If you used an AI tool to write your website, the copy may look fine at first. The sentences are clean, and nothing looks broken. But read it out loud, and it may not sound like you. That’s because AI can tend toward a one-size-fits-all sales pitch.
That generic voice might work for a new fitness app or a gym, but it’s a poor fit for an estate attorney handling a messy probate case, a funeral home helping a grieving family, a machine shop quoting a custom part, or a roofer showing up after a hailstorm. In each case, the website needs to sound right for the business and what its customers are going through.
Below, our Utah web design team looks at why AI defaults to “boilerplate” websites, how to tell if your copy is misrepresenting your company, and how to fix it.
When the AI Voice Doesn’t Fit Your Business
Ask AI to write copy for a funeral home and a gym, and you might get the same high-energy, salesy tone for both. Each could end up with bright headlines and exclamation points.
That’s a problem if your customers come to you when something has gone wrong. Someone dealing with a death in the family hopes to get answers that sound calm and capable, not overly promotional.
If you’re an estate attorney and your homepage opens with “Ready to take the next exciting step in planning your legacy?”, think about who’s reading it. They may have just lost a parent, or they may be in the middle of a family fight over an inheritance. They want someone who sounds like they’ve done this hundreds of times and won’t miss a deadline or a detail.
Why AI Falls Back on the Same Patterns
AI can build you a website in minutes. But unless you tell it how your business should sound, it may fall back on a cheerful sales pitch or a diplomatic AI assistant that is void of all emotion.
That’s because large language models draw on copy from across the web and settle in on the average. Many websites are promotional. Many others are polite and guarded. So you tend to see these patterns generalized to everyone’s site. And the more generic sites get created based on these prototypes, the more AI sites replicate them. It’s one big feedback loop.
What the Wrong Tone Can Cost You
Your visitors won’t tell you the tone is wrong. Most of them couldn’t put it into words. They read a headline or two and notice something is off. You sound too salesy, amateur, or impersonal. The customer begins to assume things about you and leaves the page or browses your products with a skeptical eye.
Take a homeowner who wakes up after a hailstorm with water coming through the ceiling. They find your site, and it talks about a great chance to upgrade their roof. All they can think about is the tarp over the living room and how fast the water is spreading. A pitch about upgrades can make you seem out of touch with what they need, even if your crew has handled hundreds of storms.
A Few Signs Your Site’s Tone Is Off
You can catch most tone problems without any technical review. Try reading your own homepage out loud and ask these questions as you go:
- Would you actually say this sentence to a client sitting across from you? Or does it sound too performative?
- Are ordinary facts written with exclamation points? Hours, service areas, and contact details rarely need to sound thrilling.
- Could this copy describe three other kinds of business with a find-and-replace of the name? Generic enthusiasm can come off as inauthentic at best, inappropriate at worst.
- Does the copy promise excitement for a routine service? A furnace repair or a will update doesn’t need to sound like a breakthrough.
If your site raises more than one of these red flags, its tone may be working against your business rather than for it.
Getting Your Site to Sound Like You
If a few of those questions hit close to home, you may be asking, “Who can fix my AI website?” A good custom web design company should be able to help you create a brand persona that will help customize your copy.
This might include:
- A few adjectives that describe how you want your business to sound to the customer (e.g., helpful, empathetic, conversational)
- A short description of how your business came to be
- A list of your core services or products
- Your unique selling proposition (what sets you apart from the competition)
- Attributes of your ideal customer
- A short description of your company’s goals and values (what you want to do for your customer, what is important to you)
- A list of phrases to avoid, including corporate jargon that won’t resonate with the customer
- A list of phrases to include (e.g., “do it right the first time,” or “we’re there to support you every step of the way”)
If you have other materials that reflect your voice (such as an article from your founder or a letter to your clients), these resources can serve as examples for better content.
Consistency Is Key
Once you develop your brand persona, make sure you use it throughout your website and for your other marketing materials, too. You want your tone to sound relatable, reliable, genuine, and trustworthy, wherever your customers are reading about you.