We need to talk about the current state of the AI website builder. For a long time, the senior dev community looked at these tools as “toys” for people who didn’t want to learn CSS. But after 14 years of wrestling with WP_Query and refactoring legacy PHP, I’ve had a change of heart. It’s not about replacing us; it’s about destroying the boring, repetitive boilerplate that eats up our billable hours.
I recently put the WordPress.com AI engine to the test to see if it could handle the architectural nuances of 21 different site types. Specifically, I wanted to see if it could generate semantic blocks that don’t fall apart when you switch to a mobile viewport or try to optimize for Core Web Vitals. Here is exactly what you can ship today.
1. High-Performance Portfolios
Most creative portfolios are a nightmare of unoptimized images and heavy sliders. When you prompt an AI website builder for a portfolio, it typically leans on the Assembler theme, which is lightweight and block-based by default.
Pro Tip: Don’t just ask for “a portfolio.” Prompt for specific sections like “Client Testimonials” and “Case Study Grid.” This ensures the AI registers the correct block patterns instead of just dumping a gallery on the page. Check out my guide on building real portfolio sites for more on this.
2. The Link-in-Bio Workaround
I’ve seen clients pay $20/month for third-party link-in-bio tools that load 500kb of tracking scripts. That is a performance bottleneck you don’t need. Using an AI website builder to create a single-page WordPress site is a superior alternative. It’s faster, you own the data, and the SEO is baked in.
3. Managed Business Sites
For service businesses—cleaning, legal, or plumbing—the architecture is usually predictable. You need a hero section, a service grid, and a lead capture form. The AI handles the <form> block integration perfectly, which usually requires manual styling if you’re doing it from scratch.
Hard-Coding AI Refinements
Sometimes the AI-generated layout is “almost” there but needs a specific aesthetic tweak that prompts can’t quite hit. In those cases, I usually drop a small filter in my functions.php to add custom block styles. This allows the client to keep using the AI chat to add pages while maintaining a consistent design system.
<?php
/**
* Register a custom block style for AI-generated layouts.
*/
function bbioon_register_custom_ai_style() {
register_block_style(
'core/group',
array(
'name' => 'bbioon-glass-morphism',
'label' => __( 'Glass Morphism', 'bbioon' ),
)
);
}
add_action( 'init', 'bbioon_register_custom_ai_style' );
?>4. Membership & Subscription Models
WordPress 6.x and its new AI assistants can now scaffold restricted content areas. If you’re building a course or a community forum, the AI can set up the basic navigation for “Member-Only” sections, saving you the headache of manual menu management. Furthermore, it helps in scaling personal brands without the overhead of a massive dev team.
5. Specialized News & Magazine Hubs
The “Topic Hub” strategy is critical for SEO. When you build a news site with an AI website builder, it can automatically categorize your post types and set up “Archives” blocks that would otherwise take an hour to configure via the Site Editor.
The Full List of AI-Capable Sites
- Personal & CV: Resume sites, digital journals, and personal blogs.
- E-Commerce & Events: Restaurant menus, conference landing pages, and merch stores.
- Education & Content: Recipe blogs, podcast archives, and travel guides.
- Nonprofit & Community: NGO mission pages and interactive fitness forums.
Look, if this AI website builder stuff is eating up your dev hours, let me handle it. I’ve been wrestling with WordPress since the 4.x days, and I know exactly how to bridge the gap between AI prototypes and production-ready code.
Ship It Faster, But Ship It Right
The biggest “gotcha” with AI is thinking it’s a “set and forget” solution. It isn’t. You still need to audit for accessibility (Aria-labels), verify that your transients aren’t clogging up the DB, and ensure your wp_options table doesn’t balloon. Use the AI to build the walls, but hire an architect to check the foundation. If you’re ready to dive deeper, read my developer’s guide to AI workflows.
