What to have ready before you ask an AI for a website
Fifteen minutes and six pieces of information are enough for a first version. Here is the short list, and what happens to the gaps.
The hard part of a website has never been the building. It is deciding what to say. An AI removes the building, so the only work left is the deciding — and most of it you already know by heart.
The six things worth writing down
- What the business is, in one sentence. “A small Japanese restaurant in the East Village, counter seating, open for dinner.” This one line sets the tone of the whole site.
- Who it is for. Neighbours, tourists, companies looking for a supplier. The AI writes differently for each.
- What you want a visitor to do. Book a table, call, order, send an enquiry. Pick one. A site with one clear action outperforms a site with five.
- The facts. Address, phone, opening hours, parking, payment methods, languages spoken.
- Photos. Your own, always, if you have them. Five good photos beat fifty average ones.
- A domain, if you already own one. Not required to start — every site is published at its own address immediately.
What if something is missing
Tell the AI to leave it blank. It marks unknown facts clearly (【phone number】) and lists them back to you at the end, so nothing gets invented. That matters: an AI will happily produce a plausible phone number if you let it.
What not to prepare
Do not write the text. Describing the business in your own words to the AI is faster and reads better than a draft you laboured over. Do not design anything either — ask for adjustments once you can see the page.
Then what
Ask for the site, look at the preview on your phone as well as your computer, request changes in plain language, and publish when it feels right. You can keep editing afterwards, and go back to any earlier version at any time.