How Can You Tell If Website Content Sounds AI-Generated?
Spot generic, vague or unsupported website writing without relying on AI detectors, and revise it into useful, specific business content.
Part of our guide: How to Use AI for Website Content Without Losing Trust or Quality
You cannot reliably establish who wrote a page simply from its style. Human writers can sound formulaic, and AI-assisted copy can be carefully edited and useful.
What you can assess is whether the content answers the question, reflects the real business and supports its claims.
Look for missing substance
Common weaknesses include broad statements that could describe any business, repeated promises without evidence and paragraphs that restate the heading.
A page may call a service “innovative”, “seamless” and “tailored” without explaining what happens, who it suits or what the customer needs to provide. The problem is the missing information, regardless of the author.
Try removing the company name. If the page could belong to almost any competitor, it probably needs more specific detail.
Thinking about your own rebuild?
Tell us about your business, your current website and what you would like to improve. We will help you work out the next step.
Repetition can hide an unanswered question
Some drafts introduce an idea, summarise it, list its benefits and conclude by repeating it without adding anything new.
Ask what each section contributes. Does it answer a different customer question? Does it provide an example, condition or useful next step? If it adds no information, shorten or remove it.
Repeated sentence patterns are an editing clue, not proof that a model wrote the text.
Check polished claims especially carefully
Confident specificity can be just as problematic as vague language. A precise statistic, testimonial or qualification needs evidence.
Ask where the claim came from and whether it applies to this business. If no source exists, do not preserve it merely because it makes the page sound authoritative.
The guides to AI hallucinations and fact-checking generated content explain how plausible detail can become a factual error.
Do not use a detector score as a verdict
A classifier’s score is not a record of the writing process. It cannot substitute for drafts, source notes, author discussion and editorial review.
Avoid accusing a writer or rejecting accurate work solely because a tool labels it AI-generated. Similarly, a low detector score does not prove originality, accuracy or permission to use the material.
If provenance matters, agree a disclosure and evidence process with the writer before the work begins. Keep the review focused on the requirements you actually commissioned.
Replace generalities with operational detail
Take the sentence: “Our dedicated team delivers bespoke solutions with exceptional customer service.”
A more useful passage might explain who answers the enquiry, what information they need, how suitability is assessed and what the customer receives next. Use the real process rather than inventing one to improve the prose.
Specificity can come from:
- A service limitation.
- A genuine customer question.
- A preparation step.
- A real example with permission.
- An explanation of a common trade-off.
- The reason a recommendation changes in different circumstances.
These details help readers decide whether to contact the business.
Preserve a natural voice without manufacturing quirks
Adding slang, deliberate mistakes or random personal anecdotes is not a sound editing strategy. It can make the business less clear or create a false impression of experience.
Use approved examples of how the team speaks to customers. Vary sentence length where it aids reading, explain terms and remove phrases that nobody in the business would naturally use.
The tone-of-voice guide gives a practical method for capturing those decisions.
Test the page with a real task
Ask a colleague to find out whether a service covers a particular need, what the next step involves and what evidence supports the business’s claims.
Revise the page where they cannot find an answer.
Check headings and calls to action too. A clear body paragraph cannot compensate for a confusing page purpose or a hidden enquiry route.
What should an editor approve?
Approve a page because it is accurate, specific, readable and appropriate for its audience. Record important sources and who reviewed the business facts.
AI assistance can be part of that process, as can conventional writing tools. Accountability remains with the people publishing the website.
Read how to use AI without losing trust and improve old website content, or contact AfterWorks to review pages that feel generic.
