Playbook · From Episode 005

Why AI-Built Websites All Look the Same (and How to Fix It)

It is not the model's fault. It is what you did not give it.

Ian KilpatrickAlec Saluga By Ian Kilpatrick, with Alec Saluga · Updated Jul 2026
The short answer

AI-built websites look the same because models are trained on certain design aesthetics and fall back on them when you give them nothing else to work from. The tells are consistent: constrained max-width, heavy rounded corners, and text filling space where imagery should be. The fix is context, not a better prompt.

Key takeaways

Why do AI-built websites all look the same?

You have seen it. The centered column, the soft rounded corners, the three feature cards, the gradient nobody asked for. Different tools, different prompts, same website.

Ian Kilpatrick built a bakery site live on Session 005 and named the cause while it was happening. Models are trained on certain design aesthetics, and when you give them nothing to work from, they fall back on what they were trained on. The template is not a feature anyone shipped. It is the average of everything the model has seen.

The second half of his diagnosis is the part people miss: AI is very good at making something look finished without any imagery at all. It will fill the space convincingly. That is exactly why the result reads as generic, and why you stop noticing what is missing.

“So AI has templates... that they don't mean to, but they're just kinda trained on certain design... aesthetics.”

Ian Kilpatrick · 31:24

What are the tells?

Ian's list came out of watching his own first pass. The layout defaults to a constrained max-width. Corners are rounded, sometimes heavily. Imagery sits below the fold or does not exist, because the model filled the hero with text instead.

He is honest that some of it works. For a bakery, rounded corners were fine. The problem is not that the defaults are ugly. The problem is that they are the same defaults everyone else is shipping this week.

The tellWhat to ask for instead
A constrained max-width columnFull width, at least for hero images
Heavy rounded corners on everythingCorner treatment that matches the brand, not the default
Text filling space where an image belongsReal imagery you supply, placed high
Punchy headlines and calls to action everywhereFine, if the copy is actually yours

How do you break out of the template?

Give it more context, not a better adjective. Screenshots of sites you actually like, real imagery, and specific direction about what you do not like.

Alec Saluga demonstrated the same principle on logos in the same session, and the before-and-after was blunt. Without a real prompt he was getting garbage he could not use. Then he pasted in a saved skill file, which is nothing more exotic than a prompt saved in a markdown file, and called the difference night and day.

Same lesson, two mediums: the model was never the constraint. The context was.

“if you can break out of it, give it a lot of training, a lot of guidance, then you can actually make it your own and nobody will even know that you AI coded it, Vibe coded it.”

Ian Kilpatrick · 31:24

Do you need design experience to do this?

It helps, and it is worth being straight about that rather than pretending the tool erases the skill. Ian's ability to look at a page and say what is wrong comes from about 20 years of web design and knowing how CSS collapses.

But the useful part is that you do not need to know how to fix it. You need to notice that something is off and say so in plain language. Take a screenshot of the area you do not like, hand it back, and say you do not like it. That is the whole interaction.

The second pass is where the work is. Almost nobody does it, which is why almost every AI-built site still looks like an AI-built site.

The repeatable order of operations

If you take one thing, take the sequence. It works because each phase feeds the next.

  1. Find a site you actually admire

    Start from inspiration rather than a blank prompt. Alec's framing is the right guardrail: you are not stealing anything or ripping it off, you are avoiding starting from a complete zero. National brands are a good hunting ground because they have already spent real money working out what converts.

    Start with Behance

  2. Capture the entire page as one screenshot

    Not a crop of the header. The whole page, top to bottom, in a single image, so the model sees the rhythm, the spacing, and where imagery sits. This is one browser extension and one click, and it is the highest-leverage thirty seconds in the process.

    Start with Fireshot

  3. Feed the screenshot in as context before you build

    Give the builder the image along with your brief. This is the step that decides whether you get the template or something of your own, and it happens before a single line is generated.

    Start with Lovable

  4. Expect the first pass to look templated

    It will. Ian's first pass did, on camera, and he had every advantage. Do not judge the tool here and do not start over. The first pass is a draft that exists so you have something specific to react to.

  5. Second pass: give it imagery and name what is wrong

    This is the pass that matters. Supply real images and ask for specific placement, like a full-width hero. Screenshot anything you dislike, hand it back, and say so in plain language. Ian's example: he asked for a big hero image of a warm cinnamon bun, with text over the top, to make it feel real.

    Start with OpenClaw

  6. Save the direction that worked as a reusable prompt

    Once you have direction that produces output you like, save it. Alec keeps a small library of these skill files, one per niche and task, so the good result is repeatable instead of a thing he re-earns every time.

    Start with Higgsfield

Frequently asked questions

Why do AI-generated websites all look the same?

Because models are trained on certain design aesthetics and fall back on them when you give them no direction. As Ian Kilpatrick put it on Session 005, AI has templates it does not mean to have. It is also very good at making a page look finished without any imagery, which is why the results read as generic.

How do you make an AI-built website not look AI-built?

Give it context instead of adjectives. Screenshot a full page you admire and feed it in before you build, expect the first pass to look templated, then do a second pass supplying real imagery and specific direction. Ian's claim is that if you break out of the template, nobody will even know you built it with AI.

What are the signs a website was built with AI?

A constrained max-width column, heavy rounded corners on everything, text filling space where a hero image should be, and punchy headlines with calls to action everywhere. None of these are bad on their own; they are just the defaults everyone is shipping.

Is it the AI model's fault?

No. Both examples in Session 005 point the other way. Ian's site looked generic until he supplied imagery and direction. Alec's logos were garbage until he pasted in a saved prompt, after which he called the difference night and day. The model was never the constraint.

Do you need to be a designer?

It helps. Ian's eye comes from about 20 years of web design. But you do not need to know how to fix anything: you need to notice something is off, screenshot it, and say so in plain language. The tool does the fixing.

What is a skill file?

A prompt saved in a markdown file, and nothing more complicated than that. Alec Saluga keeps a library of them, one per task or niche, so a result that worked once can be reused instead of re-earned every time.

Tools used in this post

Every tool here has its own page with pricing, who used it live, and honest alternatives.

FireshotOpenClawClaude (Anthropic)ChatGPTLovableHiggsfieldBehanceMidjourneyWispr Flow

Where this came from

Episode 005 · Recorded live
Three bakery businesses built with AI in one hour.
Show notes →
6:01 Alecwe don't wanna steal something from anyone. We don't wanna directly rip anything off, but it's great to get inspiration so we're not starting from a complete... zero.
7:50 Alecnow I can capture the entire page here. So this'll go, and it'll take a, a big screenshot of everything on this site.
23:45 AlecI didn't really give it much of a prompt, and I was getting just garbage.
23:45 Alecall a skill file really is is it's a prompt. It's, it's just a prompt saved in a... MD file.
31:24 Ianif you don't give them imagery, they're really good at making stuff look good without actually using imagery. But you'll start to recognize, oh, that's... a standard template.
31:24 IanSo AI has templates... that they don't mean to, but they're just kinda trained on certain design... aesthetics.
31:24 IanSo what you have to do is start to give it other... screenshots of other sites you like or styles and designs to kinda help guide it in the direction you want it to go.
31:24 Ianfirst pass will always look roughly like this. Second pass is when you really wanna start to refine it and give it more imagery
31:24 IanI like to go full width or at least for hero images.
31:24 Ianif you can break out of it, give it a lot of training, a lot of guidance, then you can actually make it your own and nobody will even know that you AI coded it, Vibe coded it.
35:09 Iana lot of the stuff... that I do is, comes from like 20 something years of like web design
35:09 Ianonce you get in there, you can really just start to even talk to it in, in plain language

Who wrote this

Every AI4NTP post is written by an operator who was in the room when the work happened.

Ian Kilpatrick
Ian KilpatrickLinkedIn →
Partner at AI4NTP

A designer, developer, and serial entrepreneur writing code since age 10. He has worked with Disney, the Golden Globes, and the AMAs, and now runs a fleet of AI agents doing real work every day.

Alec Saluga
Alec SalugaLinkedIn →
Partner at AI4NTP

A former B2B salesman with no technical background who self-taught AI. He builds and deploys AI-driven marketing and websites, and has grown a following of over 15,000 teaching AI adoption.

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Last updated 2026-07-15