We Asked Marketing Experts To Share Their Biggest Problems With AI Content (Here’s What They Said)

The consultation was going perfectly until the client asked about the statute of limitations.

JC Burrows, the PR director for Warrior Public Relations, had to mitigate the backlash from one of his clients’ AI-generated blog post blunders. “A potential client called them out on it during a consultation – apparently, the blog post said something about statute of limitations that was completely wrong for Texas. Really embarrassing situation, and they had to rebuild trust.”

When AI content goes wrong, it doesn’t just waste time—it destroys the credibility you’ve spent years building. One fabricated legal fact can undo a decade of reputation in a single client meeting.

The Potential Danger in Every Unverified AI Post

Marketing experts think they’re getting ahead with AI content. The reality hits harder than most expect.

Shilpa Ahuja has witnessed the whirlwind of AI firsthand via Thoxt, a platform where authors and bloggers publish new posts every day. Data from the platform tells the story most businesses don’t want to hear: “Thoxt data shows that most AI-generated content has a low scroll depth and time spent, meaning users navigate back or to other content when they realize the lack of quality.”

Users can tell. They bounce. Your metrics suffer, but you might never connect the dots back to problems with AI content creation.

Maria Edington from WizeCamel puts it bluntly: “You’re already ahead of 75% of your competition” if you solve for guidance and substance. Most businesses are pumping out AI content without either of them, creating fundamental problems with AI-generated material.

Before You Hit Publish on That AI Content…

A study published in the Cureus Journal of Medical Science aimed to understand why problems with AI content can occur so easily. Researchers asked ChatGPT-3.5 to write 30 short medical papers with citations, then checked whether those references actually existed.

 

 

The results explain a lot: of the 115 references ChatGPT generated, 47% were completely fabricated – meaning the articles, journals, or studies never existed. Another 46% were real sources but contained incorrect information, such as incorrect publication dates, incorrect page numbers, or misattributed authors. Only 7% of references were both real and accurate.

University librarians are discovering that “ChatGPT can create convincing references with coherent titles attached to authors who are prominent in the field of interest,” but the articles don’t actually exist.

Hofstra University’s Legal Research found that “hallucination rates vary from 69% to 88% when responding to specific legal queries” and warns that AI systems “will make up false information” in two critical ways: by producing incorrect responses or creating “baseless responses” with fabricated sources.

The Reality Check: AI doesn’t know when it’s wrong, but it always sounds entirely confident. When you publish AI content without checking it first, you might accidentally share false information with your audience. Nobody wants to be the business that spreads misinformation – it’s bad for everyone.

When AI Destroys Your Brand Voice

JC Burrows frequently encounters brand disasters through his PR work. One of his e-commerce clients learned this lesson the hard way, falling victim to one of the most common problems with AI content.

“The AI kept using flowery language that didn’t match their no-nonsense brand at all. Everything sounded like they were selling luxury items when, in fact, they were selling work boots and safety gear. Customers started commenting that the descriptions didn’t match the actual products.”

Customers noticed. They called it out publicly. The brand that spent years building trust through straightforward communication suddenly sounded like it was trying to sell designer shoes to construction workers.

But it’s not just the written word that creates problems with AI content.

“We go through a process of cleaning up images once they’re being made into assets. Something AI is not good at in terms of design, though, are fonts.”

 – Mattske, Creative Director @ 10 Kelly

Mattske is a philosopher and creative director for 10 Kelly Designs. He routinely watches clients struggle with the limitations of AI. “People who are not designers have attempted to prompt for what they want, and are realizing that we understand them better than the machines and we have something machines will never have: taste.”

Brand positioning requires strategic thinking about how to sound different from competitors. AI can’t understand why a safety equipment company needs to sound authoritative rather than trendy, or why simplicity matters more than flowery descriptions when selling work boots.

Mattske says that a lot of the time, it’s best to keep things “as simple as possible. Which AI has trouble with.”

The efficiency promise becomes a time trap. “Business owners think they’ll save time, but then spend 3 hours editing an 800-word AI blog post. At that point, you might as well write it yourself,” Burrows discovered, illustrating another major issue among the problems with AI content workflows.

Brand voice isn’t just about sounding professional – it’s about building trust through consistency. When customers notice your content doesn’t match your brand, they question whether you understand your own business. AI can mimic writing styles, but it can’t understand the strategic thinking behind brand positioning.

The Reality Check: When your content sounds like everyone else’s, customers start wondering what else about your business is generic. Brand voice confusion kills trust faster than almost anything else you can do.

Legal Nightmares That Cost Real Money

One wellness company Burrows worked with thought that they were saving money on copywriting. Instead, they triggered an FDA investigation, one of the most expensive problems with AI content that marketing experts encounter.

“AI wrote product descriptions that made medical claims they legally couldn’t make. FDA compliance nightmare. Cost them about $15k in legal fees to clean up, and they had to pull down tons of content,” Burrows explains.

Fifteen thousand dollars to fix what AI created in minutes. The client discovered that regulatory compliance requires understanding context, not just generating product descriptions that sound professional.

“A successful AI content strategy includes recognizing what things you are willing to let be surreal/unreal, compared to what shouldn’t be faked.” 

– Mattske on content ethics

The Texas law firm case illustrates how generic AI advice can lead to liability exposure. When that potential client called out the incorrect statute of limitations during a consultation, it wasn’t just embarrassing – it demonstrated that the law firm was publishing legal information without understanding state-specific requirements.

Every regulated industry has content landmines that only human expertise can navigate. AI can’t distinguish between general advice and regulated claims because it lacks an understanding of the legal context. Healthcare, finance, legal services, and other regulated industries face unique risks when AI content makes claims the business can’t legally support.

Compliance isn’t just about following rules – it’s about understanding the reasoning behind regulations. AI generates content without understanding why certain claims require disclaimers, why some language triggers regulatory review, or why seemingly innocent product descriptions can create legal liability.

The Reality Check: In regulated industries, one AI mistake can trigger investigations that cost more than years of professional content. The savings aren’t worth the risk of losing your license or facing federal penalties.

Could Your SEO Rankings Start Dropping?

Burrows works with clients across industries and sees the SEO impact firsthand. “Honestly, pure AI content often performs poorly in search. Google’s getting better at identifying it, and it usually lacks the depth and specificity that ranks well. I’ve seen sites lose traffic after switching to mostly AI content.”

Traffic drops happen quietly. Business owners notice a decline in leads and wonder what has changed. Many fail to connect the timing to when they began using AI for content creation, thereby missing the connection to common problems with AI-generated content quality.

Ahuja’s platform data reveals the user behavior behind those traffic drops. Users spend less time reading AI content and bounce back to search results more frequently. Search engines track these engagement signals and adjust rankings accordingly.

“We use multiple prompt angles, refine tone manually, and gut-check for quality. It’s not a ‘set it and forget it’ system — it’s more like having a fast first draft generator with no ego.” 

– Enes Gunes, Join It

Enes Gunes from Join It provides the exception that proves the rule. Gunes’ team achieved ranking success with AI content, but only through systematic human oversight. “Our article on alumni management software launched last August. It was 80% AI-driven in structure and flow. It started in position 45+, hit #10 by November, and now ranks around #4–5.”

The key difference: “always with a creative human in the loop.”

Their success required multiple prompt angles, manual tone refinement, and quality control—essentially treating AI as a research assistant rather than a replacement for human expertise.

SEO isn’t just about keywords and optimization – it’s about user experience and content quality. Search engines prioritize content that keeps users engaged, which requires human insight into what readers actually want to know. Your perfectly optimized AI content might check all the technical SEO boxes, but it fails the most important test: does it actually help people?

The Reality Check: Google rewards content that keeps people engaged, whereas AI-generated content often has the opposite effect. When visitors bounce quickly, search engines assume your content isn’t helpful and drop your rankings accordingly.

What Actually Works When AI Doesn’t Fail You

Understanding AI’s proper role prevents most disasters. “I have one client who uses AI to generate content outlines and first drafts, then has their team lead rewrite everything in their voice. Works great for their workflow,” Burrows explains.

Research and initial structure work well for AI. The strategic thinking, brand voice, and quality judgment require humans – which helps avoid the typical problems with AI output quality.

“Another successful approach – using AI for research and fact-gathering, then having humans write the actual content.”

“Letting clients express themselves using AI is great, because it gives me imagery I can use in my own reference dialogues with AI or just take to manually sketch things, instead of only relying on a client’s words.” 

– Mattske on client collaboration

Mattske discovered AI’s value as a communication tool between creative professionals and clients. Clients can show rather than tell what they want, which improves the final human-created result.

 

 

Edington’s team uses AI for meeting transcripts and community research – data processing tasks that humans find tedious. The creative strategy, brand voice, and quality judgment remain human responsibilities.

The businesses succeeding with AI aren’t using it to replace human thinking – they’re using it to amplify human creativity. They understand what AI excels at (processing information, generating ideas) versus what humans excel at (strategic thinking, quality judgment, brand understanding).

The Reality Check: Businesses winning with AI use it to make their employees better, not to replace them. Think research assistant, not replacement writer, and you’ll avoid most of the disasters we’ve covered.

Why Professional Oversight Isn’t Optional Anymore

Most business owners underestimate the complexity until they face the consequences. “AI is a tool, and in some ways, it’s like a piece of heavy machinery. Sure, our clients could use them on their own, but that would be like not hiring a contractor to build your house just because you could rent a pickup truck,” Mattske explains.

You can rent the equipment, but do you know how to use it safely and effectively? Do you understand building codes? Can you spot problems before they become disasters?

“Marketing is now a technical skillset. You can’t treat it like ops and pawn it off to someone else on the team. You need to be in it.” 

– Maria Edington, WizeCamel

Content marketing has become more complex, not simpler, with the advent of AI. Success requires understanding prompt engineering, quality assessment, brand voice consistency, SEO strategy, and compliance requirements.

Maddison from The Digital Hub sees the DIY disasters regularly. “I’ve had several clients send me AI-generated content they’ve barely edited, thinking it would save time. In most cases, it actually creates more work. The content often misses key SEO elements, doesn’t align with their brand voice, and lacks the structure needed to rank or convert.”

The efficiency promise becomes costly when fixing AI content takes longer than creating original content. Clients often discover that they’re paying twice – once for AI tools and again for professional cleanup, illustrating how problems with AI workflows compound over time.

Professional oversight isn’t about paying more – it’s about avoiding the hidden costs of AI mistakes. Content marketing requires a coordinated strategy across SEO, brand voice, compliance, and user experience. Most businesses underestimate this complexity until they face the consequences.

The Reality Check: Most businesses discover that “cheap” AI content becomes their most expensive mistake. Professional oversight costs less than fixing disasters, and it actually gets you content that works.

How To Avoid AI Content Disasters Before They Happen

Marketing experts need practical frameworks for AI content success. The disasters we’ve outlined are preventable with systematic approaches that address the core problems with AI content generation.

Successful AI content requires four essential elements working together:

1. Guidance Systems: AI needs detailed context about your business, industry, and audience before it can generate useful content. Generic prompts produce generic results.
2. Quality Control Processes: AI content requires human review for accuracy, brand voice, and strategic alignment. The review process should happen before publication, not after customer complaints.
3. Industry-Specific Review: Someone with industry expertise needs to verify that AI content doesn’t create liability, especially in regulated industries.
4. Brand Voice Integration: Maintaining consistency requires understanding brand strategy, not just style guidelines. AI can’t understand why your brand needs to sound different from competitors.

“We focus on content people actually want to read, and Google seems to agree. We use multiple prompt angles, refine tone manually, and gut-check for quality.” 

– Enes Gunes on a systematic approach

“The key seems to be using AI as a tool in your process, not as a replacement for human judgment and expertise. When clients understand that distinction, they usually get better results,” Burrows explains.

Success with AI content requires systems, not just better tools. Businesses that avoid disasters have developed processes for quality control, brand consistency, and compliance reviews. It’s not about limiting AI – it’s about channeling it effectively to avoid the common problems with AI content that plague most businesses.

The Reality Check: Without systems to catch AI mistakes, you’re just waiting for the next disaster to happen. The businesses that succeed treat AI content like a process, not a magic button.

So, Does ChatGPT Actually Have Your Back?

Sure, ChatGPT seems like your new best friend. It’s always available, never complains, and promises to save you time and money on content. Everyone’s using it, so it must be working, right?

Reality check..

ChatGPT doesn’t actually have your back. It’s more like that friend who offers to help you move, then shows up with a Honda Civic for your three-bedroom house.

Think about it this way – you could rewire your own electrical outlet. YouTube has tutorials, the tools aren’t that expensive, and hey, how hard could it be? But when your house burns down because you crossed the wrong wires, suddenly that electrician’s fee doesn’t seem so bad.

(PS: WordAgents does NOT endorse, suggest, or recommend that you rewire electrical outlets in your home. Always consult with a professional electrician.)

AI content works the same way (although it won’t likely burn down your house).

You could use ChatGPT to write your website copy, product descriptions, and blog posts. The tool is cheap, the interface is simple, and it’ll give you content in seconds. 

But when your potential client calls you out in a meeting for posting completely wrong legal advice… when the FDA sends you a $15,000 cleanup bill for fake medical claims… when your Google rankings tank because customers bounce from your generic, AI-generated drivel…

Suddenly, that “expensive” content team doesn’t seem so expensive anymore.

The businesses winning with AI aren’t the ones using it to replace human expertise – they’re the ones using it to amplify human expertise. They understand that AI is a power tool, not a replacement for knowing how to build.

At WordAgents, we approach content strategy exactly this way.

We don’t ban AI – we use it strategically. Our Turnkey SEO Content service combines AI-powered research and analysis with human expertise in strategy, writing, and quality control. 

We handle everything from competitor analysis and keyword research to content creation and publishing. Real-life humans make sure your content sounds like your brand, follows compliance requirements, and drives real business results.

Our Social Media Management service works the same way. We use AI tools for research and trend analysis, but human strategists and writers create content that actually engages your audience and builds your brand, not generic posts that sound like everyone else’s.

When your content strategy goes sideways, ChatGPT won’t be there to fix it. But a real team of content strategists, SEO experts, and writers who understand your brand, your industry, and your customers? They’ll have your back when it counts.

The question isn’t whether you should use AI in your content strategy; the question is: if things go wrong, who’s going to fix it?

Ready to see how professional content strategy works? Book a free consultation and let’s talk about turning your content into a revenue-generating asset – without the AI disasters.