If you’ve spent more than five minutes in a marketing forum lately, you’ve probably seen the same promise pop up again and again: “Build a website with AI: No code, no stress, live in minutes!”
Sounds pretty magical, right?
We thought so too. But after testing, building, and breaking a few AI-generated sites ourselves (so you don’t have to), here’s our honest take for 2025: AI websites are good… but they’re not great.
And if you’re serious about growing your business, that difference matters.
AI website builders like Wix ADI, Hostinger, GoDaddy, and even WordPress plugins now promise to “create a website with AI in minutes.” And to be fair, they can.
You give the tool a few prompts, pick a theme, hit “generate,” and voilà! You’ve got a shiny new homepage.
For startups, freelancers, or small businesses that just need something online, it’s an easy win. You can upload stock photos, add a few videos, and get a decent site live before lunch.
So yes, AI websites are good for getting started. But once you start growing, that’s when you realize just how shallow “good” really is.
Now, there are plenty of ways to update your site with AI features, but a website completely built by AI doesn’t perform well. Vibe coding one is better than using a site generator since you can customize it to your liking, but that still requires a ton of work and human experience of what to look out for.
Let’s break down the not-so-glamorous truth behind those one-click websites.
AI-made websites are “out of the box” … and they look like it. They’re fast, but they lack personality, polish, and purpose. You won’t get a custom user journey, intentional call-to-actions, or designs tailored to your target demographic.
Instead, you’ll get a generic one-size-fits-all website that isn’t specific to your brand’s needs. Here’s a fun example of a website for Torrey Pines Golf Course that was made with AI (built by Mobirise).
(Careful when entering the site, it doesn’t currently have an SSL certificate but it’s supposedly owned by the official Torrey Pines company.)
Yeah, this isn’t anything special and it definitely doesn’t follow ADA compliance (see the white text overlaying the bright image? Then here’s a really good AI site (built using Lovable, so it’s not public, but we think it looks pretty solid with a fun and unique feel).
Pretty sleek, modern, and has a direct CTA. We like it.
If you’re hoping to rank on Google, AI sites are basically running with their shoelaces tied. They often:
All these bad SEO practices mean your beautiful “instant” website could be invisible to search engines.
We’re living in a mobile-first world. Over 60% of users now browse and buy on their phones. But if you can believe it, many AI website creators still prioritize desktop layouts! This makes your site harder to navigate, slower to load, and frustrating for anyone trying to book a tee time or buy your product on the go.
An AI website doesn’t think like a marketer, it just … exists. The AI site builder won’t ask questions like:
Without those strategic choices, you end up with a site with no real purpose and no conversions.
Even if you do manage to get a decent AI-made website up, the problems don’t stop there. Updating content? You’ll need plugins. Adding eCommerce features? Good luck integrating inventory or SKUs. Want analytics tracking or booking software?
That’ll still require manual coding or third-party tools. And if something breaks?
Don’t expect a support team on the free plan. AI sites in 2025 are kind of like IKEA furniture: affordable and fast enough to assemble without much knowledge, but if one piece doesn’t fit, you’re on your own with an Allen wrench.
Let’s be clear: we’re not here to dump on innovation. AI website generators have their place. They’re fantastic for:
If that’s you, then go for it. Use an AI builder to get something online fast. Learn. Test. Grow.
But when you’re ready to turn traffic into customers, it’s time to move beyond the free AI templates and into a website designed around your audience, goals, and growth strategy. That’s where we come in.
AI websites will absolutely evolve, and in fact we’re already seeing glimpses of that. By 2030, we expect to see AI tools that:
That future is certainly exciting. But alas, we’re not there yet. There are some of the best dynamic website designs on DesignRush. You could take a look at these sites for inspiration and take some of their conversion funnels to implement on your website. Caveat: AI still won’t build it out as well as a design and development company will, but it will hopefully do a good enough job.
The subscription is the cheap part, as typically a modest monthly fee that gets you hosting and the editor. The real costs arrive later: paid plans to remove branding or add ecommerce, third-party apps for anything the builder does not do, and eventually the rebuild when you outgrow it. Budget for the exit, not just the entry.
Read the terms before you build. Most hosted AI builders let you export content but not a working site, which means you are renting a platform, not owning a codebase. That is an acceptable trade for a first site. It becomes a serious problem when your traffic and rankings live somewhere you cannot take with you.
Three signals: You are turning away customization because the platform will not allow it. You are paying for apps to patch gaps a proper build would not have. Or you are getting traffic and it is not converting, and you cannot diagnose why because you cannot change enough. Any one of those means the tool has stopped being cheap.
Often, partly. Most builders let you edit title tags, meta descriptions, and heading structure, and that alone fixes a lot. What you usually cannot fix is bloated generated markup, missing schema, and the speed penalty that comes with it. Do the editable work first, and if rankings still will not move, the platform is the ceiling.
Multiples more, and the gap is the point. A professional build buys strategy, a user journey designed around conversion, technical SEO from the start, and someone accountable when it breaks. The honest question is not which is cheaper, instead it is whether your business is at the stage where a website is a growth asset or just a requirement.
Usually not out of the box. Generated designs routinely produce failing colour contrast, missing alt text, unlabelled form fields, and poor keyboard navigation. The Torrey Pines example in this article has white text over a bright image for exactly this reason. Accessibility is also a legal exposure in the US, which makes it worth an audit regardless of platform.
Yes, and it is easier if you plan for it. Use your own domain from day one, keep your content somewhere outside the platform, and keep a record of your URL structure so you can redirect properly. Migrations lose rankings when redirects get skipped, not because the content moved.
It gives you more control and a real codebase you own, which matters. It also requires enough technical judgment to know what to check: accessibility, performance, security, and SEO fundamentals that an AI will happily skip without telling you. Better ceiling, higher floor. Not a shortcut past knowing what good looks like.
No. Google penalizes low-quality output, not the tool that made it. The risk with generated sites is not a penalty, it is the missing meta titles, absent structured headings, no schema, and poor mobile performance that quietly keep you invisible. Nobody penalizes you; you just never show up.
Buy the domain, use a builder, and spend the remainder on one professional pass over messaging and structure rather than on design. Clear positioning on a generic template converts better than beautiful design saying nothing specific. Get online, get customers, then reinvest in the build when the business justifies it.
At bgood media, we love technology, especially when it empowers people to do more good. And we use AI on a daily basis, it can be great. But we also know the difference between a quick fix and a real foundation for growth.
So here are our recommendations:
If you’re just getting started, an AI-generated site is a great stepping stone.
If you’re ready to scale, attract, and convert, let the humans take the wheel.
It’s honestly going to come down to your budget, where you’re at with your business, and which AI website generator tool you want to use.
The tool is the biggest factor. We’ve only listed 2 in this article, there are now tons out there.
Because the truth is: AI websites are good. But your brand deserves great.
what this article covers This guide compares bgood media, ResmarkWeb, Propellic, TOMIS, AAMP Agency, Clear Sky Tourism, Blend Marketing, Percepture, TourismTiger, AtlasPerk, Tourism Marketing Agency, and Travel Tractions for activity rentals, tours, and attractions. bgood media leads for rental and attraction businesses that want SEO, AI search (GEO), and website improvements handled together, with most […]
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