#143 Being found is not enough any more - Your website has to be believed

In episode 62 of the 90-Day Website Mastery Podcast, Jonny Ross and Pascal Fintoni look at why getting found online is now only half the job.

AI tools are shortlisting businesses before buyers ever reach a website, and audiences increasingly doubt whether anything they see online is real. So your website now has to earn belief as well as visibility.

The episode opens with a question many business owners face after years with the same site: has the way you write a website specification changed in the AI era, and what should the brief include?

Jonny shares six essentials every website brief needs. Pascal explains why hiring a web agency should be the start of a long-term relationship rather than a one-off transaction.

Jonny and Pascal then react to Maria Greaves’ article for The Drum, “The ‘Renaissance of Real’: the new rules of marketing in the AI era”. They discuss how to keep your website authentic when the internet is flooded with AI-generated content.

They also share two time-saving tools, Ideogram and Gemini Scheduled Actions, and two website changes you can make today: a Key Takeaways box, and a return to the original spirit of blogging.

If you look after your organisation’s website, content or digital marketing, this episode will help you build trust with human visitors and with the AI systems that now decide who gets recommended.

❓ Has the Way You Write a Website Specification Changed in the AI Era?

This question came from one of Pascal’s mentoring clients, who is redesigning their website with an agency after many years.

• The fundamentals haven’t changed, but most website briefs are poor and leave plenty of room for things to go wrong.
• Don’t start with colours, fonts and what you dislike about the current site. Start with context: why you need a new website, what it must achieve, who you serve and what part it plays in the customer journey.
• Many visitors now arrive only after AI has shortlisted you. They land later in the buying journey and need to be convinced quickly.
• Build E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) into the brief: a detailed About section, FAQs, real proof and a blog that supports your credibility.
• Create your content plan before the design, so content shapes the layout instead of being squeezed in afterwards.
• Plan for two audiences. Human visitors need clear answers. AI bots need clearly labelled content, structured data and schema markup.
• Expect more from your agency: a simpler content management system, SEO and content strategy alongside the design, a clear project plan with checkpoints, and proper measurement from launch.
• Write a first draft of the specification yourself, without AI at this stage. Then ask the agency to point out the gaps. How they respond shows you how they work and what their culture is like.
• Treat the agency as a partner for the years ahead, so your website keeps pace with your market and your team.

Jonny’s six essentials for a website brief:

1. Purpose: business goals, KPIs and budget.
2. Evidence: analytics, Google Search Console and auditing.
3. Foundation: usability, accessibility, security and the CMS.
4. People: your customers, their needs and their journeys.
5. Content: pages, answers, proof and calls to action.
6. Delivery: scope, roles, migration from the old site and tracking.

❓ How Do You Keep Your Website Real When the Internet Is Flooded With AI Content?

Jonny and Pascal review The Drum’s recap of the Memories of Truth event. Its central message is that the battle for attention is over and the battle for belief has begun.

Pascal links it to feedback from his recent talk at an FSB conference in Newcastle upon Tyne, where delegates said they were tired of AI-made menus, flyers and social posts.

• Nearly 85% of people now question whether online content is real, yet AI plays a growing part in how they research purchases.
• Time pressure tempts businesses to rely on AI, which can quietly wear away the sense of “real” on a website.
• Trust has to be experienced. Mix written content with audio, video and imagery to create an experience on your website.
• Use real people, real stories and real numbers, including your founder’s “why” story and case studies that show results.
• Be ready to back up every figure. AI tools are now telling users to check whether the numbers a business quotes are true.
• Gen Z tends to assume content is AI-generated until proven otherwise, and ranks social media and forums among the least trusted channels.
• Embrace “perfect imperfections”. A phone snapshot in your About page or founder story builds more trust than a polished AI image, and AI imagery risks becoming the new stock photography.
• Using AI to edit a real photo is fine, for example to remove distracting signage. The rule is to always start with real content.
• Platforms are struggling too. LinkedIn now lets members flag posts they believe are AI-generated.

❓ Which Tools Can Help With Website Graphics and Content Research?

Ideogram (Jonny’s pick): https://ideogram.ai

• An AI image generator that renders text inside images cleanly.
• It enhances your prompt by working out what you are really asking for.
• Ideal for blog headers, social graphics and banners, and a good companion to Canva.
• Best used alongside real content, not instead of it.

Gemini Scheduled Actions (Pascal’s pick): https://gemini.google.com/scheduled

• Schedule a weekly news round-up from your shortlist of industry and customer news sources.
• Available in free and paid versions of Gemini, with similar features in other large language models.
• Name the themes you care about so you only receive relevant news, delivered when you want it (Pascal’s arrives every Friday afternoon).
• AI does the first round of research, and you stay editor-in-chief of your news curation content.

❓ What Quick Website Changes Will Build Trust With Readers and AI?

Jonny’s Call to Action:

• Add a Key Takeaways box to the top of your three to five most important or popular articles.
• It helps busy readers scan the page and gives AI search a clean passage to understand and quote. AI tends to skim, often reading just the beginning and end of a page.
• It’s a modern take on the classic public speaking advice: tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them.

Pascal’s Call to Action:

• Reclaim the original spirit of blogging. “Blog” comes from “web log”, meaning a journal.
• Once a month, write up your notes, observations, reflections and customer interactions in a relaxed, free-form style that captures your own voice.
• Use it alongside your planned content, not instead of it.
• First-hand insight like this is hard to copy, and it may well be what AI overviews choose to cite.

🔗 Resources Mentioned

• The ‘Renaissance of Real’: the new rules of marketing in the AI era (The Drum): https://www.thedrum.com/news/the-renaissance-of-real-the-new-rules-of-marketing-in-the-ai-era
• Ideogram: https://ideogram.ai
• Gemini Scheduled Actions: https://gemini.google.com/scheduled
• WebProud: The 5-Step Roadmap to Feeling Proud of Your Website Again! (available on Amazon)
• Book a discovery call with Jonny or Pascal: https://webproudmovement.com/

🎯 Key Takeaways (with timestamps)

00:19 – Welcome to episode 62: being found is not enough any more

01:12 – You Ask, We Answer: has writing a website specification changed in the AI era?

04:10 – Building E-E-A-T and trust into your website specification

08:41 – Draft it yourself, then ask the agency to find the gaps

09:31 – Jonny’s six essentials for a website brief

10:51 – Website Stories: The Drum’s ‘Renaissance of Real’ and growing AI fatigue

14:22 – Trust has to be experienced: real people, real stories, real numbers

18:14 – Is AI content the new stock photography? The case for perfect imperfections

21:46 – Website Engine Room: Ideogram for AI images with clean text

23:16 – Website Engine Room: Gemini Scheduled Actions for weekly news curation

26:06 – Website Call To Action: add a Key Takeaways box

28:05 – Website Call To Action: Reclaiming the original spirit of blogging

30:28 – Final reflections: authenticity, experience and the WebProud movement

🔎 SEO Keywords & Tags:

🔎 Primary Keywords:

how to write a website brief, website specification document, website redesign with an agency, building trust on your website, E-E-A-T website content, AI search visibility, authentic content marketing, AI-generated content and trust

🔎 Secondary Keywords & Tags:

choosing a web design agency, website brief in the AI era, website credibility signals, Ideogram AI image generator, Gemini Scheduled Actions, AI news curation, key takeaways box SEO, AI overviews citations, original spirit of blogging, business blogging for SMEs

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• Jonny Ross
• Pascal Fintoni

About the Hosts

Jonny Ross is a leading digital marketing consultant and SEO strategist with decades of experience helping businesses transform their online presence.

Pascal Fintoni is a digital skills trainer and video marketing expert, known for making complex tech topics accessible and actionable.