How to Build a Website with AI in 2026: A Step-by-Step Guide (With Prompts)

To build a website with AI, pick the right kind of tool for what the site has to do, write one detailed prompt (who the business is, who the site is for, the pages, the main action and the style), let the AI generate a first draft, then refine it section by section in plain English, replace the placeholder copy and images with your own, set up the SEO basics, connect your domain and publish. If the site only presents your business, an AI website builder such as Wix, Framer or Webflow fits. If it needs sign-ins, a database, bookings or a client area, use an AI app builder such as Greta.sh, which generates the frontend, backend, database and deployment from the same kind of prompt.

The AI part takes minutes. The part that decides whether the site works is everything around it: the brief you give, the content you replace, and what you do after launch. This guide covers all of it, with prompts you can copy.

Step 1: Decide what the website has to do

Before you choose a tool, write down the one action you want visitors to take: call you, book a slot, buy something, sign up, or log in to do something. That action decides the tool.

Wix describes its AI website builder as going "from a prompt to a business-ready website". Framer's AI agent "creates editable pages, sections, copy, and visuals directly in your project". Webflow says its AI "can help you build a site, modify page designs, generate copy, generate code". All three are built around designed pages. An AI app builder starts from the data and the logic, so it suits sites where visitors do more than read. If you are comparing free plans, our roundup of free AI website builders checks what each one actually lets you publish.

Step 2: Gather your content before you prompt

AI fills gaps with generic text. The more real material you give it, the less you rewrite later. Collect:

• Your business in two sentences: what you do and for whom.
• Your audience: who they are and what they are trying to get done.
• The pages you need: usually Home, About, Services or Products, Pricing, Contact, and a FAQ.
• Proof you can actually use: real photos, your logo, any genuine reviews you have permission to publish.
• Facts: your address, opening hours, prices, service area.
• Two or three sites you like: note what you like about each (the layout, the tone, the colours).

Step 3: Write one detailed first prompt

The first prompt sets the structure, so put the effort here. A useful template, filled in for a bakery:

Business: a family bakery in Austin selling sourdough, pastries and custom cakes. Audience: local customers ordering for weekends and events. Pages: Home, Menu, Custom Cakes (with an order request form), About, Contact with map and opening hours. Main action: request a custom cake order. Style: warm and simple, cream and brown colours, large food photos, friendly tone, no stock-photo clichés. Must include: opening hours on every page footer, mobile-friendly layout.

Replace each line with your own. Leaving out the audience and the main action is the most common reason a first draft feels generic.

If the site needs to do more, say so in the same prompt. For example: "Customers can create an account, place a cake order with a date and design notes, and see the status of their orders. The bakery admin sees all orders by date and can mark them confirmed or ready." That sentence is the difference between a website and a web app, and it is where an AI app builder earns its place. Our guide to how to build a web app covers that path step by step.

Step 4: Refine section by section, in plain English

Don't regenerate the whole site to fix one thing. Ask for one change at a time and be specific:

• "Make the hero headline shorter and put the 'Order a cake' button above the fold."
• "Replace the three-column feature grid with a menu list grouped by Breads, Pastries and Cakes."
• "Use a darker brown for buttons so they stand out against the cream background."
• "Move the opening hours into the footer on every page."

Check each change on a phone-sized screen as well as desktop. Most visitors to a local business site arrive on a phone.

Step 5: Replace every placeholder

AI-generated sites ship with placeholder text, sample prices and stock images. Go page by page and replace:

• Copy: rewrite anything that doesn't sound like you, and delete anything that isn't true. Never publish invented testimonials, figures or awards.
• Images: use your own photos where you can. If you use stock or AI images, make sure they don't misrepresent your products.
• Contact details and forms: send a test message through every form and confirm it arrives.
• Legal pages: add a privacy policy if you collect any personal data, which a contact form does.

Step 6: Set up the SEO basics

A site nobody finds doesn't do its job. Before you publish:

• Give every page a unique title and description that say what the page is about.
• Use one main heading per page, and headings that describe the sections below them.
• Add alt text to images that describes them.
• Make sure the site has a sitemap and isn't blocking search engines.
• For a local business, put your name, address and phone number in the same form everywhere.

Then keep the site alive after launch with new pages that answer what customers ask. Greta.sh's self-growing websites do part of this for you: Greta checks titles, descriptions and whether AI assistants can read the site and suggests fixes, and once publishing is switched on it can publish new articles on a schedule you approve.

Step 7: Connect your domain and publish

Buy a domain (or use one you own), connect it to the builder, and check the site loads over HTTPS. Most builders walk you through the DNS records; our guide to connecting a custom domain explains them. After publishing, submit your sitemap to Google Search Console so the pages get crawled.

Building it with Greta.sh

Greta.sh is an AI app builder: you describe the site or app, and it generates the frontend, backend, database and authentication, then deploys it. That makes it the better fit when the website needs a working part behind it, such as order requests stored in a database, a customer login or an admin view. Its plans, from greta.sh/pricing:

• Free: 5 credits a day and a code viewer, for building and trying ideas. It does not deploy.
• Starter: $5/month welcome offer (normally $20/month), 100 credits a month, deployment, custom domain setup, web analytics and no watermark.
• Pro: $20/month welcome offer (normally $50/month), 250 credits a month, adding the Database, Flows, version control with GitHub and team management.

Greta.sh builds its own database for the site it generates; it does not plug into an existing production database. For marketing pages specifically, our guide to Greta.sh templates for marketers has landing page, funnel and quiz starting points.

Mistakes to avoid

• Prompting with one line. "Make me a bakery website" gets a generic bakery website. Use the template in Step 3.
• Publishing the placeholder copy. Visitors notice, and invented claims can mislead customers.
• Choosing a page builder for an app's job. If customers need accounts or the site must store orders, start with a tool that builds a database.
• Forgetting the phone. Check every page at phone width before you publish.
• Treating launch as the finish line. Sites that get found keep adding useful pages.

FAQ

Can AI build a whole website for me?

Yes, AI website builders and AI app builders can generate a complete multi-page site from a description, including layout, copy and images. You still need to supply the real content, check every page and connect a domain. The AI produces a strong first draft, not a finished business website.

What is the best AI to build a website?

It depends on what the site does. For a designed marketing site, AI website builders such as Wix, Framer and Webflow are built for that job. For a site that needs logins, a database or bookings, an AI app builder such as Greta.sh generates the full stack. Our free AI website builders roundup compares the free plans.

How do I write a good prompt for an AI website builder?

Include the business, the audience, the pages, the one main action and the style, plus anything that must appear on every page. Then make changes one section at a time. The template in Step 3 is a good starting point.

Can I build a website with AI for free?

Many AI website builders have free plans that publish on the builder's own subdomain with its branding; a custom domain usually needs a paid plan. On Greta.sh, the free plan (5 credits a day) is for building and trying ideas, and deployment starts on Starter at $5/month as a welcome offer (normally $20/month).

Is an AI-built website good for SEO?

It can be, if you do the basics: unique titles and descriptions, real content, descriptive headings, alt text and a sitemap. AI-generated placeholder copy is thin and generic, so replace it. Search engines reward pages that answer real questions, whoever wrote the first draft.

Do I own a website built with AI?

You own your content. Whether you can take the site's code elsewhere depends on the tool: some page builders keep the site on their platform, while Greta.sh says its code export is clean Next.js and portable. Check the export options before you commit.

Start with the prompt

Fill in the Step 3 template for your business, then build your website with Greta.sh. The free plan gives you 5 credits a day to try it.