When to Use AI to Create Content (And When not to)

Writing content is one of the most common tasks businesses outsource to AI. For many of us, writing blog posts, product descriptions, and category copy can feel like a never-ending chore. In this guide, I'll break down the approach I take with my own content creation, as well as the advice I give to clients looking to leverage AI in an effective and thoughtful way.

My approach can be summed up simply: start with understanding the "Why" of your content, and build a plan based on that answer. If the "Why" is to provide objective information or SEO value for crawlers, the writing can be handed off to any modern LLM. If the content seeks to build your authority, establish your brand voice, or offer your unique take on your industry, it's better to maintain ownership over the process.

"Content marketing became such a powerful tool precisely because it gave brands a new way to connect with potential customers"

There's a practical reason for this beyond the technical one. Skilled AI prompters can absolutely get reasonably strong content from an LLM, even for the kind of conversational, authoritative pieces I advise against outsourcing. I still recommend keeping that content in your own hands because it's important to maintain ownership over how you engage with your audience. Content marketing became such a powerful tool precisely because it gave brands a new way to connect with potential customers — a chance to establish authenticity, answer tough questions, and offer unique advice.

The framework below offers a breakdown of when and how to use AI for your content needs. With this approach, you'll save a significant amount of time without sacrificing the benefits of a high-quality content marketing program.

When to Use AI for Content Creation

There are two major areas where businesses can utilize LLMs to generate content with no real tradeoffs. When executed properly, modern AI models can create excellent informational posts and SEO-rich copy for product pages, category pages, brand histories, and other objective, clearly-scoped initiatives.

Informational Articles

Let's say you run an ecommerce site selling bicycle gear and parts. Your blog should serve as, among other things, a resource for your customers and potential customers. Posts like "How to fix a bicycle chain" or "How to choose the right sized bike frame" offer real SEO potential and provide essential information that can help remove fear, uncertainty, and doubt during the shopping and research process. These are the perfect kinds of posts to write using AI.

LLMs are trained on countless forums, advice guides, how-to videos, and beginner tutorials on topics like these, so their output can generally be trusted to be both accurate and well-rounded. Other straightforward topics like "Steel vs. Aluminum bike frames" or "The benefits of clip-in pedals" fit this category as well. For B2B businesses, informational topics might be something like "What is a CRM?" For service businesses like HVAC repair, it could be "How often should I clean my furnace?" These topics have clear answers and provide value to users by conveying those answers succinctly. That's exactly what an LLM is good at.

SEO Copy

SEO copy is a similarly well-defined use case. Ecommerce shops benefit from having unique, keyword-rich copy on category pages. Copy detailing what makes the best bicycle chain, or the history and notable offerings of a specific manufacturer, can easily be handled by an LLM. Copy describing how a gas water heater works is similarly useful for a "Water Heater Repairs" service page. All of this is prime material for an AI model to handle.

When Not to Use AI for Content Creation

You have more to offer your audience than straightforward facts. Your experience in your industry, your insights into the pain points of the region or niche you serve, and your distinctive voice all separate you from the competition. These are nuances that won't be baked into a model's training data.

"Is this a strong opportunity to open a dialog with my audience? If so, keep it in human hands."

For our ecommerce bike shop, a post like "Do I need a carbon bike frame?" offers an opportunity to be up-front and honest with your customer. Your position on the premium vs. budget spectrum, your philosophy on value vs. technology, weight vs. repairability — these will play a strong role in the advice you give. That's not something you want to delegate.

The same applies to B2B and service businesses. A digital marketing consultant writing about AI's impact on organic search isn't just conveying facts — they're staking out a position, sharing hard-won perspective, and giving readers a reason to trust them with their business. An LLM can produce something coherent on the same topic, but it can't produce your take. There's not a ton of dialog around how to replace a bicycle chain, but there's plenty when it comes to product recommendations, industry commentary, and shopping advice.

The Decision at a Glance

The Bottom Line

Before you use AI for content, ask yourself: what are you trying to get out of this? If the goal is to provide information to users or keyword-rich context to search engines, then AI — properly prompted — can do a phenomenal job.

If the goal is to establish authority in your space, build a relationship with your audience, or define your brand voice, take the time to write that material yourself. The most successful brands I've worked with have made sure to take full ownership of the more nuanced relationship- and reputation-building content. That ownership gives them the control and authenticity to guide their brand in an intentional direction — one that resonates with their audience — while still finding plenty of room to streamline operations where it makes sense.