Building a website with AI: what works and what does not

"Create your website with AI, for free in five minutes": many providers now advertise like this. Artificial intelligence can really help when building a website. But it does not replace everything. Here is an honest overview of what works today, where the risks are and when it pays to have your website built.

What "building a website with AI" means today

• AI website builders: many site builders and hosts offer an assistant that creates a draft with texts and images from a few details.
• Chat AI such as ChatGPT or Claude: it writes text drafts, suggests a structure or generates code that you then have to publish yourself.
• AI tools for developers: they speed up programming. A human still checks the result and is responsible for it.

What works well with AI

• A quick first draft to see what the site could look like.
• Ideas for structure, headings and questions customers ask.
• Text drafts that you then rework with real details.
• Small tasks such as cropping or improving images.

Where it falls short

• Made-up details: AI systems sometimes invent services, figures or awards that do not exist. On a business website that is misleading and can cause trouble under competition law.
• Interchangeable texts: without your real information every site sounds the same. Customers notice.
• Legal texts: the legal notice and privacy policy must fit your business and the technology of the site. A text generator does not know which services your site really uses.
• Data protection while working: customer data does not belong in public AI tools.
• Technology and operation: domain, hosting, security, load time, accessibility and updates do not take care of themselves.

This is not legal advice.

Does Google like texts written with AI?

According to Google, it evaluates the quality of content, not how it was produced (source: developers.google.com/search/blog/2023/02/google-search-and-ai-content). Helpful, reliable content for people is fine, no matter which tool was used to write it. Pages produced at scale only to manipulate search results, on the other hand, count as spam.

Building a website with AI for free?

Many AI tools have free plans. For a business website you still need your own domain and hosting, and free website builder plans often show ads or run under someone else's address. Also count your own time: checking, correcting and maintaining takes longer than the first draft suggests.

How I use AI

I use AI tools like Claude and Codex when building, the way a craftsman uses machines. That makes the work faster. I check every line of code myself, and texts are written from the business's real details, not from an AI's imagination. Data protection and Google's guidelines are respected.

Checklist if you build with AI yourself

• Check every statement about your business: is it really true?
• Your own photos instead of AI images for your team and your work.
• Adapt the legal notice and privacy policy to your business and the site.
• Test on a phone and try the contact form yourself.
• Register the domain in your own name.

Frequently asked questions

Can I build a complete website with ChatGPT?

Texts and code, yes. Publishing, securing, legally checking and maintaining it is up to you or someone who knows how.

Who is liable for mistakes on an AI website?

The operator, that is you. It makes no difference whether a text comes from a human or from an AI.