The poor old website is having a torrid time of it. Once the centre of everything digital, it’s been under siege from apps, and now faces a fresh assault from generative AI. A panel at NEXT25 discussed what future websites have — if any.

And the initial picture is bleak.

Imagine, if you will, going to work one day, and finding that 40% of your traffic is just gone. In effect, Regina Riegerbauer, Customer Growth & Impact Architect, Accenture Song, suggested that’s what’s happening now.

“That is the intention of these AI tools,” she said. “They want to keep you there with them, and not go on to websites. If you’re going to get any traffic, you have to be in the top five hits — and if you aren’t, you need to work on that.”

Is AI lying about your brand?

But AI chat environments are generative: they don’t just simply present what you put online, and that raises new threats.

“It’s also about how accurately you’re being presented,” she said. “You need to be thinking about this.”

Andreas Cappell, Artificial Intelligence & Product Innovation Lead, Accenture Song, agreed. “This is a trend we are seeing everywhere — we call it the great decoupling,” he said. ”You’re using ChatGPT all day — but only having brand contacts a few times a week.”

The bot-friendly website

So, will we be designing websites for machines? Will everything be driven by user intents and the need for those intents to be solved?

“Since AI is controlling the end-user experience, brands need to structure their content so it works for AIs on one hand, and humans on the other,” says Cappell. “AI requires clarity, keywords, structure, metadata — humans need emotional connection: tone, voice and trust. How the product fits their life. How they relate to it.”

“GenAI is only accelerating the intermediation we have been seeing: review sites, social media, comparison sites,” said Riegerbauer. “Users do not follow the linear flows we’re designed for them. We need to design for things that are more dip-in, dip-out.”

New models of digital interaction

The challenge, as Cosima Vogel, the founder of Productive AI, put it, is that this technology is moving faster than humans can. She suggested we start thinking in terms of an “Ask — Answer — Action” model.

“Rethink how we design digital experiences,” she said. “We now design a system that can answer any question at any moment with actionable triggers.“

And those questions might come via unexpected routes. New devices are shrinking the interface — she cited a Domino’s Pizza order via Alexa as an example, along with banking done via voice interactions. “What happens if we lose our screen, where we can communicate with our customers? How do we build meaningful interactions, then?”

The dual-layer website

Cappell brought our focus back to the machine/human duality: “The challenge is to create systems that offer deep personalisation for humans, but offer structured data for AI.”

In effect, our websites have two distinct audiences: our customer and the AIs they’re using as their agents. We have to solve both — and when you do, new opportunities emerge. Vogel cited the example of Perplexity building complete purchasing flows using PayPal with the chat environment.

“Are we really designing engaging experiences, or just describing the product?” says Cappell — a question every one should be asking themselves.

“We should be building relationships, that can be maintained over any interface,” said Vogel. “It’s more important than ever to build strong, emotional relationships.”

What AI lacks: connection

“If I were a brand, I’d be feeling very vulnerable,” said Riegerbauer. “GenAI is here whether we like it or not, and it will be woven into human experience. It is efficient — and people are looking for efficiency. But we’re also looking for connection and meaning-making. The website still has a role to play in that. We have Google, we have YouTube, but people still go to the website, for validation of company values or product details. There is joy in the pursuit and anticipation, for the human decision maker.”

In other words, brands need to stand out even more in the AI age. And you need to understand what your brand is to make great new experiences.

“What is the beating heart of your brand?” asked Riegerbauer. “If you claim that, you will make great brand experiences.”

“Customer loyalty is not a given, but must be earned,” agreed Cappell. “Trust must be proven to be right. That’s harder in a more transactional world.”

Personalisation in real-time

However, AI opens the door to more personalised experiences. If it sees a customer using one style of German, it can shift its output to match that. But you need to invest to get to that point — and not just in AI.

“You need to work on your tech stack,” said Cappell. “Make sure you’re getting the data you need.“

Why? Because you may well be creating content generatively, per user, per session. And you need the data to do that well.

The web of humans and the web of AI

The panel was in agreement that we are, in effect, evolving towards two parallel versions of the internet coexisting: the internet of humans, and the internet of machines.

“It’s going to happen in the near future,” said Vogel. “Start by making websites more readable for LLMs, and then develop towards having two parts of your internet presence, one for machines, one for people.“

A member of the audience suggested that the website’s role would become that of the double-check. Consumers will use AI to narrow the flood of information, and then head to brand websites, which are in the business of providing fact-checking and deepening the relationship. “The brand and the content is how we win,” they suggested.

“AI is fast, optimised and cheap,” agreed Riegerbauer. “It lacks connection, though. And human-made is becoming a premium product.”