AI website builders differ in how you make changes. Some let you click on any word and edit it. Others route most changes through the AI or a support team. Either can work. What matters is that you can see what changed, review it, and put it right if it’s wrong.
This checklist gives you things to try on any builder, including AgentsFast, which is made by DavidAgents, the publisher of this site. It doesn’t rank products. Each check is marked Everyone, or If it applies when it only matters for some businesses.
Before you start
- Use a trial or demo site, not your live one. If the vendor offers a free trial or a sample site, test there. If it only offers a guided walkthrough, ask to make the changes yourself while they watch.
- Bring real, public business details. Your actual hours, services and a few of your own photos show more than placeholder text. For any form you test, use made-up names and contact details you control. Keep real customer records out of the trial.
- Leave your domain alone. Don’t point your live domain at a trial site, change its settings or start a transfer while you’re testing.
- Have a phone handy. Check every change on a real phone as well as a computer.
- Note what you needed help with. Each time you ask the AI or support to do something, write it down, along with whether you could check the result.
Ten things to try
For each check, note what happened and whether you could do it and check it yourself. A builder doesn’t need to pass every one; what matters is whether it handles the changes your business makes.
1. Make the edits your business makes
Who should check this: Everyone
List the changes you actually make to your site: perhaps opening hours, contact details, a price, or a seasonal notice. Those are the edits worth testing, because you will make them again and again.
- Try this
- Make three or four of the edits on your list. Time each one, from opening the editor to seeing the result.
Good signs
- You can find what to change, by clicking on it, searching, or asking the AI
- Before anything goes live, you can see exactly what changed
- Text that appears in several places changes everywhere, or the tool shows you where else it appears
Warning signs
- A change touches parts of the page you didn’t ask about
- You can’t review a change before it goes live
- A small text edit breaks the layout around it
- Ask the vendor
- Which parts of the site can I edit directly, and which only through the AI or your support team? Can I review every change before it goes live?
2. Swap a photo and set its text alternative
Who should check this: Everyone
Photos go stale. People who use screen readers rely on text alternatives, and not every image needs the same treatment: an informative photo needs a short description of what it shows, a purely decorative image can be marked as decorative so it’s skipped, and an image used as a button or link should say what it does.
- Try this
- Replace an informative photo with one of your own, crop it, and write its text alternative. If the page has a purely decorative image, see whether you can mark it as decorative.
Good signs
- You can upload your own photo and choose how it’s cropped
- There is a clear place to write an image’s text alternative, and a way to mark an image as decorative
- The page still looks right on a phone after the swap
Warning signs
- There is no way to see or set text alternatives
- Every image gets the same generic description, with no way to change it
- A new photo stretches or breaks the layout
- Ask the vendor
- Where do I set an image’s text alternative, and can I mark an image as decorative? What image formats and sizes can I upload?
3. Add, change and remove a service
Who should check this: Everyone
What you offer changes. Adding a service, retiring one, or reordering them shouldn’t mean rebuilding a page.
- Try this
- Add a new service with a short description, then remove an old one and change the order.
Good signs
- Repeated items, like services or team members, are easy to add, remove and reorder
- New items match the style of the existing ones
- Removing an item doesn’t leave a gap or a broken link
Warning signs
- Every new item has to be styled by hand
- Removing an item breaks the page or leaves an empty box
- Menus or links to the old service keep pointing nowhere
- Ask the vendor
- How are lists like services, staff or locations stored, and how do I add to them?
4. Preview before you publish
Who should check this: Everyone
You need to see a change before your customers do, and know which version is live.
- Try this
- Make a change, preview it, then leave without publishing. Check the live site is unchanged. Then publish and check again.
Good signs
- There is a clear difference between a draft and the live site
- You can preview a phone-sized view as well as a desktop one
- You can see what is about to change before you publish
Warning signs
- Changes go live as you make them, with no draft
- It’s unclear whether you’re looking at the draft or the live site
- The preview looks different from the published page
- Ask the vendor
- Do edits go live immediately or after I publish? Can more than one draft exist at a time?
5. Make the text longer and check your phone
Who should check this: Everyone
A design that looks tidy with short placeholder text can fall apart when you add your real, longer wording. Many visitors will see it on a phone.
- Try this
- Replace a short heading with a long one and add two sentences to a short paragraph. Then check the page on a real phone, not only a desktop preview.
Good signs
- Text wraps neatly and nothing overlaps or gets cut off
- Buttons and menus still work with a thumb
- If something looks wrong on a phone, you can fix it
Warning signs
- Text spills out of its box or is hidden
- Fixing a phone layout problem changes the desktop layout in ways you can’t control
- You can’t see how a page looks on a phone until it’s live
- Ask the vendor
- How does the layout adapt to phones, and what can I adjust?
6. Undo a mistake and restore an earlier version
Who should check this: Everyone
Sooner or later, a mistake gets published. What matters is how quickly you can put it right.
- Try this
- Make two changes, undo one, then publish. Next, find a way back to the version from before your test.
Good signs
- Undo works while you edit
- You can see earlier published versions and restore one
- Before a restore, you can see what it will change
Warning signs
- There is no history of published versions
- You can’t tell what an undo or restore will change until it’s done
- A restore silently wipes unrelated edits
- Ask the vendor
- How far back can I restore, and does a restore include content, design, or both?
7. Check that your own edits survive the AI’s next change
Who should check this: If an AI will keep changing the site
If the AI keeps working on your site after launch, its next change shouldn’t quietly undo what you fixed by hand.
- Try this
- Edit a sentence yourself. Then ask the AI for a different change on the same page, such as adding a section. Check that your sentence is still there.
Good signs
- Changes that don’t touch your edit go through and leave it in place
- If a change does conflict with your edit, you can see what happened and get your version back
- You can still edit that part yourself afterwards
Warning signs
- Your edit is overwritten with no record and no way back
- After the AI’s change, that part can no longer be edited by hand
- You only find out from a customer
- Ask the vendor
- When the AI updates a page I have edited, what happens to my changes, and how would I recover them?
8. Hand the site to another person
Who should check this: If someone else helps with the site
A staff member, a family member or a freelancer may need to make changes without having your whole account.
- Try this
- If the plan allows it, invite a second person and check what they can and can’t do.
Good signs
- You can give someone access without sharing your password
- You can limit what they can change or publish
- You can remove their access in one step
Warning signs
- The only way to share is to give out your login
- Anyone with access can change billing or delete the site
- There is no record of who changed what
- Ask the vendor
- How many people can edit, what roles are there, and do extra people cost more?
9. Know what you could take with you
Who should check this: Everyone
Three different things can tie you to a platform: who controls your domain, whether you can get your content out, and whether the parts that make the site work, like its layout, forms and integrations, would work anywhere else.
- Try this
- Ask who controls the registrar account for your domain and which email address receives its notices. Find the content export and look at what it contains. Don’t transfer a live domain or change its settings as part of a trial.
Good signs
- You or your business controls the domain’s registrar account and contact email, or the vendor explains how you would take control
- You can export your text, images and form submissions in a format you can reuse
- The vendor says plainly what would stop working if you moved
Warning signs
- Nobody can tell you who controls your domain
- The only way to get your text and images out is copying by hand
- The vendor won’t say what happens to forms or integrations outside its platform
- Ask the vendor
- Who controls the registrar account for my domain? Are there limits or fees on transferring it? What can I export, and in what format? What stops working if I move?
10. Know what changes if you downgrade, cancel or miss a payment
Who should check this: Everyone
Some editing features may sit on higher plans. You should also know, before you rely on a site, what happens to it and to your content if your plan changes.
- Try this
- Read the plan comparison and the cancellation terms. Look for what happens if you cancel now compared with at the end of a term you’ve already paid for. Don’t actually cancel or change billing as part of a trial.
Good signs
- The plan comparison says which editing features each plan includes
- The effects of downgrading, cancelling and a failed payment are written down
- You get notice, and a way to export your content, before anything is removed
Warning signs
- You only find out a feature is paid when you try to use it
- The terms don’t say what happens to your site or content
- Nothing explains how or for how long you could export after cancelling
- Ask the vendor
- Which editing features are on each plan? What happens to my site and content if I downgrade, cancel now, cancel at the end of a paid term, or a payment fails? How long would I have to export?
Keep a simple record
One line per check is enough: what you tried, how you did it, how long it took, and anything that surprised you. If you compare two builders, run the same checks on both with the same content, and keep the notes side by side rather than turning them into a score. The checks that matter most to your business should weigh most.
Finishing a trial? Delete test pages and test form entries, remove anyone you invited, and check that nothing from the trial is published on your real domain.
What this checklist can’t tell you
It can’t tell you which builder is best. That depends on the edits your business makes, how often, and who makes them. It also doesn’t cover search performance or page speed, which need their own checks. It is a list of things to try and questions to ask; we haven’t compared specific builders in this guide.
For the AI receptionist side of the same decision, see our buyer checklist for AI receptionists.
Sources
- Images Tutorial, W3C Web Accessibility Initiative.
- FAQs for Domain Name Holders, ICANN.
Change log: October 2026, first version.