So many social media posts and ads claim it’s easy to build a website using AI. It is not surprising that so many manufacturers are considering it or have already taken the leap. AI website tools can speed up the process and potentially cost less up front, but they can also create risks that are harder to see at launch. A site may look polished but perform poorly if it isn’t designed properly. Below, we explore why many choose an AI-built website and the common issues to watch for.
What Is An AI-Powered Website Builder?
An AI-powered website builder is a tool that uses artificial intelligence to build a complete website from a text prompt, including content and design. Users don’t need to understand coding or the technical aspects of website development. Within minutes, they have a finished draft of a complete website. Users can then change text or layouts by typing new instructions or using edit tools.
AI website builders have had incredible growth over the last few years, and that growth is not expected to slow. The market was valued at $3.51 billion in 2025 and is expected to reach $8.6 billion in 2030, which means it would become about two-and-a-half times larger in five years. This growth rate helps explain why manufacturers are hearing more about AI-built websites.
Why Manufacturers Build Websites Using AI
Manufacturers build websites using AI for several reasons, mainly speed, cost, and simplicity.
- Increased Speed and Efficiency – AI builders can build websites, often a single-page design, in minutes. An experienced web developer can take weeks to build a website.
- Cost – Many manufacturers are drawn to AI builders because they are considerably cheaper than hiring a developer or agency.
- Simplicity – AI builders are easy to use. They create a website from a written description of the business and its customers, and the user doesn’t need to have any experience or knowledge of website development.
While these are compelling reasons for many manufacturers to build their website using AI, many find themselves seeking help when it doesn’t perform as expected and, in some cases, expose themselves to security vulnerabilities.
Pitfalls of Using AI-Powered Website Builders
While AI-built websites can seem enticing for manufacturers looking for a fast, inexpensive website, the adage “you get what you pay for” rings true in more cases than not. The risks range from poor aesthetics to underperformance to code that leaves you exposed to data breaches or website outages.
Generic Design
One drawback of AI website builders that we have encountered is that they often produce websites that look and sound similar to many others. Most builders rely on pre-built templates, which can limit branding, customization, and control over the user experience. Of course, we recognize that pre-built template limitations aren’t exclusive to AI-built websites, but we have noticed many look similar.
A second challenge arises from how AI understands information. Large language models generate content by identifying patterns in their training data. They use sophisticated probability calculations based on what they have learned to determine how something should be structured or what words come next. As a result, they often produce designs and messaging that reflect common website conventions rather than the specific needs of a manufacturer’s buyers.
AI-generated websites often include standard elements such as large hero sections, generic headlines, feature boxes, testimonials, contact forms, and common fonts and color schemes. While these components can create a functional website, they don’t necessarily communicate the information engineers or technical buyers need during supplier evaluation.
Additionally, any AI-built websites are also extremely small, consisting of a single page or only a few pages. In some cases, what appears to be multiple pages in the navigation is actually a single long page with links that jump to different sections. Google search strongly prefers multi-page websites with strong internal linking. Multiple pages give Google distinct URLs to index, and internal links help crawlers discover content, understand page context, and share ranking power across a site. Single-page sites limit SEO growth because they only target one main URL.
SEO and Performance Deficiencies
Many AI website builders advertise “SEO-optimized” sites, but we have found inconsistency. Some AI-built websites include basic SEO features, but they often miss important technical elements or leave them incomplete. Common issues include missing schema markup, missing breadcrumb navigation, and missing canonical tags.
These sites often do not perform well in search. Google has repeatedly stated that content quality, usefulness, expertise, technical structure, and user value are what are important.
Content quality is a major concern. Without significant human input, AI may emphasize generic marketing language— “Delivering Innovative Manufacturing Solutions For Your Business”—that doesn’t tell your audience anything, while overlooking details that your audience cares about. We frequently see little or no keyword optimization, few opportunities to target industry-specific search terms, and limited content that demonstrates expertise or answers the questions manufacturing buyers are actually searching for. Manufacturers are left with a website that looks professional but provides limited value to prospective customers evaluating a manufacturing partner.
Proprietary Platform And Poor Coding
Another issue we encounter is the lack of a true content management system (CMS) or the use of a proprietary platform that keeps the website tied to the builder. In some AI-built websites, making even minor content changes requires access to source files, the original platform, or a limited editing interface. If the platform does not provide clean code export, the business may not be able to move the site to another host, hand it to a developer, or keep the same site if the vendor changes pricing, features, or support.
This can create long-term problems for manufacturers that need to update products, add pages, publish technical resources, connect forms to internal systems, or improve performance over time. A site that cannot be exported as usable, developer-readable code often has to be rebuilt before it can be expanded or moved. That doesn’t mean every proprietary platform is bad, but it does mean the manufacturer should know what they own: the content, the design, the source code, the database, the form submissions, and the hosting configuration.
Poor coding is another issue. AI-generated code may function on a demo page while still using fragile structure, unnecessary scripts, weak accessibility markup, incomplete metadata, or outdated dependencies. These problems can slow the site, make future edits harder, and create security problems if no developer reviews the code before launch.
Security Vulnerabilities
Even when AI writes code that works, it doesn’t mean it is secure. AI-built websites are often deployed without proper human review, leading to issues such as exposed credentials, weak authentication, outdated software components, and poor monitoring, which can cause data breaches, service outages, unauthorized access, compliance issues, and expensive recovery efforts. AI is a useful coding tool, but it does not replace an experienced developer or security reviewer who can identify risks before software goes live.
To Build a Website Using AI or Not
Using AI to build a website may make sense in limited cases, but manufacturers should look past the launch speed and low up-front cost. A good manufacturing website must help buyers understand what you make, what materials and processes you support, and how to request a quote. It also needs to be easy to update, easy for search engines to crawl, and secure enough to handle forms, tracking scripts, and customer inquiries. Before choosing an AI builder, compare the convenience against the limits that may affect ownership, content quality, SEO, security, and future changes.
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For some companies, AI may be able to start a website, but care should be taken to ensure that it is accurate, secure, searchable, and easy to build on. AI can speed up parts of the process, but a manufacturing website still needs clear structure, accurate technical content, and review from people who understand the business and web development and SEO best practices.
How Athena Helps Manufacturers Decide What to Do Next
For new clients, Athena starts with a technical evaluation of the existing website. We review how the site is built, how well search engines can crawl it, how the content is structured, how forms and tracking are set up, and whether the site can be improved without starting over. This helps us determine whether the website is stable enough to build on or whether a new launchpad site is the better option.
When a client already has a WordPress site, we usually look for ways to improve it. That may include SEO recommendations, conversion rate optimization recommendations, site structure changes, content updates, speed improvements, and technical cleanup. If the existing site is limited by poor structure, proprietary tools, weak code, or a lack of useful pages, we may recommend a launchpad site instead.
A launchpad site gives the manufacturer a stronger starting point without trying to build everything at once. It includes the core pages needed to explain the business, support quote requests, and give buyers enough information to take the next step. From there, we grow the site each month with new service pages, product pages, technical content, and blog posts based on search data, buyer questions, and business priorities.
AI tools are changing quickly, so specific features, risks, and platform limits will continue to shift. Athena uses AI in parts of our work, such as researching and analysis, but we do not use it to replace human judgment. Every deliverable is reviewed and finished by people who understand manufacturing websites, SEO, content quality, and the client’s business.