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Before you think Sector45 has reincorporated as a ghost kitchen, let’s clarify that what we’re talking about in this article has nothing to do with food, exactly. But it has everything to do with how tasty your content is to the AI and traditional search engines that matter, and ultimately to the real live people who are interacting with your brand. So let’s dive in and talk some meals, metaphorically.
What Is AI Slop?
Plenty of people, billions in fact, are pretty darn delighted by the info they’re getting from AI tools like Gemini, Claude and ChatGPT. But there are actually quite a number of data integrity challenges within these systems, besides the routine mistakes we all know they still make.
- AI slop results from general knowledge available across the web (like “how is a periareolar breast lift performed?”) becoming so formulaic and widely accepted that the knowledge base is not continually updated, refined and cleaned up.
- Think of it as a policing problem…if the slop is not evaluated and challenged critically, it gradually becomes a source of outmoded, mistake-riddled content.
- What’s worse, if other AI tools pick up the slop being put out and add their own spin, it leads to an utterly useless tool posing as the world’s smartest person ever.
When you publish content that’s already covered on tons of other sites, you’re actively adding to the potential for slop. For example, if you “write” a blog using AI about eyelid surgery recovery, and don’t catch that it suggests to use dry ice to reduce swelling, you’ve thrown a new grain of untruth into the slop. And that’s an honest mistake. Think also of all the folks using AI to pump out low-quality websites, fake reviews, misinformation, clickbait, and bot content that just ups the risk of polluting AI training data.
It doesn’t take much imagination to extrapolate that if future AI models train on AI-written material instead of original human knowledge, errors and bland patterns can compound over generations. People sometimes call this garbage in, garbage out result “AI inbreeding.” Doesn’t sound too appetizing to us!
What Is Secret Sauce Pizza?
AI does not live inside your mind (yet). So the one thing we can say for sure is that if you provide your own perspective, research, achievements, and more, there is absolutely no way you’re adding to the AI slop problem. In fact, we’d say that you’re giving yourself a huge competitive advantage by offering instead this “secret sauce,” and Google thinks the same thing.
That’s why they made a big core update in March to detect content that is just being produced to manipulate the answers AI tools return, instead of genuinely educating and providing conversation and perspective. It’s a process of algorithm updates they’ve followed since the early days of search (think penalties for “black hat” SEO tactics) but has become a radically more important concern as they battle threats to data integrity both on the web and within the “minds” of their rapidly advancing AI tools.
The entire time we’ve been in business, our main job has been to help Google operate their business. That might sound a little funny, but that’s what search engine optimization is all about. It’s not about tricking Google. It’s about helping them find the best possible resources for their users. The exact same principle still applies in the AI world, but now there are more players and they’re all experimenting a bit with the right recipe to deliver those best possible resources.
How You Can Shape the Menu
And this is where your secret sauce is what every AI tool craves! Here’s a concrete example:
- Do a patient survey asking patients for their most important recovery tip.
- Classify those tips into a few common buckets/trends.
- Sort the data by variables such as type of procedure, patient age, etc.
- Publish the results to your blog and social media.
That’s not some regurgitation of a topic already covered on 3,000 other sites. It’s hyperfocused data and perspective about your market and your patient experience. And it’s exactly the kind of thing AI tools like to reference when answering questions for their users. And on the selfish side, it’s the type of content we desperately need in our own AI optimization work to help you earn mentions across these tools.
A word of warning: Do not give into the urge to ask your favorite AI tool to bang out 400 new blogs for you. It’s worse than a waste of time and effort – it could actually get your site penalized. Instead, if you find yourself wondering why your competitors are showing up when you ask Gemini who the best surgeons in your market area, think hard about why you do what you do – and what you want to be known for.
With that in mind, challenge yourself and your staff to source content that proves you are the best possible resource for what you do best. For instance:
- Dig up some social proof to show how many procedures you’ve done.
- Summarize some of your past research articles in plain English and describe why they matter.
- Submit your practice for consideration in local “Best of” awards, and follow up with your patient base about how to vote.
- Highlight a real patient story with professional photos and a motivational message.
- Get on the schedule at an upcoming professional event, and tout it extensively online before, during and after.
A key takeaway, and we’ve been saying this for years to anyone who will listen: your marketing can’t be done in a bubble. Your marketing team needs to be a partner and have regular conversations with you and your staff so that all your unique perspective, valuable experience, and “secret sauce” gets translated into craveable content.
