{"id":713677,"date":"2026-02-26T07:40:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T04:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-ai-writing-tics-that-hurt-engagement-a-study-2\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T07:40:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T04:40:14","slug":"the-ai-writing-tics-that-hurt-engagement-a-study-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-ai-writing-tics-that-hurt-engagement-a-study-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The AI writing tics that hurt engagement: A study"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a256c599f7cd\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a256c599f7cd\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-ai-writing-tics-that-hurt-engagement-a-study-2\/#An_analysis_of_1000_URLs_reveals_which_AI_writing_tics_correlate_with_engagement_Some_common_%E2%80%9Ctells%E2%80%9D_dont_matter_A_few_might\" >An analysis of 1,000+ URLs reveals which AI writing tics correlate with engagement. Some common \u201ctells\u201d don\u2019t matter. A few might.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-ai-writing-tics-that-hurt-engagement-a-study-2\/#How_we_built_our_%E2%80%98AI_tics_study\" >How we built our \u2018AI tics\u2019 study<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-ai-writing-tics-that-hurt-engagement-a-study-2\/#Why_tracking_total_AI_tics_wasnt_enough\" >Why tracking total AI tics wasn\u2019t enough<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-ai-writing-tics-that-hurt-engagement-a-study-2\/#The_AI_tics_impacting_performance\" >The AI tics impacting performance<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-ai-writing-tics-that-hurt-engagement-a-study-2\/#%E2%80%98Not_only_and_%E2%80%98not_just_structures_may_be_driving_users_away\" >\u2018Not only\u2019 and \u2018not just\u2019 structures may be driving users away<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-ai-writing-tics-that-hurt-engagement-a-study-2\/#Starting_headers_with_%E2%80%98conclusion_was_the_strongest_negative_signal\" >Starting headers with \u2018conclusion\u2019 was the strongest negative signal<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-ai-writing-tics-that-hurt-engagement-a-study-2\/#Em_dashes_correlated_slightly_positively\" >Em dashes correlated slightly positively<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-ai-writing-tics-that-hurt-engagement-a-study-2\/#3_practical_takeaways_for_content_teams\" >3 practical takeaways for content teams<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-ai-writing-tics-that-hurt-engagement-a-study-2\/#1_Dont_over-optimize_for_AI_detection\" >1. Don\u2019t over-optimize for AI detection<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-ai-writing-tics-that-hurt-engagement-a-study-2\/#2_Be_mindful_of_how_you_wrap_up\" >2. Be mindful of how you wrap up<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-ai-writing-tics-that-hurt-engagement-a-study-2\/#3_Use_the_punctuation_that_makes_sense\" >3. Use the punctuation that makes sense\u00a0<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-ai-writing-tics-that-hurt-engagement-a-study-2\/#Dont_miss_the_forest_for_fake_plastic_trees\" >Don\u2019t miss the forest for fake plastic trees<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"subhead\" itemprop=\"alternativeHeadline\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"An_analysis_of_1000_URLs_reveals_which_AI_writing_tics_correlate_with_engagement_Some_common_%E2%80%9Ctells%E2%80%9D_dont_matter_A_few_might\"><\/span>An analysis of 1,000+ URLs reveals which AI writing tics correlate with engagement. Some common \u201ctells\u201d don\u2019t matter. A few might.<br \/>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"bialty-container\">\n<p>The web has strong opinions about what \u201cAI-written\u201d content looks like, and even stronger ones about what\u2019s supposedly wrong with it. Scroll any content marketer\u2019s LinkedIn feed, and you\u2019ll find confident claims that em dashes and other AI \u201ctells\u201d signal bad, automated writing.<\/p>\n<p>The problem with these debates is that they often confuse taste with performance. What counts as \u201cbad writing\u201d will always be subjective. But if the goal for content marketers is to communicate clearly and compete in the information marketplace, the practical question should be: which LLM habits actually turn readers off?<\/p>\n<p>To find out, we analyzed a large dataset of content marketing pages to identify which AI writing \u201ctics\u201d we see most often called out to understand which are turning off readers \u2014 and the ones we may be calling out for no reason.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"how-we-built-our-ai-tics-study\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_we_built_our_%E2%80%98AI_tics_study\"><\/span>How we built our \u2018AI tics\u2019 study<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>At this point, you\u2019ve probably all seen them, too:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u201cIn today\u2019s fast-paced digital landscape\u2026\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cIt\u2019s important to note that\u2026\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cNot only\u2026 but also\u201d (repeated over, and over and over\u2026)<\/li>\n<li>\u201cIn conclusion\u201d (even when nothing has been concluded)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The second you notice them, it\u2019s hard not to see them everywhere an LLM has helped produce copy. Many readers report <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/12\/03\/magazine\/chatbot-writing-style.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hating these LLM patterns<\/a>. But how exactly are they impacting user engagement?<\/p>\n<p>To find out, we gathered a list of the most common AI writing tells we and others have noticed. These include:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cNot only\u2026 but also\u201d constructions:<\/strong> \u201cNot only does X do Y, but it also does Z.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sentence starts with \u201cthen,\u201d \u201cthis,\u201d or\u201d that\u201d: <\/strong>\u201cThen you should\u2026\u201d \u201cThen the system\u2026\u201d \u201cThis shows\u2026\u201d \u201cThis means\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><strong>Introductory filler: <\/strong>\u201cIn this article,\u201d \u201cWe\u2019ll explore,\u201d and \u201cLet\u2019s take a look\u201d.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><strong>\u201cConclusion\u201d starters:<\/strong> \u201cIn conclusion,\u201d or other AI equivalents of clearing your throat.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Em dashes:<\/strong> The <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/09\/18\/magazine\/chatgpt-dash-hyphen-writing-communication.html\">most infamous punctuation mark<\/a> in today\u2019s content marketing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>From there, we built a dataset of:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>10 domains<\/strong> of varied site size and monthly traffic, in a wide array of industries including tech, ecommerce, healthcare, education, analytics, and more<\/li>\n<li><strong>1,000+ content marketing URLs, <\/strong>built from a mix of workflows including posts that were either fully human-written, written collaboratively by humans and AI, or completely AI-generated.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Then we standardized our dataset by:\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Aligning shorter posts and cornerstone content by standardizing every writing tic as occurrences per 1,000 words.<\/strong> Since longer articles naturally contain more of, well, everything, a 3,000-word guide would otherwise look \u201cworse\u201d than a 600-word post simply because it has more sentences.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Excluding any page under 500 words.<\/strong> Very short pages don\u2019t give enough room for stylistic patterns to emerge, and their engagement metrics are likely driven more by intent than by engagement alone.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Prioritizing engagement rate as the primary performance metric.<\/strong> Engagement rate best captures a reader\u2019s first real decision: \u201cDo I stay, or do I leave?\u201d GA4 registers an engaged session as <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/analytics\/answer\/12195621?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">any lasting 10 or more seconds<\/a>. While 10 seconds may sound brief to assess whether a post is AI, it\u2019s long enough for a user to skim an introduction, notice awkward or repetitive writing patterns, and scan headings to decide whether the content feels worth continuing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><em>Dig deeper: A smarter way to <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roach AI prompting<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<div style=\"background: radial-gradient(circle at 30% 40%, rgba(184, 111, 255, 0.15), rgba(0, 169, 255, 0.15) 40%, #CDE8FD 70%); padding: 30px; width: 100%; max-width: 802px; color: #000000 !important; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin: 25px 0 30px 0; border-radius: 8px; box-shadow: 0 2px 4px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); position: relative; box-sizing: border-box;\">\n<div style=\"width: 100%; max-width: 100%; margin-bottom: 20px; text-align: left; padding-right: 20px; box-sizing: border-box;\">\n<div id=\"semrush-one-headline\" class=\"headline-responsive\" style=\"font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 30px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0; color: #000000 !important; line-height: 1.2;\">\n        Your customers search everywhere. Make sure your brand <span style=\"background: linear-gradient(90deg, #D56EFE 0%, #068EF8 51%); -webkit-background-clip: text; -webkit-text-fill-color: transparent; background-clip: text;\">shows up<\/span>.\n      <\/div>\n<p id=\"semrush-one-subhead\" style=\"font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 25px; margin: 12px 0 0 0; color: #000000 !important;\">\n        The SEO toolkit you know, plus the AI visibility data you need.\n      <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-bottom: 15px;\">\n      <span id=\"semrush-one-cta\" style=\"display: inline-block; background-color: #FF642D; color: white; height: 44px; border: none; border-radius: 5px; cursor: pointer; font-size: 16px; padding: 0 24px; font-weight: bold; white-space: nowrap; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: 44px;\">Start Free Trial<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px;\">\n<div style=\"font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-weight: 300; color: #000000; margin-bottom: 4px;\">Get started with<\/div>\n<p>      <img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"400\" height=\"52\" decoding=\"async\" http: alt=\"Semrush One Logo\" style=\"height: 16px; width: auto; display: block;\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2025\/11\/semrush-one.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"400\" height=\"52\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2025\/11\/semrush-one.webp\" alt=\"Semrush One Logo\" style=\"height: 16px; width: auto; display: block;\">\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<style>\n  @media (max-width: 768px) {\n    .headline-responsive {\n      font-size: 30px !important;\n      line-height: 1.3 !important;\n    }\n  }\n<\/style>\n<h2 id=\"why-tracking-total-ai-tics-wasnt-enough\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_tracking_total_AI_tics_wasnt_enough\"><\/span>Why tracking total AI tics wasn\u2019t enough<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Our first instinct was to average the number of AI tics per 1,000 words and compare the pages\u2019 performance. <\/p>\n<p>At a glance, this seemed like a clean way to separate human writing from AI-influenced writing. But the picture quickly got complicated by one tic in particular \u2014 the infamous em dash \u2014 which dominated the dataset and heavily skewed the averages.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"531\" http: alt=\"Content marketing across 10 domains\" class=\"wp-image-470097\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2026\/02\/Content-marketing-across-10-domains.png 1600w, https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2026\/02\/Content-marketing-across-10-domains-768x255.png 768w, https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2026\/02\/Content-marketing-across-10-domains-1536x510.png 1536w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2026\/02\/Content-marketing-across-10-domains.png\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"531\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2026\/02\/Content-marketing-across-10-domains.png\" alt=\"Content marketing across 10 domains\" class=\"wp-image-470097\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2026\/02\/Content-marketing-across-10-domains.png 1600w, https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2026\/02\/Content-marketing-across-10-domains-768x255.png 768w, https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2026\/02\/Content-marketing-across-10-domains-1536x510.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>The issue pointed to a larger problem: AI tics are messy by definition. AI is trained on human writing. So if certain patterns show up frequently, that doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re uniquely \u201cAI.\u201d It may just mean they\u2019re common in English prose.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>To compare, we ran the same tic counter on two known controls: a novel I published in 2021 (which I could guarantee was written without ChatGPT, Grammarly, or other AI-assisted tools). This scored a startlingly above-average 6.9 tics per 1,000 words. <\/p>\n<p>Next, we scored \u201cHamlet,\u201d the famous Shakespearean play, which scored an even higher \u224811.4 tics per 1,000 words. Shakespeare, it turns out, is more \u201cAI-coded\u201d than many AI-generated blog posts.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, we assessed that this is almost entirely due to the em dash, which is likely to appear in droves in many human writers\u2019 prose as well as AI-produced copy. <\/p>\n<p>With this in mind, we analyzed each \u201ctell\u201d individually, still standardizing per 1,000 words. The story became much clearer \u2014 and far more useful for writers trying to decide what\u2019s actually worth avoiding.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Dig deeper: How to make your AI-generated content sound more human<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><!-- START INLINE FORM --><\/p>\n<p><!-- END INLINE FORM --><\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-cyan-bluish-gray-color has-css-opacity has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color has-background\">\n<h2 id=\"the-ai-tics-impacting-performance\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_AI_tics_impacting_performance\"><\/span>The AI tics impacting performance<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Not all posts are the same, and many different factors impact the success or failure of any page of content marketing. That\u2019s perhaps why our data showed that most AI \u201ctells\u201d didn\u2019t correlate strongly with performance or non-performance. <\/p>\n<p>Anything smaller than plus\/minus .1 correlation is statistically insignificant. However, there were a handful worth noting with a larger impact than others.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"794\" height=\"491\" http: alt=\"Image 147\" class=\"wp-image-470052\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2026\/02\/image-147.png 794w, https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2026\/02\/image-147-768x475.png 768w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 794px) 100vw, 794px\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2026\/02\/image-147.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"794\" height=\"491\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2026\/02\/image-147.png\" alt=\"Image 147\" class=\"wp-image-470052\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2026\/02\/image-147.png 794w, https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2026\/02\/image-147-768x475.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 794px) 100vw, 794px\"><\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-not-only-and-not-just-structures-may-be-driving-users-away\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%98Not_only_and_%E2%80%98not_just_structures_may_be_driving_users_away\"><\/span>\u2018Not only\u2019 and \u2018not just\u2019 structures may be driving users away<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Phrases built around \u201cnot only\u2026\u201d or \u201cnot just\u2026but also\u201d stood out with larger-than-average negative correlations with engagement rate. While these constructions, when used occasionally, can add emphasis, the data shows that frequent use is associated with high user bounce rates.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>AI-assisted writers and editors should take note, as many of the AI-generated posts we reviewed <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">trip<\/a>ped over themselves with these constructions. In one instance, we found a single blog post that used \u201cnot only\u201d and \u201cbut also\u201d 12 separate times.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-starting-headers-with-conclusion-was-the-strongest-negative-signal\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Starting_headers_with_%E2%80%98conclusion_was_the_strongest_negative_signal\"><\/span>Starting headers with \u2018conclusion\u2019 was the strongest negative signal<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The strongest negative correlation in the entire dataset was observed in sentences beginning with \u201cConclusion,\u201d typically section headers preceding a call to action. The clearest AI stylistic red flag we found, posts with headers starting with \u201cConclusion\u201d had the largest negative correlation\u00a0 (\u2248 -0.118) with post engagement rate.<\/p>\n<p>Since this tic traditionally comes at the conclusion of a post, it\u2019s clear readers may quickly scroll down over the entirety of these posts before bouncing \u2014 or else that posts with these final headings tend to be lower-quality on average.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-em-dashes-correlated-slightly-positively\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Em_dashes_correlated_slightly_positively\"><\/span>Em dashes correlated slightly positively<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Em dashes were by far the most common stylistic tic in the dataset. They also produced one of the most surprising results: a slight positive correlation with engagement rate.<\/p>\n<p>Despite widespread online chatter treating em dashes as an \u201cAI artifact,\u201d this data suggests they\u2019re not hurting performance, and they may even align with better engagement. (As someone who genuinely likes em dashes \u2014 this was deeply validating.)<\/p>\n<p>A plausible explanation may be that writers who use em dashes tend to write more explanatory, nuanced sentences rather than short, flat declarations. Those kinds of sentences often appear in longer, more thoughtful content that many readers actually engage with.<\/p>\n<p>That said, this doesn\u2019t mean em dashes cause engagement. Too much of a good thing is still too much of a good thing. But it does challenge the idea that em dashes are the bugbear content marketers make them out to be.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Dig deeper: An AI-assisted content process that outperforms human-only copy<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"practical-takeaways-for-content-teams\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"3_practical_takeaways_for_content_teams\"><\/span>3 practical takeaways for content teams<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Here\u2019s what content marketers can act on today.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-1-don-t-over-optimize-for-ai-detection\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"1_Dont_over-optimize_for_AI_detection\"><\/span>1. Don\u2019t over-optimize for AI detection<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Google doesn\u2019t issue SEO rankings like a monotonic punishment score for \u201cAI style.\u201d Most phrases we looked at didn\u2019t correlate with engagement at all. <\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t rewrite content just because someone declared a phrase \u201cAI writing.\u201d Write for reader usefulness and clarity above all.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-2-be-mindful-of-how-you-wrap-up\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"2_Be_mindful_of_how_you_wrap_up\"><\/span>2. Be mindful of how you wrap up<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Explicit conclusion blocks aren\u2019t bad \u2014 but generic, formulaic patterns are likely turning readers away. <\/p>\n<p>Consider blending conclusions into analysis, using subtler transitions, or adding new value with headers, instead of signposting obvious structure.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-3-use-the-punctuation-that-makes-sense-nbsp\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"3_Use_the_punctuation_that_makes_sense\"><\/span>3. Use the punctuation that makes sense\u00a0<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>If your style calls for em-dashes? In this dataset, they were actually associated with better reader engagement. Use them.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"dont-miss-the-forest-for-fake-plastic-trees\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Dont_miss_the_forest_for_fake_plastic_trees\"><\/span>Don\u2019t miss the forest for fake plastic trees<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>AI is likely here to stay in content workflows. But the issues with \u201cbad\u201d AI writing aren\u2019t limited to linguistic tics and punctuation. While we all have our stylistic opinions, we should be careful about turning stylistic hot takes into editorial law.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Write valuable writing. Think about readers first. And don\u2019t panic every time someone on <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a> or LinkedIn decrees that \u201cX phrase = AI.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Technology<\/a><\/span> category.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/ai-writing-tics-engagement-study-470051\" target=\"_blank\" >Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An analysis of 1,000+ URLs reveals which AI writing tics correlate with engagement. Some common \u201ctells\u201d don\u2019t matter. A few might. The web has strong opinions about what \u201cAI-written\u201d content looks like, and even stronger ones about what\u2019s supposedly wrong with it. Scroll any content marketer\u2019s LinkedIn feed, and you\u2019ll find confident claims that em&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":713678,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2026\/02\/The-AI-writing-tics-that-hurt-engagement-A-study.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-713677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=713677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713677\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/713678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=713677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=713677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=713677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}