Using AI to write your business website? Fact-check it the way Google's updated guidance asks

Many Hong Kong SMEs now use AI tools to draft service pages, product descriptions, district pages or blog posts. On 1 October 2026 Google updated its guidance on using generative AI content on your website, adding material from its Search Quality Raters guidelines. This article summarises the official points and turns them into a pre-publishing checklist.

What Google's guidance says

• Generative AI can be useful for researching a topic and adding structure to original content. The question is not whether you used AI, but whether the result adds value for users.
• Using generative AI or similar tools to generate many pages without adding value for users may violate Google's spam policy on scaled content abuse.
• Google points to the raters guidelines on scaled content abuse (section 4.6.5) and on main content created with little to no effort, originality or added value (section 4.6.6).
• Google also notes that these guidelines are not a guide to ranking first: raters help evaluate Google's ranking systems, and their ratings don't directly influence ranking.

Why manual fact-checking matters

Google explains that generative models don't retrieve facts; they predict a likely sequence of words based on their training data, so outputs may contain inaccuracies, also called hallucinations. In Google's words, it is critical to manually fact-check and review all AI-generated content for accuracy and trustworthiness before publishing.

For a small business, the biggest risk is usually not the writing style but the details: prices, opening hours, addresses, phone numbers, service areas, licence or registration details, promotion terms, and delivery or refund arrangements. AI can produce a confident, plausible paragraph that doesn't describe your business at all.

Check the parts visitors don't always see

The updated guidance specifically says the review also applies to metadata that can appear in Search results:

• Title elements: no exaggeration, and no services or areas you don't actually offer.
• Meta descriptions: consistent with the page, with no invented offers or figures.
• Structured data: opening hours, address and price fields should match what the page shows. It should also follow Google's general structured data guidelines and the policies for each search feature, and the markup should be validated.
• Image alt text: describe what is actually in the image instead of stuffing keywords.

Three situations Hong Kong SMEs should watch

• District pages: generating 18 district pages where only the place name changes can easily become scaled content with little value. Google's doorway abuse examples also include domains or pages targeted at specific regions or cities that funnel users to one page. Only create area pages where you genuinely serve customers and can say something specific.
• Chinese and English versions: Google's examples of abuse include generating many pages from scraped content through automated transformations such as translation. Translating your own site is not the problem, but machine-translated drafts should be reviewed by someone fluent in both languages so names, prices and terms stay consistent.
• Author and expert details: Google's helpful content guidance says fabricating creator profiles, such as AI-generated headshots, made-up names or false credentials, is a form of deception. Keep bylines real, and don't present content as expert-written if it isn't.

Give readers context on how content was made

Google suggests that if you're automatically generating content, you consider explaining how it was created in a way that makes sense for your audience, for example with background on how automation was used and with image metadata. Its helpful content guidance adds that AI or automation disclosures are most useful where someone might reasonably ask how a piece of content was created.

If you run an online shop with Google Merchant Center, the rules are more specific: images created with generative AI must contain IPTC DigitalSourceType TrainedAlgorithmicMedia metadata, and you shouldn't strip the metadata AI tools embed. AI-generated product titles and descriptions must be submitted with the structured_title and structured_description attributes, with digital_source_type set to trained_algorithmic_media.

A five-minute pre-publishing checklist

• Every price, time, address, phone number, licence detail and promotion has been checked against your latest official business information.
• The page includes your own experience, process, service details or local specifics, not just a generic introduction.
• Titles, meta descriptions, structured data and image alt text have been reviewed by a person and match the page.
• You are not launching a batch of near-identical pages that only swap keywords or place names.
• Bylines and company details are real, and where useful you briefly explain the role AI played.
• Chinese and English versions have been reviewed by someone fluent in both languages.

AI can save time, but the final responsibility to your customers still sits with a person. Google's guidance doesn't promise rankings or traffic for following it; its emphasis is accuracy, quality and relevance. For the exact wording, refer to the official Google sources listed below.