AI-First Websites and Search: Escaping WordPress and Google and What Wins Now
AI is not just changing search. It is changing how websites are built. In this Milford Regional Chamber of Commerce Lunch and Learn, I explain why the WordPress era shaped the modern web and why it is now holding businesses back.
By Michael Baker ยท
AI is not just changing search. It is changing how websites are built.
In this Milford Regional Chamber of Commerce Lunch and Learn, I explain why the WordPress era shaped the modern web and why it is now holding businesses back. Platforms like WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace were built for page publishing and customization. Over time, they became constrained in opposite ways. Some are locked down and inflexible. Others rely on heavy plugin and theme workflows with too many moving parts.
Most modern CMS websites are simply software with a "paint job".
I break down why AI systems struggle to understand CMS driven sites and why page based SEO is no longer the winning strategy. AI first systems replace the page, plugin, and theme model with structure and clarity.
I walk through how I use tools like Replit + Claude Code, 25+ years of web design and pure magic to enable AI native websites that are built through conversation and ideation instead of manual configuration. These systems are faster to build, look much nicer, load much faster, easier to maintain, and easier for AI systems to understand and trust.
Key Moments:
- 00:00:00 - The Shift to AI-First Websites and Search
- 00:02:19 - The New Old Internet: The WordPress Era Lives On
- 00:03:17 - How AI-First Websites Look and Function Now
- 00:04:16 - How We Got Here
- 00:04:59 - Old Search Was Easily Manipulated
- 00:06:00 - Zero Click AI Search and the Website as a Signal
- 00:08:28 - AI as My Hopeful CMS Helper
- 00:10:12 - Coding a WordPress Plugin: Dev vs ChatGPT vs Full AI Build
- 00:11:42 - AI-Native Software and the Rise of Vibe Coding
- 00:14:54 - Maintenance Simplified, Not Eliminated
- 00:15:30 - Be The Answer
- 00:16:56 - What Actually Wins Now
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