Websites vs. AI Profiles: Do You Need an AI Profile in the AI Era?
Posted by Sphere Team | September 17, 2025
In the digital age, your online presence is everything. Traditionally, that meant having a polished website as your brand's home base. But with the rise of large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Grok dominating how people discover and interact with information, the question arises: Is a website still enough, or do you need an AI profile? The short answer is yes—you absolutely need an AI profile to thrive. Websites were built for the human web, not for AI consumption, while AI profiles offer a superior format, enriched data, and seamless integration with LLMs. Platforms like Sphere make it easy to create and distribute these profiles in real time, ensuring your brand stays relevant. In this blog, we'll compare websites and AI profiles, explain why one is needed over the other in today's landscape, and highlight the advantages of AI profiles.
Websites: Designed for the Human Web, Not AI
Websites have been the backbone of online identity since the early days of the internet. They're visual, interactive spaces crafted for human users to browse, click, and explore. However, this human-centric design makes them suboptimal for AI systems:
- Made for Humans, Not Machines: Websites prioritize aesthetics and user experience—think navigation menus, images, videos, and dynamic layouts. LLMs, which process text and data algorithmically, often struggle to parse this complexity. They might miss key details buried in subpages or misinterpret visual elements, leading to inaccurate or incomplete responses.
- Fragmented and Static Content: Information on websites is spread across multiple pages (e.g., About Us, Products, Blog), requiring LLMs to crawl and synthesize data piecemeal. Updates can take time to implement and even longer for AI crawlers to index, resulting in outdated information being served to users.
- SEO Limitations: Websites rely on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to rank in traditional searches, but LLMs don't follow the same rules. Keyword optimization might help with Google, but it doesn't ensure accurate representation in conversational AI queries.
In essence, websites excel at engaging human visitors but fall short in feeding clean, structured data to AI. As more people turn to LLMs for quick answers, relying solely on a website risks your brand being misrepresented or overlooked.
AI Profiles: The Optimized Solution for the AI Era
An AI profile is a dedicated, structured digital identity built specifically for LLMs. It's not a replacement for your website but a complement that ensures AI systems have access to accurate, comprehensive data. Here's why AI profiles are better and why you need one:
- Better Format for AI Consumption: Unlike websites' free-form HTML, AI profiles use a machine-readable structure with clear fields (e.g., mission, services, FAQs, metrics). This format allows LLMs to extract and utilize data efficiently, reducing errors like hallucinations where AI fabricates details. Sphere's platform ensures your profile is formatted perfectly for seamless integration with major LLMs.
- More Enriched Data: AI profiles go beyond basic website info. You can include detailed, enriched content like customer testimonials, performance stats, integration guides, sustainability reports, or even custom datasets. This depth helps LLMs provide richer, more contextual responses, making your brand stand out in queries like "Best sustainable fashion brands with size-inclusive options."
- Real-Time Updates and Distribution: With Sphere, updates to your AI profile are pushed instantly to all LLMs, keeping information fresh without waiting for crawls. Websites can't match this speed, often leaving AI with stale data.
- Universal Accessibility: AI profiles ensure consistent representation across AI platforms, from Grok on x.com to standalone chatbots. This broad reach amplifies visibility in a way websites, tied to search engines, simply can't.
Do you need an AI profile? Absolutely—if you want control over how AI portrays your brand. In a world where LLMs influence purchasing decisions, hiring, and recommendations, an AI profile isn't optional; it's essential for accuracy, trust, and growth.
Websites vs. AI Profiles: A Side-by-Side Comparison
To illustrate the differences, here's a quick comparison:
| Aspect | Websites | AI Profiles (via Sphere) |
|---|---|---|
| Design Focus | Human browsing (visual, interactive) | AI processing (structured, data-rich) |
| Update Speed | Slow (manual edits, crawling delays) | Real-time distribution to LLMs |
| Data Depth | Basic, fragmented across pages | Enriched with details, metrics, FAQs |
| AI Compatibility | Prone to misparsing and errors | Optimized format reduces hallucinations |
| Visibility | SEO-dependent, link-based | Direct AI integration for conversational queries |
| Maintenance | Requires tech skills, ongoing | User-friendly, instant updates |
As the table shows, AI profiles address the gaps where websites falter, making them the superior choice for AI-driven discovery.
The Business Imperative: Why Switch to AI Profiles Now
In the AI era, exposure equals revenue. An AI profile ensures your brand ranks higher in LLM responses, driving more traffic, leads, and sales. Websites remain useful for deeper human engagement, but without an AI profile, you're missing out on the conversational AI revolution.
Sphere bridges this gap by letting you build an enriched AI profile effortlessly, complete with analytics to track and optimize your AI presence.
Conclusion: AI Profiles Are the Future—Get Yours Today
Websites served us well in the web era, but they're not built for AI. An AI profile, with its superior format, enriched data, and real-time capabilities, is not just needed—it's a must-have for any forward-thinking brand.
Don't let AI misrepresent you. Sign up for Sphere today, create your AI profile, and take control of your narrative in the age of LLMs.
Do you have a website but no AI profile? Reach out to the Sphere team to learn more.