How to build a website with AI step by step
Building a site with AI is seven stages: write the request, answer the model's questions, agree a plan, let it build, read the checks, make your edits, then publish. Most bad results come from rushing the first three. Here is what to decide at each stage, using Anticode as the worked example.
Before you open any builder
Gather three things first. A sentence that says what the site is and who it serves. The facts only you know: your prices, opening hours, address, the services you actually offer, the names you want shown. And any photos you own. An AI model can write fluent sentences around missing facts, which is exactly the problem: it fills gaps with plausible inventions. If you start with the facts in hand, you spend your editing time on tone rather than on correcting made-up details.
Decide, too, what the site's one main action is: bookings for a barber, enquiries for a consultant, sign-ups for a product. Every later choice follows from that. For help with the sentence itself, the guide to writing a website brief for an AI builder has a fill-in template.
The seven stages
- Describe it. Type the sentence, for example "a site for Hollis Physio, a two-room sports injury clinic in Leeds that takes online bookings". Name the business, the place and the main action. Paste a link to your current site or social profile if you have one; Anticode reads linked pages once and summarises them into the brief.
- Answer the questions. Anticode's Architect replies and asks up to three questions, only where the answer changes the build: whether you want separate pages, which look suits you, whether you take payment. Each comes with suggested answers you can tap. Answer honestly; "I don't know yet" is better than a guess that shapes the whole layout.
- Read the plan. You get a short plan: the site's name, its kind, its sections, the look and the features. This is the cheapest point to change direction. Remove sections you can't fill with real content, and add the must-haves you need, such as a booking calendar, contact form, pricing or FAQ.
- Build it. Press "Build it". A landing page, store, booking site, dashboard or portfolio is laid out by Anticode's design engine and held to one of seven design systems. Something interactive, like a calculator or a game, is written by the model as a self-contained app that runs in a sandbox.
- Read the checks. The Critic runs nineteen design checks for generic AI habits, the design gate blocks basics such as missing alt text or keyboard focus, and Sentinel runs twelve security checks on the exact HTML that will ship. Read the report rather than skipping it: it tells you what to fix before anyone else sees it.
- Edit. Change wording in place with the visual editor, drag sections into a different order, or ask for a change in a sentence ("move the prices above the team section"). Your recent saves are kept in version history (up to a number set by your plan), so you can try something bold and go back.
- Publish. Publish to a free
name.anticode.devaddress, or connect your own domain on a paid plan. Publishing re-runs the security checks that matter for a public page on the server, and a page that fails them can't go live.
Decisions that shape the result
| Decision | Option A | Option B | How to choose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Structure | One long page | Separate pages (About, Services, Contact) | One page suits a single offer; separate pages suit several services or more text than a visitor will scroll through |
| Look | One of the seven design systems | Switch later | Pick for your audience, not your taste: a clinic reads as trustworthy in a restrained system, a toy shop can be playful |
| Main action | Booking calendar | Contact form | Use bookings only if you can honour any open slot; otherwise take enquiries and confirm by reply |
| Address | Free anticode.dev address | Your own domain | Start free to test; move to your domain before you print it on anything |
Mistakes that cost the most time
- Prompting for everything at once. A paragraph listing twelve features produces a crowded page. Start with the main action and three supporting sections, then add.
- Accepting invented details. Read every number, name and claim. If the draft says "over 500 happy clients" and you can't prove it, delete it.
- Skipping the phone. Most visitors to a small business site arrive on a phone. Check the preview at a narrow width before you publish.
- Publishing without a test submission. Send yourself a message through the live form and confirm it arrives where you expect.
How to know it worked
After publishing, open the live address in a private browser window on your phone. Tap through every link and button. Submit each form once with your own details, and check the submission appears in the dashboard and in your email if you switched notifications on. Then look at the site as a stranger would: can you tell within five seconds what the business is, where it is and what to do next? If not, the headline needs work, not the colours.
What AI won't do for you
The model can't know your business. It doesn't check that your prices are current or that the hours match the sign on your door. In Anticode specifically, the builder and the sites it makes are in English only, design-engine stores take payment through links to your own provider rather than a built-in cart, and published sites don't have visitor accounts or member areas. If you need those, the Next.js export gives a developer a real codebase to extend. See how Anticode works for the full build sequence.
Questions people ask
Do I need an account to try it?
Not for a preview build. Design-engine previews run in your browser without signing in. Builds written by the model, and publishing, need an account.
Can I build a website with AI if I can't code?
Yes. Every stage above works through typing, tapping and dragging. Pro mode adds a code editor for people who want it, but nothing requires it.
What if I don't like the first build?
Ask for changes in plain words, switch the design system, or restore an earlier version from history. It's usually faster to correct the plan and rebuild than to fix a build that started from the wrong brief.