What does a company website need in the AI era?

What does a company website need today?

A company website today needs to be the most reliable source on your brand, for people and for the AI assistants that increasingly answer on their behalf. In practice that means four things: a clear account of who you are, pages that answer the questions buyers actually ask, a design that makes people feel something, and a technical base that machines can read.

The change is in who reads first. In a study of browsing data from 900 US adults, 58 per cent made at least one Google search in March 2025 that produced an AI summary. When a summary appeared, users clicked on results less often, and very rarely clicked the sources cited in it (Pew Research Center, 2025).

At IW Agency, we think this makes the website more important, not less. An assistant can only describe you with what you have given it. The people who still click through arrive further along, looking to confirm a feeling. A good site serves both readers.

Conclusion: Your website now briefs the assistant before it meets the buyer.

What do you need in place before you start?

You need to know what your brand stands for before you decide what your website says. Without that decision, a site becomes a catalogue of everything, and a catalogue tells neither a person nor an assistant why you matter.

Have three things ready:

1. A brand platform. It should state what you stand for, who you are for and how you differ. If yours is out of date, start there: what a brand platform is and when you need a new one.

2. The buyer's questions. Collect them from sales, customer service and search data, and write them down in the buyer's own words.

3. A fact sheet. List your founding year, locations, offer and named proof. An assistant needs these plain facts to describe you correctly.

How do you decide what the site must say?

Decide what the site must say by starting from the questions buyers ask, then giving each question a clear home. The structure follows the decision, not the org chart.

1. Group the questions by decision stage.

   • What is this company, and is it for me?

   • Can they solve my problem, and how?

   • Can I trust them, and what does it take to start?

2. Give each group a page with one job.

   • About, offer, proof, contact.

   • State the page's topic in its first lines.

3. Write down your stance.

   • What do you believe about your category that competitors would not say?

   • This is the content no other site can supply.

For SOS Barnbyar, the starting point was that competition for attention was increasing and donors were demanding greater clarity and transparency. A website answers those questions every day, whether or not it is ready to.

How do you write pages that AI assistants can quote?

To write pages that AI assistants can quote, make each section answer one question on its own, with the answer in its first sentence. Google says its AI features can use "query fan-out": they run several related searches across subtopics and data sources before composing an answer (Google Search Central). An assistant can lift a section that answers one subtopic clearly. It skips a section that circles ten.

1. Lead with the answer.

   • Put the question in the heading.

   • Answer it in one or two plain sentences, then add depth.

2. Replace claims with proof.

   • Name the client, the problem and what changed.

   • Give every figure a named source.

3. Resist multiplying pages.

   • Creating separate pages for every variation of a query to manipulate AI answers breaks Google's policy against scaled content abuse. Google also calls it an ineffective long-term strategy (Google Search Central).

4. Add images and video where they carry meaning.

   • Google recommends high-quality visuals where relevant, because its AI features can show them too.

How do you make the site feel like your brand?

Make the site feel like your brand by carrying the full identity into it and putting emotion where the decision happens. An assistant can summarise your offer. It cannot reproduce the feeling of being in your world, and that feeling is what the click is for.

1. Use the whole design system.

   • Use the same typography, colour, imagery and motion as on pack, in store and in social.

   • Make the brand recognisable within seconds, before anyone reads a word.

2. Choose the moments that should be felt.

   • The first screen, the product page and the proof.

   • Spend craft there and keep everything else quiet.

3. Write the way the brand speaks.

   • Keep the tone consistent in headings, buttons and error messages.

With Nordic Nest, the job was to transform Designonline.com from a generic online shopping platform into a premium brand experience. A premium brand cannot afford to look generic online.

Conclusion: Assistants carry the facts. Your site has to carry the feeling.

How do you make sure machines can read the site?

Machines can read your site if it meets the same technical standards as ordinary search, because Google's AI features reach content the same way. According to Google, its AI systems find and process pages as search does, and all existing technical SEO advice still applies (Google Search Central).

1. Keep important content as text. Do not lock it inside images or scripts.

2. Keep the structure clean. Give each topic one URL, use descriptive headings and add internal links that make sense.

3. Describe yourself consistently. We recommend using the same company name, description and service names everywhere, so that every page clearly points to one organisation.

How do you know it's working?

The site is working when assistants describe you correctly and the people who arrive are closer to a decision.

1. Ask the assistants. Each quarter, put your buyers' questions to the main AI assistants. Note whether you appear, how you are described and which pages they cite.

2. Measure quality alongside volume. Google says clicks from results pages with AI Overviews are "higher quality". That is Google's own claim, and Pew's findings on clicks point the other way. Google suggests tracking conversions and time on site (Google Search Central).

3. Listen to sales. If enquiries arrive already knowing what you do and how you differ, the site is doing its job.

Conclusion: Fewer visits is survivable. Being described wrongly is not.

What does this mean for your brand?

• Decide the stance before the sitemap. The brand platform comes first and the pages follow from it.

• Write every section to be lifted. Use a question as the heading, put the answer first and keep each section to one topic.

• Prove, don't praise. Named cases and sourced facts are the material assistants can use.

• Spend design where people feel. Visitors who click through come for confirmation, so give them a reason to choose you.

• Check how you are described. Test the assistants every quarter and fix the source when they get you wrong.

Frequently asked questions

What should a company website include?

A company website should include a clear description of who you are, what you offer and who it is for. It should also have pages that answer buyers' questions, named proof, contact details and a design that reflects the brand.

Do we need separate pages for AI search?

No. Google says that creating separate pages for every variation of a query to manipulate AI answers breaks its policy. One clear page per real topic works better.

Does design still matter if AI summarises our site?

Yes. The people who click through want confirmation, and design is how the brand is felt and recognised.

How often should we review the site?

Test how AI assistants describe you every quarter. Review content whenever your offer, proof or positioning changes.

Built to be chosen

A website today has two readers: an assistant that needs facts and a person who needs a feeling. Brands that serve both get described correctly and chosen more often. If you want to talk about what your site should say and how it should feel, write to us at hello@iwagency.com.

Sources

• Do people click on links in Google AI summaries? — Pew Research Center, 2025

• AI features and your website — Google Search Central, n.d.

• Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search — Google Search Central, n.d.