How to write an AI brief that produces a strong website
An AI website builder can create a complete site in minutes, but it cannot guess what makes your business special. The difference between a generic site and a site that convinces customers often lies in a few extra sentences in your brief. In this article you get a simple framework, an example you can adapt and the follow-up prompts that turn a good first version into an excellent site.
Why your brief matters so much
The AI works with what you give it. Say only "make a website for my bakery" and you get a neat but generic bakery site. Tell it you run an artisan bakery in Haarlem specialising in sourdough, with a breakfast service for businesses, and you get copy, pages and a layout about exactly that. Specific beats short.
Vague or specific: the difference
| Vague brief | Specific brief | |
|---|---|---|
| What you ask | "A website for my bakery." | "A site for my artisan sourdough bakery in Haarlem, with a breakfast service for businesses." |
| Copy | Generic, could be about any baker | About your bread, your town and your business customers |
| Pages | Home, about, contact | Home, range, office breakfast, ordering, about the bakery |
| Findability | ×No clear keywords | ✓"Sourdough bread Haarlem", "office breakfast" |
The framework: six parts of a strong brief
What to include
- Who you areYour business in one sentence, with place or area.
- For whomYour ideal customer and what they look for.
- What you offerYour services or products, most important first.
- Why youWhat you do differently or better.
- What visitors should doCall, book, order or request a quote.
- Mood and styleHow your site should feel, and which colours fit.
1. Who you are
Start with the core: what kind of business you have and where you work. A place name helps not only the AI but also your local findability.
2. For whom
Describe your customer. Is it a consumer who wants something fixed quickly, or a buyer comparing several quotes? That choice sets the tone and the order of the information.
3. What you offer
Name your services or products, most important first. Fixed prices or packages? Include them. Selling online? Say you want a webshop.
4. Why you
This is the part most often missing and the one that pays off most. Fast delivery, personal contact, years of experience, a guarantee? Only you know, so the AI can only use it if you tell it.
5. What visitors should do
Every site has a goal. Say which action matters most, so the AI makes that button prominent and repeats it in the right places.
6. Mood and style
Calm and premium, or playful and colourful? Already have a logo or brand colours? Name them. Describing an example site you like in words helps too.
Try your brief right away.Paste your description into NerrieBuilder and see within minutes what the AI makes of it.
Try it free →An example you can adapt
Copy this example and replace the parts in brackets with your situation:
Example brief
Make a website for [business name], a [type of business] in [place or region]. We help [audience] with [main service or product]. We also offer [other services]. Customers choose us because [two or three reasons]. The main goal of the site is for visitors to [action, for example book an appointment]. The mood should be [for example calm and professional], with [colours]. Create pages for [list of pages] and put our contact details and opening hours in the footer.
Follow-up prompts that finish your site
The first version is a beginning. Real quality comes from the conversations afterwards. Work in small steps: one request at a time gives better results than ten changes at once.
Ten follow-up prompts that work
- "Make the homepage headline shorter and stronger."
- "Add a frequently asked questions page."
- "Put a button to request a quote under every service."
- "Make the about page more personal, in the first person."
- "Add a section with customer reviews."
- "Use our brand colour as the accent."
- "Write SEO titles and descriptions for all pages."
- "Create an English version of the site."
- "Put the opening hours and address in the footer."
- "Make the site calmer: less text per block."
Common mistakes
- Everything in one sentence. "Make a nice site" gives the AI too little to work with.
- Ten changes at once. Then it is hard to see what went well. Work step by step.
- Saying nothing about your customer. The tone may then not fit who you want to reach.
- Leaving invented details in place. Always check prices, addresses and promises before going live.
Starting from a template or existing site
You do not always have to start from a description. Pick a template in the Enterprise plan and ask the AI to turn it into your business, or import your existing site and let the AI improve it. Read more about templates in live faster with a template, and to see what belongs on your site, read a website for freelancers and small businesses.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a good AI brief be?
There is no fixed length, but a few paragraphs usually work better than one sentence. What matters is that the six parts are in it: who, for whom, what, why, which action and which mood.
Do I still need to check the AI copy?
Yes, always. The AI writes strong base copy, but only you know whether prices, addresses, promises and details are right. Read everything before going live.
Can I still ask for big changes later?
Certainly. You can add a page, change the style or switch on a webshop just by asking. Big changes work best in a few smaller steps.
Which language do I write my brief in?
In the language you find easiest to explain what you want. You can then ask the AI to make the site in Dutch, English or both.