Scaled content abuse is producing large numbers of pages with the main purpose of manipulating search rankings. It usually means many pages with little original content and little value for the reader. Google lists it as a form of spam in its spam policies. How the pages were made does not matter: with AI, by hand or a combination of both.
Examples according to Google
- Using generative AI to produce many pages that give the reader nothing new.
- Taking text from other sites or from search results and turning it into many pages, for example by swapping in synonyms or translating it.
- Stitching together content from different pages without adding anything.
- Creating many pages that mainly contain keywords and mean little to a reader.
Example
Say a removals company has a page made for two hundred towns, each with the same text and only the town name changed. Those pages help no visitor. A handful of pages for the regions where the company actually works, each with its own information about that region, is a different matter.
Common mistake
Thinking the problem is AI. Google looks at the purpose and value of the pages. Using an AI tool is allowed; publishing pages in bulk that add nothing is not. What Google says about AI-written text is covered in Can you publish AI-written content? What Google says