As an attorney, having a well-designed and optimized website is critical to help you attract potential new clients, likewise, SEO can be an integral part of building a successful law practice. While many tools are available to help improve the performance and rankings of your website, we don’t recommend using unedited text from Chat GPT on your site. In this article, I’ll explain why we don’t use ChatGPT to produce text for client sites and discuss the potential risks and consequences of using raw artificial intelligence (AI) text on your law practice’s website.
What is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is a natural language processing (NLP) tool that uses AI to generate human-like text. It works by analyzing a lot of data, then uses Artificial Intelligence to identify the patterns and relationships between words and phrases. Based on this analysis, ChatGPT can then generate new text that is similar in style and content to the inputs.
While ChatGPT can be useful for tasks such as generating content for chatbots or writing summaries for social media, it has limitations. It is critical that you do not use raw ChatGPT content on your website. When I say “raw content,” I’m describing content straight out of the tool – without major edits and rewrites. If you are working with a marketing agency, it is important that you make your wishes clear – many agencies have switched to ChatGPT to generate all their content. At BSPE Legal Marketing, we understand that faster and cheaper does not mean better – therefore we produce our client content by hand, the old-fashioned way.
Why BSPE Legal Marketing Doesn’t Use ChatGPT On Client Sites
There are several reasons why we don’t use ChatGPT on client sites, including the following:
Quality of the Content
The biggest reason why we don’t use ChatGPT on client sites is the quality of the generated content. While ChatGPT can generate text that is similar in style and content to the input dataset, it may not always produce legally correct content. This can be a problem for a law practice’s website, as the content on your website is a key factor in establishing your credibility and trustworthiness as a legal professional. If the content on your website contains inaccuracies, it may turn off potential clients and damage your reputation.
Lack of Control Over Content
Using ChatGPT to generate content for your website also means that you have less control over that content. While you can provide ChatGPT with an input dataset and specific prompts or themes to guide the content generation, you cannot control the exact words and phrases that ChatGPT uses in its output. This can lead to content that is not aligned with your brand voice or messaging, which can be confusing or misleading to potential clients. Of course, you can rewrite the content to ensure it is written in your voice – and that may be a good solution. This is why I refer to not using raw ChatGPT content. Using the text it gives as a start off point may be fine in many situations.
Ethical Considerations
Using AI to generate content also raises ethical considerations, as it may be perceived as deceptive or misleading to potential clients. While ChatGPT is not capable of fully replicating human-written content, it can produce text that is similar enough to be mistaken for human-written content. This raises concerns about the transparency and honesty of your law practice’s website, as potential clients may not be aware that the content on your website was generated by an AI tool.
Duplicate Content
Let’s say you are a DWI lawyer and you asked ChatGPT to create a DUI page. The page looks great, the content sounds legally correct and the voice sounds good enough. What happens if 10 of your competitors ask AI to create a DUI page in your state? The AI will provide very similar content based on the data sets it has already received, including the fact that you were satisfied with your page. Your content will be similar to those people – and instead of representing yourself online as an attorney with unique experience and a lifetime of successful wins you instantly become one in a crowd. Of course, Google also understands that your content is similar to 10 other lawyers, and chances are pretty good a properly sourced and cited human-written page will win out every time.
| Reasons for Not Using ChatGPT on Client Sites | Description |
|---|---|
| Risk of Penalties from Google | Google considers the use of AI to generate text a violation of its guidelines. Detection can lead to penalties, including de-indexing, impacting online visibility. |
| Quality of the Content | ChatGPT may not consistently produce legally correct content, affecting the credibility and trustworthiness of a law practice’s website. |
| Lack of Control Over Content | Using ChatGPT for content generation results in less control over exact words and phrases, potentially misaligning with brand voice and messaging. |
| Ethical Considerations | AI-generated content may raise ethical concerns about transparency and honesty, potentially misleading potential clients. |
| Duplicate Content | Multiple law practices using AI for content generation can lead to similar content, reducing the uniqueness and competitiveness of the website. |
Real Life Impact of Using Chat GPT Incorrectly
In a recent incident, a mid-sized law firm used ChatGPT to generate content for a blog post on recent changes in employment law. The AI tool, drawing from its training data, included outdated information from a repealed statute. The firm, not realizing the error, published the post. This led to confusion among clients, with one even making a business decision based on this incorrect advice, resulting in a costly legal dispute. The firm faced reputational damage and had to invest significantly in damage control. This example highlights the risks of relying solely on AI for legal content without thorough review and underscores the importance of human oversight in ensuring accuracy and relevance in legal matters.
Conclusion
While ChatGPT is useful in a variety of ways, it would be a mistake to take the shortcut and simply copy and paste the text it gives you into your website. Yes, AI is amazing technology. Yes, it can be used in a variety of ways. But shortcuts rarely pay off in life – or in business. A little elbow grease can help you stand out from the crowd, and tell both Google and humans – we don’t take shortcuts in my practice. We will do the things we need to do to win your business and deliver real results – today and tomorrow.
