How I Humanize AI Content as a Writer (5 Ways)
written by
Victoria Kurichenko
posted on
November 21, 2024
If you’ve been keeping up with my journey, you probably know I’ve spent years growing my website with SEO and helping clients boost their organic traffic.
I chose the SEO writing niche because it combines my passion for writing with search engine optimization (SEO).
When you create well-written content packed with unique, helpful insights and optimize it for rankings, it usually performs well.
I say usually because even the best content isn’t always a sure thing . There are other factors that can keep it from ranking.
For example, my website, the one you are currently reading, has just 83 indexed pages, but it still brings in about 6,000 organic visitors from search engines every month!
Pretty cool, right?
But even if your content is top-notch and original, there’s no guarantee your site won’t get hit by Google’s algorithm updates.
Take a look at what happened to Forbes — a global media giant with a stellar domain authority of 90/100 - during the latest Google rankings update in October 2024.
Quora, a giant Q&A platform with 92/100 domain authority, suffered much more during Google’s June 2024 Spam update.
According to Ahrefs, its organic traffic has been on a steady decline ever since.
Apparently, even a high domain authority, which often signals a strong backlink profile, doesn’t guarantee that Google will go easy on you.
I recently watched an interview with John O’Nolan, the founder of Ghost, and he had a hilarious take on Quora. He called it:
“Quora is like one of the saddest places on the Internet where happiness dies.”
I couldn’t agree more with John O’Nolan.
Even though Quora used to be one of my favorite platforms for sharing answers and driving traffic, the flood of AI-generated content is slowly killing it.
But can Google detect AI content?
Google doesn’t provide any explicit response as to whether it can differentiate between AI and human content. At the same time, Google says AI content isn’t a problem in itself, but if you use it to game the system and boost rankings, that’s a big no-no.
It could even get your entire website removed from search results. Google’s official response about using AI-generated content.
Can AI-generated content rank in search results?
The short answer is yes!
As an SEO expert and content creator, I’ve experimented with AI content many times, including publishing purely AI-generated content and humanized AI content.
There are many AI tools for SEO that you can use to generate content. Below, you can see the results of my experiment, where I generated content using Koala AI and humanized it using the strategies I’ve shared below (no AI humanizer tools were used).
Here’s the performance of my Koala review blog post within the past 6 months. I published it in January 2024 and haven’t updated it for a year.
Here’s what I did to humanize the AI-written text before publishing it on my website:
- I changed the tone of voice so the content aligned with my writing style.
- I added a few manually written paragraphs to share my first-hand experience with the tool.
- I added a few FAQ questions at the end of the article to answer users’ most popular questions.
That’s it!
The article still ranks on Google and sends me organic traffic.
I’ve shared even more experiments on my Medium blog. If interested, here are some of the links:
My 5 strategies to humanize AI-generated content
What’s humanizing AI content?
Humanizing AI content means aligning your content with Google’s E-E-A-T — that’s the main point I want you to remember before going into details.
E-E-A-T stands for “Expertize-Experience-Authoritativeness-Trust.”
In a nutshell, these are the four key factors that Google considers when evaluating the quality of a website or piece of content:
“Google’s ranking systems aim to reward original, high-quality content that demonstrates qualities of what we call E-E-A-T: expertise, experience, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.”
I talk more about E-E-A-T in my SEO ebook.
But I handpicked some of the top-performing strategies from my ebook to help you humanize AI text and align it with Google’s E-E-A-T.
Here’s how to make content less AI-detectable. I often use all these strategies to humanize AI content generated by ChatGPT:
- Add personal experience
- Make it conversational
- Show empathy
- Include sources
- Include the author bio
1. Add personal experience
If you’ve ever read content that’s purely AI-generated, you’ve probably noticed it feels a bit lifeless.
There’s no personal touch, no real stories, and nothing to back up the points being made.
It’s just bland content, like what you’d see in a guest post submission (trust me, I’ve come across this a lot).
Why?
Because AI tools pull from existing content to create something new, but they don’t add anything original or personal.
Readers don’t want to see the same thing over and over again. They want to hear YOUR stories, your experiences, your wins, losses, and beliefs.
AI just can’t do that.
That’s why I recommend adding your stories to the content, even if it’s AI-generated, to make it sound more human.
When using AI as a service to create content, the trick to making it feel human lies in adding your unique voice and perspective.
It’s easy when you write it for your blog. But, it becomes more challenging when writing content for someone else. In this case, you have several options:
- Chat with the person you’re writing for, ask them questions, and set clear expectations.
- If they’re a public figure, check their social media for personal insights or stories.
These two approaches have helped me nail the right tone of voice for my clients.
How do I know it works?
It has always led to a noticeable improvement in rankings and organic traffic shortly after updating the content.
Here’s what happened to the blog post about beehiiv after I added unique insights, personal stories, and helpful content. 👇
2. Make it conversational
What is the easiest way to humanize AI content?
Make it conversational!
Imagine you stumble upon two articles about AI in organic search results. This is the introduction of the first article:
While this is an AI-generated intro of the second article:
An AI-generated introduction with the help of ChatGPT.
Which one does sound more human?
I bet the first one! That’s because it starts with a personal story and feels more like a conversation.
AI content often contains complex sentences and vocabulary that we, humans, wouldn’t usually use in real life.
“AI tools can streamline the SEO process, allowing marketers ….“
or
“By leveraging AI, businesses can gain deeper insights …“
These sentences just don’t sound like something we’d say. They’re too complicated and boring. Instead, we should aim for content that’s easy to read and understand.
How can you do that?
If you already have experience in writing, you’ve probably heard the tip: “Write as you speak.”
Mix short and long sentences, use occasional fragments for emphasis, and allow minor informal quirks (e.g., “Well, that’s a good one!“).
That’s what your readers want — imperfect, casual sentences that feel real. And if you’re unsure, you can ask ChatGPT or Gemini to help make your content sound more conversational or hire an experienced editor from a platform like Fiverr Pro.
3. Show empathy
When I just started writing, my main goal was to pack my content with actionable tips so that people would follow me for my expertise.
It took me more than 100 stories on my Medium blog to realize that’s not necessarily how it works.
People don’t follow experts — they follow those whose words they can connect with.
Funny enough, that’s exactly what I’ve always done as a reader. I looked for people who shared my struggles, beliefs, and experiences - those who’ve been in my shoes and made it out.
Understanding your reader’s pain points and emotions is what makes your content feel relatable.
Honestly, this is something AI tools can’t quite do yet because they don’t understand human emotions.
So, how can you make your content more relatable?
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but here are some things I’ve found helpful:
- Start your posts with a story and use phrases like “I get it” or “We’ve all been there.”
- Acknowledge common pain points your audience may have before offering any solutions.
- Ask questions. Phrases like “Have you ever noticed…?” or “Do you feel the same way?” can make your audience unconsciously nod their heads while reading your content.
- Talk publicly and honestly about your mistakes. They resonate much better than success stories because we are all humans who make mistakes.
Relatable content can help you keep your readers engaged longer, which sends a positive signal to Google. And when it’s helpful, it will likely stay in search results and won’t be swept away during the next algorithm updates.
4. Include sources
Have you ever come across AI-generated content that includes quotes and sources?
As a content writer, I’ve noticed that tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and other content writing tools for SEO don’t typically generate content with sources.
While they can provide a list of sources if you ask for them, they don’t automatically include them in the content.
Why is that?
It’s because these AI tools are built to create content, not fact-check it.
But why do you even need to quote someone? Why can’t you just rely on the writer’s experience?
Well, it depends!
Your own personal and professional experience is enough for writing stories, but when it comes to other topics, you’ll probably need to support your points with data. This makes your content more trustworthy and helps back up your point of view for the readers.
And while outbound links do not directly impact rankings, they can enhance user experience and help Google understand your content better.
Here’s what John Mueller, Google’s advocate, shares about outbound links in one of the videos:
“From our point of view, external links to other sites - so links from your site to other people’s sites - isn’t specifically a ranking factor.
But it can bring value to your content and, in turn, can be relevant for us in search. Whether or not they’re nofollow doesn’t really matter to us.”
5. Include the author bio
An author bio is a brief summary about the writer that often includes their experience, background, or achievements. It’s usually placed at the end of an article or blog post to give readers a sense of who the author is.
Now, this might seem like a no-brainer, but I’ve worked with companies that used to publish blog content without saying who wrote it. No name, no credentials—nothing. It left readers wondering if the writer even had the expertise to tackle the topic.
Anonymous content can make your blog feel impersonal and uncredible, which may discourage readers from engaging with your content.
Poor onsite user experience can even lead to a drop in rankings regardless of whether your content is AI-generated or human. That’s because Google pays attention to user behavior and rewards websites that satisfy user search intent.
Here’s an excerpt from Google Search Central about page experience:
To wrap up
As much as Google wants to keep the Internet free from AI-generated content, I don’t think that’s happening anytime soon.
AI helps create content faster. That’s why businesses and creators use it to get quicker results and stay ahead of the competition.
But just because something’s faster doesn’t mean it’s better.
That’s why even the Internet giants, like Forbs and Quora, suffered from Google’s attempts to reduce the amount of AI-generated content in search results.
You’ll probably hear a lot of success stories from website owners about the perks of using AI for content. But my advice? Don’t risk your website’s long-term health and reputation just for quick wins.
Successful businesses don’t rely entirely on AI. Instead, they hire experts on platforms like Fiverr Pro to create helpful content for people. They also humanize AI content to make it resonate with readers.
There are many strategies to play safe if you use AI content.
I’ve shared just some of them in this article. They can help you bridge the gap between AI-generated content and the authentic voice of a human writer.
Do you have more ideas on how to humanize AI-generated content? Share them in the comments below.
Hello there!
My name is Victoria.
I am an SEO expert, Medium top writer, solopreneur, and the founder of Self Made Millennials. I help companies create optimized content and attract potential customers through organic search results. In addition, I share how content creators can monetize their writing skills.
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