The panic is misplaced
Every few months, someone publishes an article claiming websites are dead. First it was apps. Then social media. Then chatbots. Now it's AI. The argument goes: if people can just ask ChatGPT or Google's AI Overview for answers, why would they ever visit your website?
It's a reasonable question with a straightforward answer: because AI can summarise information, but it can't replace an experience. And your website isn't just information — it's an experience.
Nobody's buying a $50,000 branding package because an AI told them you were good. Nobody's hiring an agency without seeing their work, reading their thinking, and getting a feel for who they are. The transaction still requires trust, and trust still requires presence.
What's actually changing
That said, pretending nothing is changing would be equally wrong. AI is shifting visitor behaviour in ways that matter for anyone who takes their website seriously.
People arrive with more context
When someone lands on your site in 2025, there's a decent chance they've already asked an AI about you. They've read a summary of your services, seen your positioning described in a paragraph, maybe even compared you against competitors — all before clicking a single link.
This changes what your homepage needs to do. The old playbook of spending three screens explaining who you are and what you offer is less effective when visitors already know the basics. They're arriving further down the decision funnel. They want proof, personality, and specificity — not an elevator pitch they've already heard.
Attention spans haven't shrunk — expectations have risen
The "attention span of a goldfish" stat is nonsense and always has been. People will happily spend 45 minutes watching a YouTube video or reading a long-form article if it's compelling. What's changed is tolerance for mediocrity.
AI-driven browsing means people can get generic information instantly, for free, without visiting your site. If your website offers the same generic information — "we're a full-service digital agency with a passion for design" — there's no reason to engage with it. Your content needs to offer something AI can't: a specific perspective, real examples, genuine personality.
The homepage is no longer the front door
AI tools, search features, and social media increasingly send people to specific pages deep within your site. A blog post. A case study. A service page. Your homepage might be the third or fourth page someone visits, not the first.
This means every page needs to stand on its own. Every page needs clear navigation, a sense of who you are, and a path to the next step. The days of designing a beautiful homepage and phoning in everything else are over.
What this means for your content strategy
Write for humans who've already read the AI summary
If someone asks ChatGPT "best web design agencies in Manchester," the AI will generate a list with brief descriptions pulled from your site, reviews, and other public information. When that person then visits your site, they don't need you to repeat what the AI already told them.
Instead, your content should go deeper. Show your process. Tell the story behind a project. Share an opinion that wouldn't show up in an AI-generated summary. The AI gives them facts — your website should give them feeling.
Structure content so AI can read it
Here's the paradox: to be featured in AI summaries (which drive traffic to your site), your content needs to be well-structured and clearly written. Proper headings, clear topic sentences, logical flow. The same principles that make content readable for humans also make it parseable for AI.
This isn't about "optimising for AI" — it's about good content practice that serves both audiences. Structured data, clean HTML, descriptive meta tags, logical heading hierarchy. These have always been best practice. AI just raises the stakes.
Create content AI can't generate
AI is excellent at synthesis and terrible at originality. It can summarise existing knowledge but it can't have a new thought, share a genuine experience, or hold a controversial opinion.
The content that performs best in an AI-adjacent world is the content that could only come from you:
- Case studies with real numbers. Not "we helped a client improve their online presence" — actual metrics, specific challenges, honest reflections on what worked and what didn't.
- Process documentation. How you actually work, not a sanitised five-step graphic. The messy, iterative reality of creative work.
- Opinions. Take a position. Disagree with conventional wisdom. Say something an AI would be too neutral to say.
- Behind-the-scenes content. Team stories, project diaries, lessons learned. The human texture that no language model can fabricate.
What this means for UX design
Speed becomes non-negotiable
If someone can get an answer from AI in two seconds, your website loading in four seconds feels like an eternity. Performance has always mattered, but the bar is higher now. Every millisecond of load time is competing against the instant gratification of asking an AI.
This means: optimised images, minimal JavaScript, edge-deployed hosting, no unnecessary animations that delay content rendering. Fast isn't a feature — it's a prerequisite.
Navigation needs to be smarter
Visitors arriving from AI summaries often land with a specific question. Your navigation needs to get them to the answer quickly. This means:
- Clear, descriptive navigation labels (not clever-but-vague ones)
- Search functionality that actually works
- Contextual CTAs on every page, not just the homepage
- Related content suggestions that feel genuinely helpful
Design for skimmers and deep-readers simultaneously
Some visitors want to scan your page in 10 seconds and decide if you're worth their time. Others want to read every word. Good UX serves both.
Large, scannable headings. Short intro paragraphs. Expandable sections for detail. Visual hierarchy that makes the key points impossible to miss, with depth available for those who want it.
The opportunity nobody's talking about
Here's what most "AI is killing websites" takes miss: AI is actually making good websites more valuable, not less.
If AI summaries handle the commodity information — basic facts, service lists, generic descriptions — then the websites that survive and thrive are the ones offering something beyond commodity information. Design, experience, personality, trust.
The gap between a mediocre website and a great one is widening. A mediocre site is now competing with AI for basic information delivery, and losing. A great site isn't competing with AI at all — it's doing something AI fundamentally can't do.
That's the opportunity. Not "how do we survive AI?" but "how do we build something AI makes even more valuable by contrast?"
What to do right now
If you're reading this and wondering what to change about your website, here's the practical version:
- Audit your content for generic language. If an AI could have written it, rewrite it with specificity, personality, and real examples.
- Check your technical foundations. Page speed, structured data, heading hierarchy, meta descriptions. These serve both humans and AI.
- Make every page a landing page. Assume visitors can arrive anywhere. Every page needs context, navigation, and a clear next step.
- Invest in original content. Case studies, thought leadership, process documentation. The stuff only you can create.
- Test your site against AI. Ask ChatGPT about your business. See what it says. Then make sure your website offers something the AI summary doesn't.
Your website isn't competing with AI. It's complementing it. The businesses that understand this will build sites that work harder, convert better, and matter more — not in spite of AI, but because of it.