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Why ChatGPT Meta Descriptions are Bad for SEO

You’re given precious few words to entice visitors to read your content—don’t blow it by allowing an AI chatbot to write utter nonsense.

Maybe nonsense is the wrong word to use, because sometimes ChatGPT will make writing decisions that are downright catastrophic in SEO terms.

So if you have already hired ChatGPT for crafting meta descriptions, or you’re on the verge of doing so, please read through the following arguments against this practice.

And if you really insist upon AI-assistance in your SEO work (I know some websites are so vast that human-written meta descriptions are not feasible) then at least factor these red flags into your prompts.

Making false claims about the length of your content

There’s no question that a well-structured and well-written 3000-word guide complete with references ought to have a meta description that reflects those qualities.

Everything is subjective, but I don’t think anyone would take issue describing said content as being ‘comprehensive’ and ‘rigorous’. You could even go as far as calling it the ‘ultimate’ guide if you really do believe that.

The point is, the meta description in this case can get away with bold adjectives because the content is indeed comprehensive and rigorous in its coverage—3000 words is A LOT!

But ChatGPT doesn’t take into consideration how detailed the content is. ChatGPT will make wild claims about content length even if it has fewer than 500 words. ChatGPT is just copying what other high-ranking content use in their meta descriptions and applying it indiscriminately.

And if you are careless enough to mischaracterize your content in the meta description, why should visitors (and more importantly Google) trust anything you have to say?

Lack of keyword variation

They say that variety is the spice of life, and some say it’s the secret to SEO success when it comes to your keyword strategy.

Using variations of your target keyword, such as switching between plural and singular forms, is a great way to capture the same user intent no matter what search terms they use.

It also signifies to search engines that you possess a deep understanding of the subject if you are flexible in your use of terminology, such as by using synonyms and related terms, which will strengthen your position in the SERPs.

But ChatGPT adopts the early 2000s mindset when keyword-stuffing reigned supreme.

Instead of thinking about possible alternatives for the search query to fully optimize on-page SEO, ChatGPT will use the same keyword in the meta description as it appears in the title and elsewhere.

Arousing suspicions about how the rest of the content was produced

Sparing the odd false positive here and there, AI content detectors are pretty good at what they do. And if they managed to ‘crack the code’ then it can’t be hard for Google to recognize meta descriptions generated by ChatGPT.

In actual fact, the phenomenon of overused ChatGPT words and phrases means that even the average internet roamer is able to spot AI text a mile off.

AI-generated text isn’t in and of itself a bad thing. After all, AI generated content can rank on Google with some human oversight, but there’s definitely a growing resentment towards such content.

If a user spots an automated meta description, they may not click through due to suspicions about how the main content was produced: Did they use AI for all the writing? Are they using AI images?

So you could pour your heart and soul into writing a truly informative article, only to get snubbed by users in the SERPs because you couldn’t be bothered to write a short paragraph summarizing your work…

Conclusion

A ChatGPT-written meta description is quite frankly not worth the risk to your brand and click through rate. You run the risk of misleading visitors, getting flagged for keyword-stuffing, and having questions raised over your content’s origins.