How to Build a Simple Website with AI

You can describe a simple website in ChatGPT, inspect the first version and ask for changes in ordinary language. With ChatGPT Sites, an eligible account can also host the finished site without a separate hosting setup.

This walkthrough uses a fictional houseplant club page. It is a small information site: no payments, member accounts or contact forms. You will describe the page, review a saved version and decide whether to publish it.

What you need—and what may cost money

Use ChatGPT in a desktop browser or the desktop app, with an account that can create Sites. A laptop or desktop makes it easier to inspect the page and compare changes.

OpenAI currently includes Sites with eligible ChatGPT plans during its public beta. Access depends on the plan, region and workspace settings. Check the current plan information and confirm that Sites is available in your account before paying for access.

A general ChatGPT conversation is not proof that you have the Sites building or publishing feature. Usage limits also apply; do not assume unlimited site creation or hosting.

For this route:

• Use the site address provided by Sites.
• You do not need to buy a custom domain or arrange a separate host for the practice project.
• A custom domain is optional. It requires owning a domain and may involve a separate registration cost.
• External AI accounts and subscriptions are separate from your My AI Lessons course purchase.

The steps below describe the documented workflow. The club, its wording and the prompts are teaching examples, not a claim that this example has already been built or published.

1. Give the page one clear purpose

Start with a page someone could understand in a few seconds.

For our example, the purpose is: give new houseplant owners three simple reminders.

We will use:

1. A short welcome.
2. Three plant-care reminders.
3. A note explaining that this is a fictional practice project.

There is no real club to join and no address to invent. Keeping the project small makes it easier to check what AI creates.

Learn to give ChatGPT a clear task.

2. Describe the website and ask for a preview

Open ChatGPT on the web or in the desktop app. Open Sites if it is shown, or mention @Sites in a prompt asking for a website.

Copy this example:

@Sites Build a one-page website for a fictional houseplant club
called Windowsill Club.

Purpose: give new houseplant owners three simple reminders.
Audience: adults who are new to keeping houseplants.

Use this content:

Welcome heading: A little help for your houseplants
Welcome text: Three simple reminders for looking after the
plants on your windowsill.

Reminder 1: Check the plant's care instructions.
Different plants need different light and watering.

Reminder 2: Check the soil before watering.
Use the care instructions to decide whether the plant needs water.

Reminder 3: Make a simple routine.
Choose a regular time to check your plants.

About this page: Windowsill Club is a fictional practice project,
not a real organization.

Use readable text, a light background and simple green accents.
Make it work on a narrow phone screen.
A "See the reminders" link should lead to the reminder section.

Do not add forms, payments, sign-in, tracking scripts, external
services, addresses, events, testimonials or extra factual claims.

Prepare a version I can review. Do not deploy or publish it.
Explain how I can open the preview.

You have supplied the content and the purpose. ChatGPT has room to arrange the page without making up an organization.

OpenAI documents this describe, review and refine approach in its site creation guide.

3. Understand what you are looking at

A website can exist in several states:

In a web-based Sites workflow, you may review a prepared version without running anything on your own computer.

OpenAI states that a Sites deployment URL is a production deployment. A deployed site can still have restricted access, but do not mistake its address for a purely local preview.

If you are unsure, ask:

Is this a local preview, a saved version or a deployed site?
Tell me which state it is in and who can access it.
Do not change its access or deploy anything.

4. Check the first version

Open the preview and use the page as a visitor would.

• Read every heading and paragraph. Does the text match the content you supplied?
• Select “See the reminders.” Does it reach the intended section?
• Make the browser window narrow. Can you read the page without sideways scrolling?
• Check whether text is too small or has poor contrast.
• Look for extra sections, invented contact details or non-working buttons.

A nice-looking screenshot does not establish that links work. Click them.

If a problem appears, learn to understand an unfamiliar error message.

You do not need to approve every design choice immediately. Identify the change that would make the page most useful.

5. Request one focused change

For example:

Make the reminder text easier to read on a phone.
Increase the text size and space between the three reminders.
Keep all wording unchanged.
Do not deploy or publish the revision.
Show me the updated preview.

Or:

The "See the reminders" link does not reach the reminder section.
Fix that link only. Keep the text and appearance unchanged.
Show me how to check the fix without deploying it.

Review the new version and recheck the thing you changed. Also look for unintended changes elsewhere.

When you have a version you want to keep:

Save this version for review without deploying it.
Tell me how to return to it.

Sites distinguishes saving a version from deploying it. You can read about the two stages in OpenAI's site management documentation.

6. Publish only when you want a hosted website

Publishing is optional for this practice. A reviewed preview is already useful progress.

When you do want to share the page, reopen it in Sites. Review the content and the available audience settings. Public publishing must be supported and enabled for your account or workspace.

You can ask:

I want to publish the reviewed version of Windowsill Club.
Before publishing, identify the saved version and explain the
audience options available for this site.

I want a public information page with no visitor sign-in or forms.
Tell me if my account or workspace cannot support that.
Do not publish until I confirm the version and audience.

After confirming, complete the publishing steps shown in your account. Do not treat a conversational promise as confirmation of success: look for the reported deployment result and open the resulting site.

Check the link as an intended visitor, ideally in a separate signed-out browser window for a page meant to be public. Confirm that it opens and that the link and phone layout still work.

If public publishing is unavailable, keep the saved version. Do not describe a local preview, screenshot or conversation-sharing link as the finished public site.

OpenAI explains audience settings and visitor checks in its publishing guide.

Common mistakes

Starting with a complicated application. A single information page gives you fewer things to check.

Requesting “make it better.” Name the problem: unreadable text, a missing section or a link that goes nowhere.

Assuming AI checked everything. Inspect the wording and try the interactions yourself.

Adding a contact form that goes nowhere. A form needs real submission handling. Leave it out of this first project.

Sharing the wrong address. A local address works on the relevant computer, not as a general public link.

Assuming future changes are automatically live. Review the revision and confirm which version has actually been deployed.

You can find other manageable projects in our practical AI guides.