How Marketers Can Avoid Common AI Writing Mistakes

By Jayne Schultheis — As content marketers, we're living through a revolution. AI writing tools have become indispensable for scaling content production, meeting demanding editorial calendars, and exploring creative angles we might never have considered.

But while AI is a powerful ally, treating it as a complete replacement for human insight is a recipe for mediocre content that fails to connect with your audience.

What are the most common AI writing mistakes?

• Lack of content relevance
• Lack of originality
• Inaccuracy/outdated information
• Cultural insensitivity
• Repetitive content
• Missing or vague calls to action

With the rise of answer engines and Google AI Overviews changing how people discover information, your content needs to stand out more than ever.

When an AI system is deciding whether to feature your content in a coveted AI overview answer snippet, the difference between  strategically crafted content and generic AI output becomes crystal clear. The generic content gets buried. Thoughtful, expert-backed content gets amplified.

From initial planning through final publication, human oversight at every stage transforms good AI-generated drafts into exceptional content that resonates with your audience and performs in search results. In this article, we'll take a closer look at some of the common AI writing mistakes so you can avoid them and set your content up for success.

Watch out for these common AI writing mistakes

The biggest trap marketers fall into is over-reliance on automation. When you hit "generate" and publish without meaningful human intervention, you're setting yourself up for content that sounds robotic, lacks unique insights, and fails to reflect your brand's authentic voice.

The consequences can be severe: declining search rankings, reduced engagement, and wasted resources.

Over-automation creates a cascade effect where every piece of content starts looking and sounding the same. Your audience begins to tune out, and search engines start to devalue your site as just another source of generic information. This overarching issue underlies all the specific problems we'll explore below.

Lack of originality

AI models are trained on existing content. This means they naturally gravitate toward recycling common ideas and conventional wisdom.

When you're competing for attention in crowded markets, this lack of originality becomes a major liability. Fresh perspectives and unique insights are what separate memorable content from the endless stream of similar articles flooding the web.

Solution. Tap into your most valuable resource: the subject matter experts within your client's organization.

Schedule brief interviews with executives, product managers, customer service representatives, or technical specialists who can share firsthand experiences and insider perspectives that no AI model has access to.

If you're writing for clients, mine their website for proprietary data and case studies that can add authenticity to your content.

Content that's not relevant

You understand your clients' industries, pain points, and target audiences in ways that AI simply cannot. AI lacks the nuanced understanding of market dynamics, seasonal trends, and the specific challenges your audience faces daily.

An article can be full of facts and figures, but still fail to answer the question that the user needs to answer. In other words, it's not relevant.

Solutions. Leverage strategic planning tools like Relliverse to map out content that truly serves your audience's needs. Develop custom-made prompts that incorporate specific industry terminology, audience preferences, and brand guidelines.

Most importantly, never skip the human editing phase where you can fine-tune the content to speak directly to your readers' concerns and interests. User experience should be at the top of your list of priorities.

Plagiarism

A series of lawsuits has been filed by writers, artists and other content generators challenging tech companies' use of their works to train generative AI applications without permission, credit or compensation.

AI models sometimes reproduce text that closely resembles existing published content, creating potential legal and ethical issues.

Even unintentional plagiarism can damage your reputation and harm your search engine rankings.

Solution. AI integration requires a two-step verification process. First, have a human editor fact-check all claims and verify that ideas are properly attributed.

Second, run every piece of content through a reliable plagiarism detection tool before publication. None of these tools are 100% accurate, but they can help.

It's worth taking the time to yourself and your clients from potential copyright issues.

Inaccuracy is rampant

AI often presents incorrect information, outdated statistics, or misleading interpretations of complex topics. These mistakes are also known as "hallucinations."

Accuracy is non-negotiable for maintaining credibility and quality. In some cases, such as content involving finances or medical issues, inaccuracies could cause great harm.

Solution. Human fact-checking is essential. Verify all statistics, quotes, names, and claims by checking original sources. When in doubt, consult with subject matter experts who can validate technical information and provide context that AI might miss.

Repetitive content

AI models often fall into circular reasoning patterns, repeating similar points in different ways rather than building compelling, straightforward arguments. This creates blog content that feels padded and fails to hold readers' attention.

Solution: During the editing process, ruthlessly cut redundant sections and reorganize content to flow logically from one point to the next. Focus on making each paragraph serve a distinct purpose in advancing your overall argument.

"The marketers who are winning with AI content aren't using it like a magic wand. They're the ones treating it like a research assistant with a really good first draft capability," says Daniel Duke, Rellify's  Editor in Chief, Americas. "I tell writers that AI gets you to about 60% of where you need to be. That final 40%, whether it's industry insights, the brand voice, the strategic positioning, that's where human expertise becomes your competitive advantage. The companies that skip that final 40% are the ones whose content gets lost in the noise."

Outdated information

AI training data has cutoff dates. Each large language model (LLM) within a company may have different cutoff dates—the last date  its training data was updated. For example, Claude Sonnet 3.7's cutoff date was  November 2024, and Claude Sonnet 4's cutoff date was March 2025.

That means models may not be aware of recent industry developments, regulatory changes, or market shifts that could impact your content's relevance.

Solution. Always cross-reference AI-generated content with current industry publications, recent news, and updated regulatory guidelines.

Choose primary sources that are reputable and peer-reviewed whenever possible. Make it a habit to check publication dates on sources and update statistics to reflect the most recent available data.

Some LLMs also will respond to requests to search the internet for current information and incorporate relevant information.

Cultural sensitivity and bias

AI models can inadvertently perpetuate stereotypes or demonstrate cultural blind spots that might alienate portions of your audience or misrepresent important issues.

Solution. Develop custom prompts that explicitly instruct the AI to consider diverse perspectives and avoid potentially problematic assumptions.

Follow up with careful human editing to review content through the lens of inclusivity and cultural awareness.

Overuse of certain phrases

AI models tend to rely on specific phrases and transitions that become glaringly obvious once you know what to look for. This creates a robotic tone that signals to readers that they're consuming AI-generated content.

"When I see an article that begins with the phrase 'In the ever-evolving landscape of whatever' or 'In today’s fast-paced world'—I think there's a good chance that it's AI generated.'" Duke says.  

Solution: Create custom prompts that encourage varied language and specify your preferred tone and style. During editing, identify and replace overused phrases with more natural alternatives.

When necessary, ask the AI to rewrite specific passages to eliminate repetitive language patterns.

Missing or vague calls to action

AI-generated content often concludes with generic restatements of the article. They fail to guide readers toward meaningful next steps related to your client's specific goals and offerings.

Solution: You'll likely need to craft these yourself to make them truly client-specific. To streamline the process, develop a library of strong calls to action tailored to different content types and campaign objectives.

You can use AI to help brainstorm variations, then rotate these proven approaches into your articles based on your strategic goals.

Balancing automation and originality in content creation

The future of content marketing lies in the sweet spot between AI efficiency and human creativity. The goal is to use AI as a sophisticated starting point that human expertise can transform into exceptional content.

When you get this balance right, you'll produce content that performs well in search results and answer engines. Even better, it genuinely serves your audience and strengthens your brand's position as a trusted industry voice.

At Rellify, we've built our approach around this understanding. Our process combines cutting-edge AI capabilities with deep human expertise at every stage. A Relliverse is a customized AI subject-matter expert that shows your team the best content opportunities.

With that, you can find topics and keywords that set your content apart and answers questions that your target audience is asking. We can also work closely with your subject matter experts to capture unique insights and apply human oversight to every piece.

Ready to Rellify your content? Talk to one of our experts and get a brief demo of how Rellify can revolutionize the way your brand does content in the age of AI.