The x. Files: Could Anyone Else Have Written This?

by Erin Dalton, Marketing Manager, Studio x.

There’s a ton of content out there right now. And let’s face it, a lot of it sounds exactly the same.

The same five tips. The same best practices. The same “ultimate guide” rewritten 100 different ways.

And now, with AI changing how people search for and consume information, more of the same isn’t doing your brand any favors.

Recently, Google introduced a term for the kind of content that breaks through: non-commodity content.

The idea is pretty simple. If AI can easily summarize or recreate what you wrote, it’s probably not adding much value.

What does add value? The things AI can’t create on its own.

Your customer stories. Your results. Your point of view. The things your team has learned from actually doing the work. Even the lessons from something that didn’t go exactly as planned.

In other words, non-commodity content is content that only you can create.

Dig a Little Deeper

Not long ago, I was working on a product launch for a client, and we had plenty of perfectly good information to work with: specs, features, benefits, talking points. We could have turned it into a polished announcement and called it a day.

But, when I asked one of the people closest to the work a simple question, “What’s something about this that a customer wouldn’t know?” – the whole conversation changed.

Suddenly, we weren’t talking about features. We were talking about why the product had been developed a certain way, what customers had been asking for and the real-world problem the team was trying to solve. That was the story.

It reminded me of something I’ve learned again and again throughout my career in PR and marketing: the best content usually isn’t sitting in the marketing materials. You have to go find it.

And that’s really what non-commodity content is about. AI can help us write faster and organize ideas, but the raw material still has to come from somewhere. The conversations, experience and details behind the work create the kind of original, authoritative content that helps your brand get referenced in AI search.

Why Non-Commodity Content Matters for AI Search

Non-commodity content matters more than ever because people are increasingly using AI as a search engine, asking AI platforms like ChatGPT, Claude and others questions they once would have typed into Google.

That shift is also why marketers are focusing more on Generative Engine Optimization, or GEO.

GEO is about helping your brand show up in the answers people get from AI Overviews and platforms, not just rank in traditional search. And AI search is pulling from earned and owned content, which puts even more value on thought leadership and a strong organic presence.

The more credible, original content that exists around your brand, the more context AI has to understand who you are and what you know. That can come from an in-depth article, an executive sharing a real perspective, original research, or third-party media coverage.

If your brand isn’t part of the conversation, it’s a lot less likely to be part of the answer.

How to Create Better Non-Commodity Content

For marketers, this means the goal shouldn’t necessarily be to create more content. It should be to create content with something real behind it.

Before publishing that next blog or social post, ask:

Could another company in our industry publish this exact same thing?

If the answer is yes, dig a little deeper.

Add the customer story. Share the result. Talk to the person who actually did the work. Offer an opinion. Tell people what you learned. Give them something they couldn’t get by asking AI for “five tips about X.”

Because the brands that will stand out in this next era of search won’t necessarily be the ones publishing the most. They’ll be the ones publishing what only they can say.

Ready to Create Non-Commodity Content Your Brand Can Own?

This is the kind of work I love: finding the story behind the talking points and turning real expertise into content people actually want to read, share and remember.

And it’s exactly how we approach content at Studio x. We help brands uncover what makes their perspective different, then build smarter digital strategies around it so they can earn attention wherever people are searching, including AI.

Want to talk about what that could look like for your brand? Let’s connect.