content more effectively. Practical applications of AI in dental SEO include:
- Generating ideas for highly searched dental topics.
- Crafting content outlines based on user metrics and insights from other dental websites.
- Identifying gaps in existing content and suggesting valuable additions.
- Streamlining the content creation process to enhance efficiency.
Should a dental practice decide to use AI for content generation, it’s paramount to have a skilled professional review and refine the content. This ensures both accuracy and a natural tone that incorporates the unique perspective of the dental practitioner.
AI has unquestionably made remarkable advancements across numerous domains. With judicious use, dental practices can harness this cutting-edge technology to elevate their website's SEO. While the idea of AI fully taking over content creation may be enticing, its true potential lies in supporting the research process, enabling dental experts to discern and deliver what is most valuable to potential patients.
This article originally appeared in DE Weekend, the newsletter that will elevate your Sunday mornings with practical and innovative practice management and clinical content from experts across the field. Subscribe here.
