Copy for a services page now takes a minute to write. That is true, and it is good news: small business owners used to put off filling their site for months, simply because they did not know where to start.
The bad news is elsewhere. Text that reads smoothly and text that works for you are two different things. And grammar is not what needs checking - grammar is the one part the model gets right.
Here is what I look at when a client sends me finished copy and asks me to put it on the site.
Check one: facts that never existed
A language model builds plausible text, not verified text. That is how it works, not a fault in it.
In practice, website copy regularly grows: prices you do not charge, deadlines you never promised, guarantees you do not give, a service list with two lines you do not actually offer. It all sounds natural, because that is how your competitors write.
Numbers and promises are the most dangerous part. “Response within 2 hours” looks solid in a paragraph, and turns a month later into a complaint from a customer who waited two hours.
Read your copy as a contract rather than an advert: every statement is one you have to stand behind.
Check two: outdated figures
The model was trained on data up to a certain date, and it does not warn you about it. For a website that means software versions, service names, tax amounts, registration rules and rates may all be a year old.
The rule is simple: every number, date, rate or legal phrase gets checked against the official source. Not against another page in the search results, but against the source itself.
Check three: copy that says nothing
This is the most common problem, and it has nothing to do with factual errors.
You end up with smooth text where every paragraph is accurate and none of it says anything. “We provide quality solutions tailored to the needs of your business.” That paragraph fits a plumber’s site, a lawyer’s site and a web agency’s site unchanged. Which means it works for none of them.
The check takes ten seconds. Take a paragraph and ask: could a competitor have written exactly this? If yes, rewrite it or delete it.
The reverse works: specifics that cannot be lifted into someone else’s text. Not “we work fast”, but “I come out the same day within thirty kilometres of Marseille”. Not “a personal approach”, but “the first meeting is free, after that I send a one-page quote”.
Fits anyone
- “Quality solutions tailored to the needs of your business”
- “We work quickly and reliably”
- “A personal approach to every client”
- “Our team of experts”
Only fits you
- “I come out the same day within thirty kilometres of Marseille”
- “First meeting free, then a one-page quote”
- “I answer e-mails until 6pm, weekend messages on Monday”
- “I work alone, no subcontractors”
Check four: a voice that is not yours
By default the model writes in average corporate English. If you are a small operation and you work alone, that language hurts you: it promises an office with a reception desk, and then you turn up on your own.
Watch the pronouns and the promises of scale. “Our team” where the team is you and your brother. “Our experts” instead of “I”. A client who spots the gap on the first phone call starts doubting everything else.
Check five: what search actually sees
Google does not penalise text for having been written with AI. Its guidance is about quality and usefulness, not about how the text was produced.
There is a practical side, though. The model happily writes long and around the subject, while a search query is specific. If someone searches for what WordPress maintenance costs, they need an answer with a number in the first lines, not five paragraphs on the importance of maintenance.
What to check: does the page answer the question that brought the reader there directly. Do the headings show the structure. Are there three sections retelling the same idea.
Do you have to label this kind of text
Short answer for an ordinary commercial site: no.
The transparency obligations of the European AI regulation, applicable since 2 August 2026, target something else: chatbots, deepfakes and text published to inform the public on matters of general interest. A services page does not fall into that scope. And text that a person has reviewed and takes editorial responsibility for is outside the frame anyway.
I am not a lawyer: if you run a media outlet or write on a matter of public interest, have that checked. For a workshop’s or a salon’s services page, the question is settled.
What you can do yourself in one evening
- Read the text out loud. Rewrite the places where you stumble.
- Find every number, date and promise. Check each one against your own documents.
- Run every paragraph past the “could a competitor have written this” test.
- Replace “we” with “I” if you work alone.
- Delete paragraphs that add no fact.
- Check that the page answers the question people arrive with.
After that clean-up the text usually loses a third of its length and gets noticeably more useful.
When it is worth handing over
The copy itself you will proofread better than anyone: you know your prices and your promises. The difficulty starts afterwards, when the text has to be published: headings, structure, internal links, page metadata, images with descriptions, the mobile view, so that none of it falls apart.
If you have the time and the inclination, part of this is fine to do yourself. If you would rather run your business than proofread and lay out pages, I can take both: I put the structure in order, check the facts against your data and publish it so the page works for enquiries.
Sources and data date: Regulation EU 2024/1689 (AI Act), Article 50, applicable from 02.08.2026; Google guidance on helpful content. Data verified on 17.08.2026.
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