The use of AI has exploded over the past two years, with tools like ChatGPT and Copilot firmly established as part of our everyday business and personal lives. There’s no denying the many benefits of AI tools.

But if you’re an estate agent, how much should you rely on them in your content marketing – and more specifically, can they create the blog content that is so central to your strategy? While AI content generation can seem to boost your productivity at a low cost, it comes with drawbacks. We look at the pros and cons of writing blogs with AI.

The pros

Speed – AI programs will deliver polished blogs based on the brief you provide in your prompts. They’ll give you readable content to the exact word count you specify and covering the points you’ve requested. They will do this in seconds, meaning that, even taking into account fact-checking and review, this vital task could be completed in record time.

Cost – if you need to outsource your blogs to a professional copywriter, AI can complete the task for a fraction of the cost. Even if you work on the blogs in-house, the time saved could mean your staff can concentrate on other projects such as bringing in new business.

Accuracy – your AI-generated blogs will be grammatically accurate with correct spelling and punctuation, meaning less time spent on proofreading and editing. But as the blogs will only be as good as the web content they are derived from, you will still need to check carefully for factual accuracy – see below.

Tone of voice – get your prompts right, and you can teach your AI tool to mirror your brand voice and produce consistent copy based on that learning.

Combatting writer’s block – if writing isn’t your strong point, using an AI can get you started – so no more staring at a blank screen.

The cons

Google doesn’t favour AI content – the major drawback of using AI is that it is difficult to get your content to rank on Google. The main search engine has warned that it prizes genuine human-to-human content above that generated by AI, meaning such blog content will be penalised by the Google algorithm.

If the main aim of your strategy is to get your website high up the search engine results pages (SERPs), AI content could put you at a disadvantage. 

Lack of originality – while you may be producing perfectly grammatical content that responds to customer intent, it is likely to be a bit bland. It will lack the spark and originality that comes from a unique piece of writing based on your experience as a local agent.

AI content is repackaged from existing material across the web, so your pieces risk being too similar to other blog content out there – and, hence, easily overlooked by your target audience.

Getting your facts right – as we’ve said, your AI content is only as good as the original sources it is derived from. There is no guarantee of factual accuracy or of the information contained in your blog being up to date.

It is therefore important that anything you produce via AI is scrutinised with an expert eye and that facts are checked carefully – many content producers have been caught out this way.

Risk of losing your voice – we’ve said you can train your AI tools to reflect your business tone of voice. This is true to some extent, but it doesn’t yet have the nuance to compete with a human when it comes to writing authentically about a subject close to the heart, with passion and authority.

If you want to use AI in your writing, proceed with caution – combining its strengths with the benefits of retaining a strong authorial voice.”

It is clear that AI has its benefits when it comes to blog content generation, however, there are pitfalls to watch out for. If you want to use AI in your writing, proceed with caution – combining its strengths with the benefits of retaining a strong authorial voice.

For example, you might use AI to research a topic, writing up the results in a way that brings your personal perspective. Or you might use it to check the grammar of something you’ve written or help you edit down a lengthy piece into bite-sized chunks.

However you use it, be clear on your goals from the outset, weighing up issues such as speed against the value of a unique piece of writing that will really engage your audiences and rank well on SERPs.

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