DIGITAL STRATEGY INSIGHT
Should I build my website with AI? :
When it makes sense, and when it most definitely doesn't
When Building with AI Makes Sense
With AI systems having the ability to build and host your website in minutes, it’s no wonder this is a topic on every business owner’s mind.
At Transparent Digital Services (TDS) we’re often asked the question of ‘do we even need traditional websites’, and the honest answer isn’t defensive or dismissive. It depends entirely on what you’re trying to achieve. There are situations where AI website tools are genuinely impressive, and there are scenarios where they will quietly limit your growth.
If your goal is to launch a lightweight informational site, then an AI site may work sufficiently for what you need at this moment.
This could be a:
- Holding site
- Event Landing Page
- Temporary microsite
- Personal portfolio
If you as the business’ primary goal is to have something live, quickly, that explains who you are and what you do; then AI web builds can achieve that.
What can AI website builders help with?
What are the benefits to AI Websites?
They assist with:
- Website Hosting
- A Clean Design
- Basic Copy
- A Contact Form
- A Working URL
The main benefit is that it’s all possible at a minimal financial cost and time investment. For a small business in the early stages of development, this can be a practical solution to get the ball rolling. However, once your website needs to do more than simply ‘exist’ this is where problems and cracks could show.
When an AI site may not be a good fit:
The shift from presence to performance
The issues usually begin to surface when a business starts seriously thinking about scaling and in turn marketing. This is when the website becomes a growth system, not just an information page.
If your business relies on:
Then the technical foundation of the website becomes more crucial than how quickly it can be generated. When considering building your site in AI think to yourself – how will this work alongside where I see my business developing? This helps identify if it may be just what you need, or if cracks are going to show sooner rather than later.
Analytics and Tracking with AI sites
Server-side tracking and AI Websites
How can AI websites hinder server-side tracking implementation?
At TDS we specialise in server-side tracking and first party data systems, and some of the most common issues we come across when asked to implement this in an AI site are with:
- Tag Implementation
- Google tag manager configuration
- Custom event tracking
- dataLayer structures
- Pixel accuracy
This difficulty comes about for a range of reasons but usually come about due to the closed ecosystems that prevent you from having access to:
- The underlying codebase
- Server-side configurations
- Template hierarchy
- Core Javascript events
- Clear injection points for more advanced scripts
So when the developer goes to implement Google tag Manager they’re often restricted to:
- A single script field
- A basic tracking ID input
- Limited head/body access
- No structured datalayer control
This may function for a simple pageview tracking, but issues will arise when it comes to conversion tracking, funnel step tracking, form field interactions, and dynamic e-commerce events. You can learn more about the significance of these events being tracked in our article on server side tracking and digital marketing.
The importance of the DataLayer and why it differs in AI built websites
A well developed thought out website deliberately pushes data through something called a DataLayer, this records important information like product IDs, values, form types, user states etc.
AI builders don’t tend to build that layer intentionally. Instead they auto-generate front-end systems without considering the structured event architecture behind them.
This is why in AI sites we often see: duplicate events, missing parameters from conversions, e-commerce values not passed through correctly and this is all due to a lack of an underlying event design. All of this information is vital to your marketing strategy as it feels rich informative data to ad platforms to allow for better conversion optimization.
Why does this matter for platforms like Meta and Google?
Platforms like Google and Meta optimise campaigns based on signal quality. If your signals are firing late, twice, without values, or without proper parameters this sends flawed data to the platforms. We’ve seen multiple cases where businesses believed campaigns were underperforming when in reality, the tracking foundation was the problem. Once the site has the proper tracking infrastructure in place, performance improves without even increasing any ad spend.
Learn more about how to use server-side tracking for meta-ads and google ads.
THE SEO AND GEO CONSIDERATIONS
HOW DO AI SITES AFFECT SEO?
Beyond paid marketing there is organic visibility, AI websites are great at quickly producing the content however without adequate structured strategy behind it , the content cannot perform to its full potential, and in turn can curb organic visibility.
Strong SEO is a combination of many fractured including:
- Intent driven keyword planning
- Technical SEO optimisations
- Proper header hierarchy
- Internal linking strategy
- Schema markup
- Page speed optimisation
- Crawl efficiency
This can be much more nuanced than what an AI site can provide as a thought out strategy to ensure optimal results, often being a combination of multiple factors which aren’t addressed by the simplicity of an AI site-build.
Generic AI sites can often lead to duplicate content, limitations over technical SEO fundamentals, and produce templated content structures. Some forums also discuss an ‘overlay’ on AI content which recognises typing patterns, grammatical structuring, and repetition within AI written content. This can also hinder your SEO performance as it signals to search engines that the content is generic and has no unique benefits.
HOW DO AI SITES PREVENT AI SEARCH VISIBILITY?
One of the most discussed SEO topics at the moment is “how do I get my business to show up in AI-generated answers” this extends to multiple areas, but one of the key suggestions is that LLMs look at traditional SEO fundamentals. This means your technical SEO plays a role, they want the content to be easily discoverable, readable, and crawlable. With AI built sites you often don’t have the access or ability to get granular with schema interjections, amending URL structures, XML sitemap control, canonical logic, or robots.txt configuration.
Another area which is discussed as hindering LLM visibility is thin-content. When content is generic or ‘thin’ AI systems don’t view it as valuable and will opt to mention a competitor over you. Therefore, content needs to be unique and use the unique skill set you have as a business to produce good quality website content. Often AI builds website produce generic content which is already accessible online, and if you don’t add your own unique twist or expertise then you’re leaving room for a competitor to swoop in and gain that traffic. AI systems also churn out similar page structures, header structuring, and designs which symbolise to LLM’s that you’re similar to all these other sites before they’ve even read the content.
So when client’s ask us “TDS how do I show up in ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude?” our answer is to strengthen technical SEO, structure your content intentionally, utilise FAQ’s, inject real expertise, and maintain control over your architecture. This is often difficult to achieve if your site is built in AI with a platform that limits your control.
How do we build our website at Transparent Digital Services?
At TDS, we use AI everyday but the key distinction is that we use it as ToolAI in order to facilitate acceleration but not to neglect the foundations.
We’ve built many sites and have found that WordPress with Elementor works best for our internal teams and the clients we work with.
Why WordPress?
WordPress offers deep technical control, massive ecosystem support, long-term flexibility, and deep technical control. This allows us to properly implement GTM, structured dataLayers, advanced schema, conversion tracking frameworks, and technical SEO configurations.
Why Elementor?
Elementor helps bridge that gap between control and usability. It offers visual editing, UX consistency, tracking precision, and rapid landing page deployment. This allows clients to have a deployer level system, without depending on a website developer. This system of strategic structure and internal editability is what AI websites cannot compete with.
So.. Should you build your website using AI?
AI built websites may be a great option if you want something low cost, quick, and simple like a digital brochure.
However, the line is drawn at convenience compared to capability. AI sites are incredibly convenient but come with their own risks when thinking about growing your business.
Ready to Explore how our marketing team can help you?
Move beyond legacy tag setups. Build a secure, accurate, AI-ready server-side data system with experts who live and breathe GTM and data infrastructure.