Teaching AI what your competitors do right

You teach AI what your competitors do right by naming the specific things that work on their sites and describing those things in your own words. Don't paste their text or say "make it like theirs." Say "I want a headline that states what we do in one line, a single button near the top, and prices people can see without asking." The AI can build from details like that. It can't build from a vague feeling.

Here's how to do it, even if you've never touched a line of code and the word "SEO" (the work of helping your site show up in search results) still feels fuzzy.

What should you look for on a competitor's website?

Pick two or three businesses that sell what you sell, ideally ones you'd hesitate to lose a customer to. Open each site on your phone first, since that's where many visitors will land. Then ask the same handful of questions of every site:

• Can I tell what they do in five seconds? Look at the first headline. Does it say plainly what they offer and who it's for?
• What's the one thing they want me to do? Call, book, buy, or request a quote. Note where that button sits and what words are on it.
• Can I find the price, or at least how pricing works? Sites that explain cost tend to feel more trustworthy.
• What proof do they show? Reviews, photos of real work, names of places they serve.
• How easy is it to get in touch? Count the clicks from the home page to a phone number or contact form.
• Does it load quickly and read cleanly on a phone? Tiny text and slow pages are things you want to avoid.

Write down a short note for each one, such as "Competitor A: headline says exactly what they do, booking button at the top and bottom." If you want a more objective read, the free website grader scores an existing site, so you can check how a page holds up and see where yours stands too.

How do you describe what you found to an AI builder?

AI website builders work from descriptions. The clearer and more specific the description, the closer the first draft lands. A useful pattern is three parts: what you noticed, why it works, and what you want on your own site.

"I noticed that a competitor opens with one sentence that says what they do and where. I want the same kind of opening for my dog grooming business in Tulsa. Put one button right under it that says Book a groom. Show my prices in a simple list further down, and put three customer reviews right above the contact section."

That works because it gives the AI structure (what goes where) and leaves the content (your services, your town, your reviews) for you to supply. The structure is what's worth borrowing. Layout ideas, page order, and a clear next step aren't owned by anyone.

A few phrases that tend to help when you write your description:

• "Put the most important thing first, above anything else on the page."
• "Keep it to one main button per page."
• "Explain it the way I'd explain it to a neighbor, no industry jargon."
• "Add a short section answering the questions customers ask me most."

Tools like SimplePath are built around this idea: you describe the site you want, and it builds it. That makes your description the whole job, so it's worth spending ten minutes getting it right.

What shouldn't you copy from competitors?

Don't copy words, photos, or logos. There are two practical reasons beyond fairness. First, search engines like Google tend to favor pages that say something original, so a site made of recycled wording has a harder time getting found. Second, if you sound like everybody else, a visitor has no reason to pick you.

Instead, look for the gap. If every competitor hides prices, showing yours is an advantage. If they all use stock photos, a few real pictures of your work will stand out. If their pages are full of technical terms, plain language wins. Add one line to your description for each gap you spot, such as "Competitors don't show prices, so I want mine up front."

How do you check that the AI got it right?

Read the first draft like a stranger would. Can you tell what the business does in five seconds? Is the next step obvious? Does it look fine on a phone? Then change one thing at a time. Asking for five changes at once makes it hard to tell which one helped, while "make the headline shorter and move the button up" is easy to check.

If you're deciding which kind of site to build, what SimplePath can build covers sites, stores, blogs, and member areas, and the comparison page shows how it stacks up against other builders.

Your next step

Open two competitor sites right now and write down three things each one does well, using the checklist above. Then turn those notes into a short description in your own words and use it as your first request. Have a question along the way? Get in touch and we'll point you the right way.