An AI tool can now suggest a site structure, draft your About page or produce a snippet of code in seconds. For a small business on a tight budget, that is a genuine time saver. But fast isn’t the same as correct. Here’s where AI helps, and where a human still needs to step in.
Where AI genuinely helps
- Getting past the blank page: proposing a page structure (home, services, contact…) and working headlines.
- First drafts: a starting version of a service description that you then rewrite.
- Ideas: questions your customers ask, possible article topics.
- Simple code help: explaining an error or suggesting a few lines of CSS or JavaScript.
- Illustrations: generating visuals without a photo shoot, within the tool’s terms of use.
Where it falls short
- It can be confidently wrong: outdated facts, wrong figures, sources that don’t exist.
- It doesn’t know your business: your prices, real services, service area and experience.
- It writes generic copy: published as is, it reads like everyone else’s site.
- Working code isn’t necessarily safe code, or compatible with your setup.
What does Google say about AI-generated content?
In February 2023, Google explained that it rewards content based on quality, not on how it was produced. However, using automation, AI included, primarily to manipulate search rankings breaks its spam policies. In practice, content needs to be helpful, original and written for people first.
The human review checklist
- Accuracy: check every fact, date, number and name against an official source.
- True to your business: services, prices and contact details must be the real ones.
- Voice: rewrite in your own words and cut the filler.
- No fake proof: no invented reviews, statistics or certifications.
- Rights: read the terms of use for generated images and text.
- Code: test it in a staging environment and review it for security before it goes live.
- Personal data: don’t paste customer data into third-party tools, and follow the data protection rules where you operate.
A simple workflow
- Write down the essentials yourself: who you are, what you offer, for whom and where.
- Give that brief to the tool and ask for a structure and a draft.
- Rewrite and add examples and details only you know.
- Review with the checklist above, then publish.
The bottom line
AI is an excellent assistant for getting started and drafting, but the decisions, the fact-checking and the responsibility for what you publish stay with you. If you’d like help building your site, see my services or the Harouga Pro community.
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