Red flags, ghosting, and trust issues: A marketer's guide to dating AI
We've all been there. You meet an AI that promises to rock your world and revolutionize your workflow... but two weeks later, it's ghosting your content team, gaslighting your product marketers, and trying to hit up its next target with a "U up?" text to someone in the campaigns team.
Trusting AI is a bit like dating—full of hope, hype, and heartbreak. Even when you think you've found 'the one', those trust issues can be hard to overcome.
Whether you're playing the field with AI or looking for 'the one', we're here to help.
🚨 Toxic trait alert: 7 AI red flags
AKA the signs your marketing leader, colleagues, friends, family, and pets warn you about.
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Talks a big game, but never brings dat sweet ROI
When the AI promises you the world—you know, smarter content, better performance, 10x results—but then you check the numbers and... it's all smoke and no fire. It's the classic AI red flag: big promises, zero follow-through.
It's a *swipe left* from us.
Sure, we all love good chat but you want a tool that talks the talk, and walks the walk. The practical benefits of AI in marketing are unmatched if your chosen tool and its outputs meet the needs of your audience, understands your brand, and knows how to make your content hit better.
This all comes down to better AI prompts and instructions, and quite possibly, a more marketing-targeted AI tool (called Optimizely Opal.... wait, who said that 👀).Because sometimes, you are the problem: Check out our series on how to use AI across your content lifecycle in the right way (and what to avoid)
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Doesn't make you feel secure
It's hard to fall for an AI when you're constantly wondering where your data is going, who else it's talking to, or the secrets it's sharing behind your back.
Some off-the-shelf AI tools or platforms out there seem like the most charming strangers; they lure you into a false sense of security, appearing helpful and interested, and next thing you know your sharing sensitive information like your brand guidelines, CRM data, and content archive.
The problem? The tool might not have the security posture, compliance standards, or transparency that your business needs.
It's no wonder marketing leaders have trust issues. You want to make sure your perfect match:
👉 Respects data privacy
👉 Is fully compliant with industry regulations
👉 Offers clear governance around model training and access -
Only available for one-night stands (AKA single use-cases)
It can write a blog. Maybe an email. But that's where the magic ends. 😢
No context, no memory, no broader strategy—it's giving transactional, it's giving situationship... and it's definitely NOT giving long-term energy.
The ideal AI for marketers will stick around to support the full lifecycle. Bonus points for more complex use cases—see our Hype to Hero video series for inspo.
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Doesn't integrate with your life (or your martech stack)
It's all going great... until you realize you need 17 copy-pastes, 3 manual uploads, and maybe even a crystal ball to get your AI's output into your CMS, DAM, or analytics tool.
Ask yourself: "Why?". Love should be simple—and so should your content workflows and ops. 💕
Over 60% of B2B marketers find their martech stack too complex, so don't let another "it's complicated" situation with AI add to that.
In a fairytale AI dreamland, you'd be paired with a fully-embedded tool; one that makes your day-to-day a breeze, and "silos" not a word in your team's vocabulary.
Hear from brands that have had that ✨ happily ever after ✨ with Optimizely Opal
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Wants to do everything for you, not with you
Hold up—you just wanted some help brainstorming, and suddenly it's writing you full campaigns without you even asking?
Some AI solutions can get ahead of themselves, taking over tasks instead of supporting your strategy. But that can leave more problems than you started with. You're left fixing tone, context, and nuance it never really understood... not to mention, kinda gone AI blind and can't get your own unique thoughts out.
Relationships are always about compromise—and that's the same for marketers and AI. The best AI solutions are a copilot—or even, infinite workforce if you're lucky 👀—empowering you and working by your side. -
Forgets everything you said last time
When every prompt feels like a first date, that AI tool is not the one.
You've poured your heart out: your brand voice, audience insights, content pillars, campaign goals—all carefully crafted, documented, and shared. And yet, every time you open your AI tool, it's like Groundhog Day. Ex-hausting.
If all you're getting is surface-level charm, no memory of your past, and zero emotional intelligence, you've got to ask yourself: where is this going? You're trying to scale, but instead you are just starting from scratch.
Now, we're seeing that age-old saying of "nice guys always finish last" a little differently—because this time, you're SO done with the AI that doesn't stand the test of time, listening to your brand guidelines and your 10/10 AI instructions. -
Makes you question your value (or brand voice)
You asked for content that reflects your brand but what you actually got sounds like a dodgy cover band version of your brand messaging.
Off-key. Off-tone. Almost always embarrassing.
You're staring at a block of AI-generated copy wondering, "Do we really sound like that? Is this what people think of us?"
Suddenly, instead of refining great content, you're spending your time de-cringing it. Fixing the voice. Reframing the messaging. Rewriting the whole thing. Hitting your head aggressively against your keyboard.Find out all the ways to 'spot the bot': How to detect AI-written content in seconds
It's not you, it's them
It's okay to be skeptical. In fact, 11% of marketers do not trust AI-driven insights at all. Out of marketers asked, 35% somewhat trust AI but rely mostly on human judgment, and 13% have no trust issues at all.
The AI dating pool is flooded with tools that are superficial, generic, or only care about short-term wins. When you're looking for something more long-term, you need AI green flags.
Enter Optimizely Opal: AI that truly is relationship material
Here are 7 reasons why Opal is the AI that you *actually* want to bring home to your mom marketing team:
- Reliable: Fully embedded across the marketing lifecycle, Opal is always there
- Good listener: Trained on your brand and content history
- Empowers you: Supports human marketers, doesn't replace them
- Smart: Constantly learning and optimizing through experimentation
- Considerate: Uses A/B test results, performance data before stating anything
- Resilient: Doesn't flake when things get complicated
- Trustworthy: Built with enterprise-grade security, robust governance, and compliance
Tell those situationships to move over, and chuck that AI rota in the trash.
Instead? 👇 Feel this—this is relationship material.
Green flags to look out for with your AI
🟢 Your AI gets smarter the more you use it
The best AI platforms or solutions aren’t just smart—they’re trainable. Like your favorite team member who learns fast and always brings their A-game, your AI should improve the more you interact with it. That means remembering your brand tone, building on past conversations, and refining outputs based on feedback.
AI that supports learning over time (instead of just spitting out generic results every time) are the ones worth investing in.
🟢 Your AI values collaboration and partnership
The real good stuff—you know that warm fuzzy feeling inside—comes from collaboration and partnership. That's collaboration and partnership between you (AKA human input) and AI, as well as AI-enhanced collaboration between the team for way more efficient working.
Don't let it be a one-sided relationship with AI doing all the work. Make sure you're pulling your weight with great prompts, instructions, AI enablement, and embedding into into your content creation workflows, and—of course—not leaving out that all-important human review.
AI-powered marketing workflows? And more? It's called Optimizely Content Marketing Platform—look it up. 😎
🟢 Your AI is transparent about how it works
A lack of knowledge into what's going on behind the scenes of your chosen AI is not great for the trust issues and security concerns we've all got. This is amplified when you're an enterprise business, or in a highly-regulated industry like banking or government.
Work with AI solutions that are totally transparent about how they work, where they get their information from, and the level of security and privacy they provide.
Interview with Optimizely Opal: How AI really thinks about your prompts
🟢 Your AI prioritizes long-term results over one-time outputs
Sure, you get a temporary thrill from a super-speedy response to the question you just asked, but you want more longevity when it comes to AI in marketing.
This might look like spending time to fully educate your AI tool with your brand guidelines and existing content, building out your AI instructions, and creating your own agents (yep, you can do that with Optimizely Opal).
We're all about scalable AI processes that ultimately make your day-to-day less repetitive, and more strategy and creativity focused. A happily ever after of more efficiency, more productivity, and more marketing wins.
🟢 Your AI is built for real teams, not just solo experiments
Good AI shouldn't live in a silo—or just in another tab on your laptop. The real value comes when it plugs into the way your entire team works. If your AI isn't designed to work across roles (writers, editors, strategists, legal, product marketing, and so on) for optimal alignment, visibility, and content consistency, it ain't ready for the big leagues.
With platforms like Optimizely Content Marketing Platform and Opal, AI becomes an (infinite) extension of the team, not just another tab or app on your toolbar.
It's time to stop settling ✋
Four words: You can do better.
Don't let the trust issues or past AI red flags ruin things for you—and by 'things', we mean serious marketing acceleration. Give AI another chance with Optimizely Opal.
Leah is the Content Marketing Manager for Optimizely Content Marketing Platform (CMP) solution. A keeno for writing since well… forever, she’s kept a strong focus...
- Last modified: 7/31/2025 9:25:52 AM