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Website text written by AI: checking it before it goes live

SiteSmith · · 5 min read

AI can write a decent first draft of your website text in seconds, but it does not know your business. It will guess your hours, invent a guarantee you never offered, add services you do not do and make you sound like every other company in your trade. Before AI-written text goes live, read every line as a customer would and check four things: the facts are true, the promises are ones you keep, the area and details are yours, and it sounds like you. Here is a routine for doing that in an hour or two.

Why AI text needs checking

An AI writing tool produces text that sounds right. That is different from text that is right. It fills gaps with whatever is typical for businesses like yours. If most plumbers offer 24-hour service, it may say you do. If most bakeries mention gluten-free options, it may list them for yours. It cannot tell the difference between a guess and a fact, so you have to.

Google's own guidance for site owners says content should be made to help people, however it is produced, and that is a fair standard: if a page is accurate and useful for your customers, it does its job. Google's Search Central help explains its view in more detail.

Step 1: Check every fact

Print the pages or open them on a big screen, and mark each statement of fact. Then check it against reality.

  • Business name, phone number, address, email. Character by character. One wrong digit costs calls for months.
  • Hours, including weekends and holidays.
  • Services. Cross out anything you do not offer. Add anything missing.
  • Prices, if any appear. AI often invents "from" prices.
  • Years in business, licenses, certifications, awards, memberships. Only what is true and current. A made-up license number or membership is a serious problem.
  • Area served. Make sure the towns are ones you really cover, and nearby towns you do cover are not missing.
  • Team members. Names and roles must be real.
  • Brands and products you install, sell or stock.

Step 2: Check every promise

AI text loves promises. Look for words like "guarantee", "always", "never", "same-day", "24/7", "lowest price", "satisfaction", "free". For each one, ask: do we really do this, every time?

  • "Same-day service" when you are often booked out for a week will produce angry calls.
  • "Satisfaction guaranteed" can be read as a promise of refunds you never offered.
  • "Free estimates" is fine only if they are free.
  • "Licensed and insured" must be true in your state and for the work described.
  • "Best in town" or "number one" are claims you cannot back up; drop them.

If a promise is not one you keep, delete it or rewrite it into something you do keep: "We usually come out within two working days" is honest and still reassuring. Writing a guarantee or promise page you can keep helps with that wording.

Step 3: Check it is specific to you

Generic text is not wrong, but it is forgettable. Read each paragraph and ask: could this appear on a competitor's site unchanged? If yes, add something only you can say.

Swap generic lines for specific ones:

  • "We provide quality service with attention to detail" becomes "Every job ends with us vacuuming up and walking you through what we did."
  • "Our experienced team" becomes "Dave has been fixing furnaces in this county since 1994."
  • "Serving the greater area" becomes "We work in Madison, Middleton, Verona and Sun Prairie."

Also remove the filler that AI tends to add: welcome paragraphs, lines about passion and excellence, sentences about how important your service is to "today's homeowners". Your customers skip them.

Step 4: Check the tone fits your customers

AI often writes in a slightly breathless marketing voice. Check that the tone matches how you and your customers talk:

  • Short sentences and plain words. If you would not use "comprehensive solutions" in conversation, do not use it here.
  • No exclamation marks on every line.
  • The right level of formality. A law office and a dog groomer should not sound the same.
  • "You" and "we". Talk to the customer directly.

If writing is not your thing, writing for your website when you're not a writer has simple ways to make text sound like a person.

Some lines carry more weight than the rest. Have a second look at anything about:

  • Health, safety, money or legal outcomes. A dentist, an accountant or a contractor should not have AI-written claims about results. Check with your professional body or attorney if unsure.
  • Privacy and terms. AI-written privacy policies and terms pages are often generic and may not match what your site really does. Ask your attorney what you need.
  • Reviews and testimonials. Never let AI write customer quotes. Use only real ones, word for word, with permission.
  • Comparisons with competitors. Remove them.

A quick checklist for every page

Before any AI-written page goes live, tick each box:

  • Every phone number, address, hour and price checked by hand
  • Every service listed is one we do
  • Every promise is one we keep every time
  • No invented licenses, awards, years or team members
  • No made-up reviews or quotes
  • The towns listed are the towns we serve
  • At least one detail on the page only we could say
  • Read out loud once, and it sounds like us

What to do this week

  • Print your home page and your main service page, and mark every fact and every promise with a pen.
  • Check them against reality, one by one.
  • Rewrite three generic sentences into specific ones about your business.
  • Ask someone who knows your business well to read the pages and circle anything that is not true.
  • Fix everything before the text goes live, not after.

If your current site's text is already accurate, you may not need new text at all: you can see your site rebuilt first with your own words kept, then check only what changed.

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