Google's Warning: Stop Optimizing Content for AI

I watched a founder delete 2,000 words of expert analysis last week because his agency said "AI prefers simple content."

He's not alone. Five out of six B2B companies I've audited in the past month are actively "dumbing down" their content - stripping nuance, roboticizing their voice, chunking everything into bite-sized pieces - all chasing visibility in AI Overviews.

Google's Danny Sullivan just confirmed this is a trap.

He explicitly warned against reshaping content to "work better" for current LLMs. Why? Because you're optimizing for AI that won't exist in six months.

Here's the dual loss you're creating:

Humans bounce. Content feels synthetic. Trust evaporates. No brand loyalty built.

Future algorithms ignore you. When models get smarter, they'll reward sources that demonstrate actual expertise - not simplified syntax.

We've seen this before: keyword stuffing, thin content, link schemes. Every tactic exploiting a temporary gap eventually becomes grounds for penalization.

The durable play: Write for humans first. Back claims with original data. Build depth. Let AI systems adapt to you instead of frantically chasing their current limitations.

This week's audit question: Pull your three most recent content pieces. If AI models got 10x smarter tomorrow, would they still choose your content as authoritative? If not, you've over-optimized for today's machines at the expense of tomorrow's rankings.

What are you seeing in your content strategy right now? Reply in comments - I'm tracking this trend for next week's edition.