AI tools for creating websites are everywhere now, and I get why people use them. They’re easy, obtainable, and can give you a pretty convincing first pass without spending hours staring at a blank screen.
For plenty of people, it’s the “cheap and dirty” way to get started. No shame there.
What I keep noticing, though, is how often the exact same patterns show up across AI web designs. After a while, you can almost go down the page thinking, that’s AI…that’s AI…yep, that too.
That first version can absolutely give you something to work with. I just wouldn’t settle for whatever AI first gave you, swap the colors, and send it on its way.
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I’d still want another set of eyes on it before it goes to a client or developer, because there are a few AI tells I’m seeing all the time.
#1 Vanilla branding
This is probably the biggest one for me. AI definitely defaults to a certain look. Usually very clean, basic, and template-y.
I’ve looked at sites like this where everything is technically “there.” Hero, services, cards, CTAs, testimonials. You scroll through and think, okay, it’s fine. Then you try to work out what specifically belongs to that business and there isn’t much to grab onto.
When I review a design, I want to see the client coming through.
The fonts, imagery, layout, smaller supporting details, and overall style should all tie back to who they are, who they’re speaking to, and their main offer. Even something as simple as replacing a generic hero video with a candid photo can make the whole thing feel more welcoming and personal.
#2 Rounded Corners Everywhere
AI really likes rounded corners, and you’ll see it on almost every element, from images to cards. Pill-shaped subheads fall into this too. And sometimes, those little pills look like buttons, so now you’ve got a label that looks clickable but doesn’t do anything.
(I actually like using eyebrow text, which is annoying, because now a rounded pill immediately feels like something AI would do.)
I’d scale those details instead. A bigger object can carry a bigger corner radius. A smaller button can be tighter. It gives the page more balance and stops every component from looking the same.
#3 Sans-Serif fonts… Again
For some reason, AI seems to think there are only two font options on the internet.
You either get:
- A very basic sans-serif
- Playfair Display paired with a very basic sans-serif.
And I have nothing against Playfair Display! It’s a perfectly good font. But when you see that pairing over and over, it becomes another one of those instant giveaways. More importantly, it doesn’t give you much in terms of brand personality.
If I were reviewing the design, I’d want to know what the typography is supposed to be saying about the business. Fun? Professional? Playful? Established? A little bolder? Those decisions should feed into the font choice.
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#4 The Gradient Blob & The Left-Border Card
What is AI’s obsession with the gradient blob? Soft, out-of-focus color around the hero, usually sitting behind the headline or fading in from one side. The first few times, sure, it looks nice. Then you start recognizing it across every single AI web design out there.
I’d rather use that space to bring something from the actual brand into the page: a pattern, graphic, illustration, photography style, or another visual element with a reason behind it.
And while we’re here: that rounded card with a little border down the left side? I don’t know what it is about that combination, but I see it all the time in AI layouts. I’m not taking left borders away from anybody. I’d just want to know why it’s there.
#5 Everything Competing for Attention
AI tends to throw everything onto the page all at once: three calls to action in the hero, icons everywhere, cards with equal emphasis, another big CTA underneath.
It becomes that question of, what are you actually wanting the user to do? If every heading, card, button, and section has the same weight, you’re not guiding the person anywhere.
You’re just presenting all the options and hoping they pick the right one.
For me, hierarchy starts with the journey. Someone lands on the homepage, now where are we trying to lead them? Every website has one or two things we really want people to do: book a call, download a guide, get on an email list.
Heading sizes should follow a consistent cascading scale, the primary CTA should stand out, secondary actions should sit back, and icons should stay supportive rather than distracting.
I wrote more about the little things I catch in design reviews in Confessions of a Web Design Consultant (My Favorite Fixes).
#6 Spacing & Balance Look Off
Spacing is one of those things AI can get almost right, which is sometimes more annoying than getting it completely wrong.
At first, the design looks alright. Then you notice one section has too much room, the next one feels cramped, the cards are sitting a little too close together, and a heading is floating somewhere it probably shouldn’t be.
Or maybe there are neat cards in one row and then one random card hanging out underneath by itself. From a balance perspective, that kind of thing bugs me immediately.
That’s why I’d clean up the spacing, widths, alignment, and card layout before sending it anywhere. Small fixes here can make the whole page feel much more intentional.
#7 Clickable-Looking Things That Don’t Click
This one came up when I was looking through an AI-built site recently: I hovered over a card and the whole thing floated up. Naturally, I went to click it. Nothing.
From a design perspective, that hover animation is giving me a signal. Buttons animate on hover because they’re clickable. If an entire card moves when my mouse goes over it, I’m expecting the same thing from the card. That kind of thing can really mislead users.
During a design review, I’d get rid of hover effects anywhere they’re sending the wrong message. Keep them on buttons or cards that genuinely link somewhere.
#8 Mobile Makes Things Weird
A wide desktop layout gives AI plenty of room to make everything look good.
But then you try it on mobile, and the headlines become huge blocks of text, layouts stack strangely, cards go on forever, image crops stop working, and spacing that felt fine on desktop now takes up half the screen.
That’s something I’d be checking before the design gets handed over for development, because otherwise your developer ends up making all those decisions during the build.
I’m looking at how the content needs to reorder, what happens to the type scale, where the buttons land, whether the images still look good and how much scrolling we’re asking someone to do.
#9 No Consideration for Accessibility
I’ve seen AI designs with color combinations that are really hard on the eyes: light text against a light background, CTA buttons disappearing into the section behind them, or tiny text sitting inside a huge banner.
Those choices carry over into development if nobody catches them.
And if AI is outputting the code too, I’d also want to check the semantic HTML, heading structure, alt tags, and everything else that supports SEO and accessibility. It often doesn’t handle those properly.
You can read Accessible Web Design: It’s About More Than Big Buttons for more on this.
Your Best Bet? Get a Web Design Consultant To Review Everything
If you’ve got an AI web design that’s close, but not quite ready, I can review it before you spend hours turning small design problems into bigger development problems.
I’ll go through the design and look at things like:
- Visual hierarchy
- Section order
- Spacing and alignment
- Typography
- Button styles
- CTA priority
- Brand fit
- Accessibility
- Mobile behavior
- Color contrast
- Image direction
- Component consistency
- Whether the design has enough structure behind it
You’ll get a recorded Loom walkthrough and a punch list of changes to make. So instead of staring at the design thinking, “I know something is off, but I can’t tell what,” you’ll know exactly what to change.
Want a Professional Web Design Review Before You Build?
There’s nothing wrong with using AI web designs to get started. Just don’t send the first version straight to a client and hope nobody notices the telltale signs.
Reach out, and I’ll help you catch and fix them first.
