AI Website Builders can build you a website.

But can they build you a Business Asset?

If you’ve played with an AI website builder recently, you’ll know the feeling: wow, this is fast. A prompt, a few clicks, and suddenly you’ve got pages, sections, copy, images, a layout… something that looks like a “proper website”.

And Wix has just turned that speed up another notch.

In January 2026, Wix introduced Wix Harmony - a new editor aimed at “self-creators”, combining AI prompt-based creation with drag-and-drop control, plus auto-responsive design and a built-in AI agent called Aria to help with actions inside the editor and dashboard.

So… is this the moment agencies should panic?

Not really. But it is the moment businesses should think harder about what they’re outsourcing when they hand their website over to AI.

Because a website isn’t just pages and pixels. It’s a strategic asset.

And strategy is the part AI can’t guess.

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Here I am having a go with the new WIX Harmony - one of the AI Website Builders

The process I followed to create an AI generated website was

1. Create a brief in Chat GPT
   

   Prompt: "Create a brief/instruction for the AI Website Generator (WIX) Website for a roofing contractor serving the London area. Add 4 services, and the sitemap should include Home, Services, Blog, Area of service, Contact us, and a booking form. The website's style should be minimalist and modern. Colours: White, Black and Yellow for CTA's. Stock images should represent the business."
   

2. Paste the brief into WIX Harmony and hoping for the best :-)

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Wix Harmony is the signal:

AI builds are going mainstream

Wix Harmony is a clear signal that the “AI-first website build” is becoming the default for many users.

Wix describes Harmony as:

• built for speed and a cleaner editing flow,

• auto-responsive (you control desktop + mobile; other breakpoints are handled for you),

• and supported by Aria, which can guide and perform actions so you can focus on “creative vision and strategic decisions”.

Crucially for professionals: Harmony is designed for self-creators and does not support custom code, and Wix explicitly positions Wix Studio as the platform for advanced work, responsive precision, custom logic and scaling client projects.

That’s the dividing line.

AI can produce a website-shaped object.

Professionals produce a business system - message, structure, trust, conversion, SEO, and iteration.

The real issue isn’t “AI websites”.

It’s AI websites without research

Let’s be fair: AI can help. A lot.

But if you use AI to build a website without client persona research (and without a proper strategy workflow), you’re basically doing this:

You’re asking a machine to guess:

• who your best customers are,

• what they care about,

• what they’re worried about,

• what objections they have,

• what makes you different,

• what words will earn trust,

• and what path will move them to enquire or buy.

That’s not “creative”. That’s roulette.

And there’s a known trap here: personas created from generic AI output tend to be generic — basically repackaged assumptions — unless they’re grounded in real user evidence.

So the risk isn’t that your AI-built website looks bad.

The risk is that it looks fine… while quietly failing at the job.

“But it looks professional”

Why that’s not the same as “it works”

A website has two jobs:

1. Win trust quickly

2. Move the right person to the right next step

AI can help with polish. It can generate tidy sections, respectable wording, and familiar layouts.

But “familiar” is exactly the problem in a world where everyone is using the same tools, templates and prompts.

You end up with:

• the same hero structure,

• the same value-prop bullets,

• the same “We’re passionate about…” lines,

• the same stock claims with no proof,

• the same generic service pages.

Which means your site becomes replaceable at a glance.

And when your content is replaceable, your price becomes the only differentiator. That’s not where you want to be.

Google’s own guidance pushes creators toward helpful, reliable, people-first content, not content produced just to “have content”. In plain English: if your site feels like it was generated, it’s going to struggle to stand out.

The hidden risks of outsourcing your website strategy to AI

Here are the risks we see most often when businesses “AI their way” to a website:

1) You get a website, but not a position

AI can summarise what you do. It can’t choose what you should be known for in your market.

Positioning is a decision:

• what you focus on,

• who you’re best for,

• what you refuse to be,

• and why you’re worth paying more for.

2) You get words, but not proof

AI is brilliant at confident sentences. But trust is built with specifics:

• case studies,

• outcomes,

• process clarity,

• guarantees,

• credentials,

• real photos,

• real stories.

AI can’t invent proof (and it absolutely shouldn’t).

3) You get pages, but not a conversion journey

A high-performing site is a guided route:

• the right promise,

• the right reassurance,

• the right next step,

• at the right time.

Without that, visitors “browse” and disappear.

4) You get “SEO content”, but not search credibility

In the AI era, credibility signals matter more: experience, expertise, trust, and real-world proof. That’s why E-E-A-T has become a core lens in modern SEO conversations.

5) You get speed, but not quality control

Even UX experts caution that AI is best used to support professionals, not replace judgment, and that AI outputs can be unreliable or misleading without careful oversight.

And in UX specifically, research from Nielsen Norman Group found that (as of their study) designers were using text-based AI for brainstorming and ideation, but design-specific AI tools weren’t in serious use by professionals, highlighting the gap between “it generates” and “it designs well”.

So what do top web designers do that AI-only builds don’t?

Here’s the simple answer:

They don’t start with pages. They start with decisions.

A strong agency workflow looks more like this:

1) Persona and intent (who are we persuading?)

Not “everyone”.

Not “local customers”.

The best-fit buyers.

What do they:

• fear?

• compare?

• need to believe before they contact you?

• need to see to trust you?

2) Message hierarchy (what must be understood in 5 seconds?)

Most websites fail here.

People don’t read. They scan. So the job is to make the right meaning land fast.

3) Differentiation (why you, not the cheaper option?)

If your site says what everyone else says, you’re competing on price by default.

4) Information architecture (where does each visitor need to go?)

Good structure reduces friction:

• service pages that match search intent,

• clear pathways for different customer types,

• supporting pages that remove doubt (FAQs, process, results, guarantees).

5) Conversion design (how do we turn interest into action?)

CTAs are not “Contact us”.

They’re specific, low-friction next steps:

• “Get a fixed-price quote”

• “Book a 15-minute call”

• “See pricing”

• “Request availability”

6) Content with experience, not filler

Google explicitly encourages content that’s built to help people. In practice, that means:

• real examples,

• real opinions,

• real specificity.

7) Iteration (launch is the start, not the finish)

Heatmaps, analytics, SEO performance, and enquiry quality.

Then improvements. AI can help generate variants. Humans decide what’s right.

Where AI is brilliant (when used properly)

We use AI too, but like a power tool, not an autopilot.

AI is great for:

• speeding up first drafts (that humans refine),

• generating content variations for testing,

• summarising research inputs,

• organising content plans,

• assisting with repetitive tasks.

Even Wix frames AI as removing repetitive work so creatives can focus on “strategy, context and craft”.

That’s the healthiest way to use it.

A practical self-check: is your website a “strategy asset” or “AI output”?

If you’re not sure where you stand, ask:

• Could my biggest competitor paste my homepage into their site and it still make sense?

• Do I clearly say who I’m best for, and who I’m not for?

• Is my proof stronger than my claims?

• Is the next step obvious for each visitor type?

• Would a real customer say, “This feels like us,” or “This feels like a website”?

If those questions feel uncomfortable, that’s not a failure; that’s clarity.

The bottom line

AI will keep making websites easier to generate. Wix Harmony is proof of that.

But as the internet fills up with similar layouts and similar wording, the winners won’t be the businesses who can publish fastest.

They’ll be the businesses who can make clear choices:

• about who they serve,

• what they stand for,

• how they prove it,

• and how they guide visitors to act.

That’s not a template job.

That’s strategy.

And strategy is still human.