Journal
Article
Addressing your content (now in the age of AI)
How AI is using your content
Whether you choose to adopt AI or not, it’s already adopted your content.
Every day, AI systems scan, contextualise, and deliver information to audiences through search browser AI summaries, conversational platforms like ChatGPT, chatbots, and more.
The level of control you have over whether AI ‘adopts’ your content, remixes it, or surfaces credible extracts depends on the quality of your content in the first place.
Digital products and services have always had the same job: giving people the right information, in the right way, at the right time. Now, AI is shifting the landscape. User journeys are increasingly AI-first and often voice-led, with information being assembled on the fly.
People aren’t visiting your website in the traditional sense anymore. They‘re interacting with summaries, snippets and conversational answers. In these new interactions, trust cues like design, branding or publication dates aren’t visible. That’s a fundamental change in how information will be found and understood.
Think of AI as a robo-vacuum cleaner in your house. It won’t be able to clean a room if there’s too much clutter, but it might make a bigger mess of the clutter to get its pre-assigned job done.
If your content is cluttered, outdated, inconsistent or poorly maintained, AI will still serve up something… but it won’t be what you intended to offer your audiences.
Content is your infrastructure
As fellow Content Strategist Ruth Hendry recently put it, “Content is the infrastructure of AI.”
Just like your technical platforms, it underpins every interaction and response—whether from humans or machines.
Content can’t be treated as an afterthought or a final layer. It is now central to how you show up in an AI-shaped world.
AI and humans reward structured, trustworthy content
The good news is:
- Both humans and AI want clear, structured, trustworthy content.
- The fundamentals of content strategy and design for digital products still apply.
What’s changed is the urgency.
AI amplifies errors and misinformation at speed.
Making your content findable, readable and credible has always mattered, but now it directly shapes whether AI can recognise, reuse and surface it.
AI doesn’t just parse your words. It interprets meaning, compares your language to competitors, and fills in the gaps between what you wrote and what your audience expects.
If content is unclear, AI will rewrite it. If it’s outdated, it will de-prioritise it. And if it isn’t structured or written in plain language, it may not get surfaced at all.
3 content practices that matter more than ever
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Structure
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Break content down. Use clear headings, short paragraphs and reusable blocks. If humans can scan it, AI can too.
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Semantics
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Use plain language and answer-focused headings and content to design content that matches the way your audience talks and searches.
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Governance
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Keep content fresh, consistent and updated. Out-of-date information doesn’t just frustrate people, it will either be ignored or surfaced as accurate by AI.
When the foundations are set, so is your biggest asset
AI is only as good as the content it draws from. That makes your investment in content foundational. Structure, semantics and governance ensure your information is findable, credible and ready for both your human and AI audiences.
Treat content with care, and it will continue to support your organisation as both technology and your audiences evolve.
*All em dashes were thoughtfully considered by the writer.