New directions given to Google’s quality raters tell them to look for signs that a page’s main content is AI-generated or otherwise made using automated tools. If a page is found to be primarily made with AI, according to Google’s John Mueller, raters are asked to rate it as “lowest quality.”
Though this policy shift was apparently part of the January 2025 Search Quality Rater Guidelines update, Mueller first publicly revealed it this week while speaking at Search Central Live Madrid.
Why This Matters
Though Search Quality Raters do not directly affect Google’s search results, their work is used to improve Google’s algorithms. The way they are asked to rank pages typically reflects Google’s overall internal guidelines.
Here’s what Google had to say when they updated the raters’ guidelines in January:
“As a reminder, these guidelines are what are used by our search raters to help evaluate the performance of our various search ranking systems, and their ratings don’t directly influence ranking. The guidelines share important considerations for what content is helpful for people when using Google Search. Our page on how to create helpful, people-first content summarizes these concepts for creators to help them self-assess their own content to be successful in Google Search.”
If Google is instructing its raters to give AI-generated content, it is a sign that the company is hardening its stance on AI content and moving to reduce its presence in search results.
AI content has always been a risky prospect when it comes to SEO, but this is the one of the most significant signs we’ve seen from Google itself that AI-generated content may be unwelcome in search results.
