Why AI Writes Long Blog Titles (And Why That's Not the Problem You Think It Is)

TL;DR: Large language models aren't "preferring" long titles - they've been trained on millions of marketing blog posts where wordy, descriptive headlines are the norm. Meanwhile, Google rewrites 76% of title tags anyway, and the old 60-character rule was never about rankings - it was about display. The real question isn't title length. It's whether your headline matches search intent and makes people click. Stop fighting AI's defaults. Start understanding what actually matters.

The Great Title Length Debate

You've heard the advice. Keep titles under 60 characters. Avoid truncation. Be concise. It's SEO 101, drilled into every content marketer's brain since approximately 2008.

Then you ask ChatGPT to write a blog title and it spits out: "The Ultimate Guide to Understanding the Comprehensive Impact of Digital Marketing Strategies on Modern Business Growth in 2025."

127 characters. Nearly twice the "recommended" limit.

So what's going on? Is AI broken? Is it ignoring SEO best practices? Did OpenAI train their models on the worst content marketing blogs on the internet?

Here's what nobody's telling you in plain English: The AI isn't wrong. Your assumptions about title length are outdated.

What Actually Changed (And When)

For years, SEO orthodoxy said keep titles between 50-60 characters. The logic was simple: that's what Google displayed before truncating with an ellipsis. Anything longer got cut off. Truncated titles looked unprofessional. End of story.

But what the SEO gurus forgot to mention: Google never actually said this was a ranking factor.

In September 2024, Google's Gary Illyes confirmed what should have been obvious: "The title length - that's an externally made-up metric. Technically, there's a limit, like how long anything on the page can be, but it's not a small number. It's not 160 characters or whatever - 100, 200, 20, or whatever."

Translation: Google reads your entire title tag regardless of length. They just don't display it all.

It gets worse. In Q1 2025, research showed Google now rewrites 76% of title tags - a 25% increase from Cyrus Shepard's study just two years prior. Search Engine Land Three-quarters of the titles you're agonising over get changed by Google before anyone sees them.

So all that time you spent crafting the perfect 58-character title? Google probably rewrote it.

Why AI Defaults to Long Titles

Large language models like ChatGPT aren't making a conscious choice to write long headlines. They're predicting what comes next based on patterns in their training data.

And what's in that training data? The entire internet. Including:

• HubSpot blog posts ("The Ultimate Guide to...")

• Medium articles ("Everything You Need to Know About...")

• SEO tutorial sites ("The Complete Step-by-Step Guide to...")

• Content marketing blogs ("How to Master the Art of...")

• Every "10X Your Results" listicle ever written

ChatGPT doesn't generate new content - it predicts the most appropriate response based on the data it was trained on. Brafton When you ask it to "write a blog title," it assumes you want what the average content marketer produces. And the average content marketer has been writing click-maximising, keyword-stuffed, descriptive-heavy titles for two decades.

It's not bad training. It's accurate training. The model learned exactly what internet marketing content looks like.

The question is whether that's what you actually want.

What This Actually Means for Your Content (The Practical Bit)

Let me translate this into decisions you actually need to make.

First, stop obsessing over character counts. If Google's going to rewrite 76% of your titles anyway, and they read the full tag regardless of length, the 60-character rule is about display aesthetics - not rankings.

Second, understand the difference between title tags and H1s. Your HTML title tag (what shows in search results) can be shorter for display purposes. Your H1 (what shows on the page) can be longer and more descriptive. They don't have to match.

Here's a framework that actually works:

Title tag: Concise, front-load important keywords. Example: "AI Search Optimisation for B2B Companies"

H1 headline: More descriptive, match search intent. Example: "AI Search Optimisation for B2B Companies: What You Need to Know in 2025"

Third, fix your AI prompts. If ChatGPT keeps giving you 120-character "Ultimate Guide" titles, that's a prompt problem, not an AI problem.

Instead of: "Write a blog title about email marketing"

Try: "Write 5 concise blog title options (under 60 characters each) for an article about email marketing automation for B2B SaaS companies. Avoid phrases like 'ultimate guide' or 'everything you need to know.'"

The AI does what you tell it. If you don't like the output, be more specific about what you want.

The Things That Actually Matter More Than Length

Here's what the research actually shows influences whether Google rewrites your title:

Search intent alignment. When your title doesn't match what users are actually searching for, Google rewrites it to better fit their query. This happens regardless of length.

Readability and clarity. About 30% of Google's title rewrites are for improving readability and clarity - converting vague descriptions to direct language, making titles more scannable.

Keyword stuffing. Titles crammed with keywords get rewritten. Google strips the fluff and keeps what's relevant.

H1 and title tag mismatch. When your H1 matches your title tag, Google rewrites the title only 20.6% of the time. When they don't match, that rewrite rate jumps significantly.

Currency indicators. Titles containing the current year were more likely to remain unchanged - Google favours content that appears fresh.

Notice what's not on that list? Arbitrary character limits.

The Truth About Title Optimisation

I'm going to be blunt about something: Most marketers spend way too much time on title tags relative to their actual impact.

Yes, titles matter. They're one of the few direct ranking factors you control. A good title improves click-through rates, which can improve rankings.

But if Google rewrites 76% of titles, and you're spending 30 minutes crafting each one, you're investing 30 minutes into something that has a 76% chance of being discarded.

The smarter play is to:

• Write a clear, intent-matched title quickly

• Make sure your H1 matches your title tag

• Ensure your first paragraph reinforces the title

• Move on to things that matter more - like the actual content

The companies winning at search in 2025 aren't the ones with the most perfectly optimised title tags. They're the ones producing genuinely useful content that answers questions better than the competition.

What You Should Actually Do This Week

Forget the character-counting obsession. Here's a practical action plan:

Day 1-2: Audit your AI prompts. If you're using ChatGPT or Claude for title generation, review your prompts. Add specific constraints: character limits, banned phrases ("ultimate guide," "everything you need to know"), and tone requirements. The AI will follow clearer instructions.

Day 3: Check your H1/title tag alignment. For your top 10 performing pages, verify that the H1 and title tag either match or are closely aligned. If they're wildly different, update them to match. This alone can reduce Google rewrites.

Day 4: Create a title framework. Stop reinventing the wheel. Create 3-5 title templates that work for your content types:

• [Topic]: [Key Benefit] for [Audience]

• How to [Action] (Without [Pain Point])

• [Number] [Thing] That [Outcome]

Day 5: Monitor Google's rewrites. Use Google Search Console to see what titles Google actually displays. If they're rewriting consistently, that's feedback - your titles aren't matching intent.

That's it. Five days, and you've got a system that works better than obsessing over character counts.

What Success Actually Looks Like

Stop measuring title performance by character count. Start measuring:

• Click-through rate from search results. Are people actually clicking? That's what matters.

• Google rewrite frequency. If Google's leaving your titles alone, you're matching intent.

• Time spent on titles vs. results. If you're spending 30 minutes per title without measurable improvement, that's time you could spend on content quality.

The best measure of success? Whether your content actually ranks and converts. A perfectly optimised 58-character title means nothing if the content doesn't deliver.

Why This Is Actually Good News

Here's what I find genuinely exciting about this shift: Google's increasing title rewrites mean they're taking more responsibility for matching content to intent.

That's good for everyone. It means you can spend less time gaming display limits and more time creating content that actually helps people. It means AI tools that produce longer, more descriptive titles aren't necessarily wrong - they might actually match what Google wants to display for certain queries.

The playing field is tilting toward companies that focus on substance over optimisation tricks. The 60-character rule was always a proxy metric - a shortcut for "make it clear and relevant." Now you can focus on what that rule was trying to achieve, rather than the arbitrary number itself.

Your competitors are still counting characters. They're still running every title through Yoast to hit an arbitrary green light. They're still fighting with AI tools that produce "wrong" outputs.

Meanwhile, you could be writing titles that match intent, creating content that deserves to rank, and letting Google worry about the display details.

The question isn't whether AI writes titles that are too long. The question is whether your titles (however long they are) make people want to click. Everything else is noise.

People Also Ask

Should I still aim for 60 characters?

It's a reasonable guideline for display purposes, but don't sacrifice clarity for character count. A 70-character title that perfectly describes your content will outperform a 55-character title that's vague. Front-load important keywords in the first 60 characters, then use the rest if needed.

How do I get AI to write shorter titles?

Be explicit in your prompts. Specify character limits, ban overused phrases, and provide examples of the style you want. The AI isn't making a choice—it's predicting based on your input. Better input equals better output.

Does Google penalise long titles?

No. Google reads the full title tag for ranking purposes regardless of length. They only truncate or rewrite for display purposes. Search Engine Journal Gary Illyes has explicitly confirmed there's no ranking penalty for longer titles.

What if my competitors are all using short titles?

Good - that might be an opportunity. If everyone in your space has generic, truncated titles, a more descriptive, intent-matched title could stand out. Test it. Measure CTR. The data will tell you what works for your audience.

Need help with AI-powered content strategy that actually drives results? We help tech and fintech companies cut through the optimisation noise and focus on what matters: content that ranks, converts, and scales. Book a free 30-minute strategy call and let's talk about your content strategy.