# How to spot a site AI made on its own

Left on its own, AI builds the same decent-looking site every time. These are the 24 defaults we see most, why each one costs you, and what to do instead.

Updated October 2026.

## One tell is a choice. Five is a default.

Any of these can be a real decision. A gradient can be on brand; a centered page can be right for one message. The trouble starts when they arrive together, because then nobody chose them.

The tells also change. Each model generation has its own habits: the first wave of AI sites had purple gradients and glowing blobs, and newer ones lean on bento grids, frosted glass and a label over every heading. We date this guide and update it as the defaults move.

## Type: Type that reads like a template

Type is the first thing a visitor sees. Left alone, AI reaches for the same few moves.

- **Gradient headlines.** A purple-to-blue fade on the biggest words. It looks expensive, reads worse, and says nothing about you. The fix: Solid type that says what you do.
- **The same safe font.** Inter, or the system font, for every heading, line and button. It is never wrong, so it never says anything about the brand. The fix: A face picked for the brand, at a few clear sizes.
- **A label over every heading.** A tiny all-caps word in the accent color above each heading: FEATURES, PRICING, SOLUTIONS. It repeats the heading and makes every section look like a slot in a template. The fix: A heading that does the job on its own.
- **Emoji as bullets.** A rocket, a padlock and a sparkle in front of every point. It reads like a chat reply pasted onto a page. The fix: Plain points that make sense without a picture.

## Color: Color nobody chose

The defaults have a palette of their own, and visitors have seen it a thousand times.

- **Purple into blue.** Violet fading into blue behind everything. It became the color of AI launches, so now it reads as generated. The fix: Colors from your brand, and one accent with a job.
- **Glowing blobs.** A blurry orb of color where the product should be. The fix: Show the real thing.
- **Frosted glass.** See-through panels over a blurred background. Pretty in a screenshot, hard to read on a real screen. The fix: Solid surfaces with clear text.
- **The accent on everything.** Links, icons, a word in the heading and both buttons in the same bright color. Nothing stands out, so nobody knows what to click. The fix: Save the accent for the one thing you want clicked.

## Layout: Layouts that fit any product

If the layout could hold any company’s words, it is a template, not a design.

- **Three identical icon cards.** “Fast,” “Secure,” “Scalable,” each with an icon. Every site has them, so they prove nothing. The fix: One specific thing, shown.
- **Everything centered.** Every line in the middle and one button whose arrow wiggles. Nothing leads the eye. The fix: A clear first and second choice.
- **The bento grid.** Rounded tiles in mixed sizes, each an icon and two words. It looks organized and holds nothing. The fix: Let the content set the layout: the main thing big, the rest around it.
- **Same section, new color.** A heading, a line and three cards. Then the same again on a tinted background, and again. Nothing builds, so nobody keeps scrolling. The fix: Compose each section for what it has to say.

## Motion: Motion with no reason

Movement should answer something: the page arriving, a tap, a change. Otherwise it is noise.

- **Everything fades up.** Every block fades and rises as you scroll, the first screen too. Visitors wait to read, and a quick scroll shows empty space. The fix: Content that is there when the page loads.
- **The wiggling arrow.** “Get started” with an arrow that nudges on hover. The same button is on every AI site, and it never says what starts. The fix: A button that names the action.
- **Pulses that never stop.** Dots, rings and badges that pulse forever. Motion with no cause pulls the eye away from what you want read. The fix: Move only when something happens.
- **A headline that types itself.** The main sentence types out letter by letter, or cycles through words. Visitors wait for the one line that matters. The fix: The whole sentence, there at once.

## Copy: Copy with nothing to say

The quickest test: put a competitor’s logo on the page. If the words still work, they were never yours.

- **Copy that fits anyone.** “Unlock the power of seamless innovation.” Swap the logo and it still works, which is the problem. The fix: Words only you could say.
- **Sparkle badges.** “AI-powered” in a glowing pill above the headline. Visitors care what it does, not how. The fix: Lead with the outcome instead.
- **Three-word slogans.** “Build. Ship. Scale.” Short, punchy and empty: three verbs any company could claim. The fix: One plain sentence about what you do, and for whom.
- **Invented praise.** Five stars from “Sarah J., CEO” next to a stock face. Visitors spot it, and then they doubt everything else. The fix: Real quotes with full names, or none yet.

## Images: Pictures of nothing in particular

The best picture on a product site is the product. The defaults show anything else.

- **The made-up dashboard.** Charts going up and a “+24%” that is not your product. It promises software you do not have. The fix: Your real screen, cropped to the part that matters.
- **The empty phone.** A phone floating at an angle on a gradient, its screen a blur or a few gray bars. It says there is nothing to show yet. The fix: The real app on the screen, straight on.
- **Logos nobody knows.** “Trusted by” and a row of made-up marks. People recognize placeholder logos, and fake proof makes real claims look fake too. The fix: Name real customers, or leave the row out.
- **Icons in gradient tiles.** A line icon in a glossy gradient square for every feature. They all look alike, so they explain nothing. The fix: A small crop of the real feature instead.

## Not slop. Just broken.

None of these are AI tells. Any site can have them, built by hand or not, and each one costs you more than every tell above. Fix these first.

- **Slow on a phone.** Heavy images, heavy fonts, a script for everything. Test on a mid-range phone, not your laptop.
- **Text you can’t read.** Light gray on white, words over photos. Body text needs a contrast of at least 4.5 to 1.
- **A page that jumps.** Things move while it loads, so you tap the wrong link. Give images and embeds their size up front.
- **Locked to a mouse.** No visible focus, menus a keyboard can’t open, images with no description. Try your site with the Tab key alone.
- **Dead ends.** Broken links, a blank “not found” page, a form that fails without saying why.
- **Invisible to search and AI.** No titles or descriptions, no share image, words that only appear after JavaScript runs.

[Counted five or more on your own site? Get yours checked](https://purefunc.io/contact?input=modernize)