Brief your assistant before it writes code
TL;DR
Before your agent writes any code, give it four things: what you sell and to whom, the single action a visitor must take, three concrete proofs, and your practical details. Where you have no answer yet, ask for a labelled placeholder instead of a plausible invention.
Why the first message decides the site
An assistant will never tell you your brief is too thin. It will fill the gaps, and it fills them well: the result reads smoothly, looks finished, and is about nobody in particular. That is the whole problem. Fluent output hides a missing brief instead of exposing it.
Everything that makes a site convincing comes from you: what you actually do, who you do it for, what proves it. The assistant supplies structure, layout and language. It cannot supply facts it was never given.
The four answers to have ready
- What you sell exactly, and to whom. One line, in plain words. "Physiotherapy for runners and cyclists, in Ghent" beats "wellness solutions for an active lifestyle".
- The single action a visitor must take: call, book, write, buy. One, not three. Everything on the page will pull towards it.
- Three concrete proofs: years in business, named references, numbers, certifications, real reviews. Anything a competitor could not copy word for word.
- The practical facts: opening hours, address, phone, service area. These feed the contact block, the structured data and the local search results.
If you can answer those four in a single message, your agent has more than most briefs ever carry.
Let it interview you
You do not have to write a document. Ask the assistant to interview you first, one question at a time, and to hold off on code until it has the answers. It will ask better questions than a blank page does, and you answer them the way you would answer a client on the phone.
On SayLive this is what the briefing skill does: your agent loads it, asks its questions, and only then starts building. Ask for it by name if it does not think of it: "load the showcase brief skill before you start". The docs explain how the connector gets there.
When you do not have the answers yet
Sometimes you want to see a direction before you gather the real content, or show a prospect what a page could look like. That is legitimate. What is not is letting the assistant invent the missing parts.
A made-up client name, a made-up review, a made-up number: each one reads as true, sets a quality bar that the real content will have to match, and someone always forgets to replace it. Sites go live with invented testimonials this way.
- Ask for bracketed slots you can see from across the room: [Coach's name], [year founded]
- Have prices and figures marked as examples, in the page itself
- Have proof blocks visibly labelled as sample content, not styled to look real
- Ask the agent to end its delivery with the list of everything left to replace
A brief that fits in one message
If you would rather write it yourself, this shape works: the business in one line, the visitor in one line, the one action, three proofs, the practical details, and anything you already know you do not want.
That last part matters more than people expect. "No stock photos of people shaking hands", "no carousel", "do not call us a leader in anything" saves an entire revision round. It is also the fastest way to avoid the look every generated site shares.
With the brief settled, the next decision is what goes where: the page order that converts is the guide that follows this one.
Say this
"Before you write any code, interview me one question at a time until you know what I sell and to whom, the single action a visitor should take, three concrete proofs, and my practical details. Do not invent anything I have not given you."
Questions fréquentes
How do I brief an AI to build my website?
Give it four things before it writes code: what you sell and to whom in one line, the single action a visitor should take, three concrete proofs such as numbers or named references, and your practical details (hours, address, phone, area). Ask it to interview you one question at a time rather than guess.
What if I do not have the content yet?
Ask for labelled placeholders rather than invented content: bracketed slots, prices marked as examples, proof blocks visibly flagged as samples, and a list at the end of everything to replace. An invented name or review reads as true and tends to survive to publication.
How long should the brief be?
One message is usually enough. Depth matters more than length: one precise line about who your visitor is beats three paragraphs of adjectives about your company.