AI Website Builder
How does the AI website builder work?
Summary
ShopIQ's AI website builder helps merchants create ecommerce websites using simple prompts, business details, product information, and AI-assisted workflows. The website is first created in a development environment, where merchants can review and edit it before publishing it to a production URL.
Who this is for: This article is for merchants who want to understand how ShopIQ creates an ecommerce website using AI and what happens from website generation to publishing.
What is the AI website builder?
The ShopIQ AI website builder is a feature that helps merchants create an ecommerce website faster using AI.
Instead of starting from a blank template, merchants can describe their business, products, brand style, and website requirements. ShopIQ then uses AI agents to help generate the foundation of the website.
The AI website builder can help create a website structure, homepage direction, product sections, category layouts, content, branding direction, and ecommerce-ready pages.
How does it work?
The AI website builder works through ShopIQ's AI Chat and commerce platform. A merchant can provide instructions such as:
- "Build a premium jewelry website."
- "Create an ecommerce website for my women's ethnic wear brand."
- "Make my homepage look modern and minimal."
- "Create a product page layout for skincare products."
ShopIQ understands the request and uses AI agents behind the scenes to create or update relevant parts of the website. The merchant does not need to select a specific AI model or agent — ShopIQ automatically routes the task to the right AI capability.
What information does ShopIQ use?
ShopIQ may use information such as:
- Business name
- Product category
- Brand description
- Product images
- Product titles
- Product descriptions
- Website style preferences
- Target audience
- Existing catalog data
- Merchant instructions
- Store content
- Category and collection structure
The more accurate information a merchant provides, the better the generated website can match the business.
Does ShopIQ use templates?
ShopIQ is not limited to fixed themes in the way traditional ecommerce platforms often are. Traditional platforms ask merchants to choose a theme and then manually customize it. ShopIQ uses AI to create a more customized starting point based on the merchant's business, products, audience, and brand requirements.
Merchants can still edit and refine the website after generation.
What happens after AI creates the website?
After ShopIQ creates the website, it is first available in a development environment with a temporary URL such as https://project-id.dev.shopiq.app.
This version is used for review, editing, testing, and making changes before publishing. Development servers may sleep after around 15 minutes of inactivity and wake again when the merchant opens the project.
Can merchants edit the AI-generated website?
Yes. Every ShopIQ website remains editable. Merchants can edit common content manually through the CMS, including:
- Homepage hero banners
- Promotional banners
- Category card images
- Product images
- Product titles
- Product descriptions
- Product A+ content
- Blog content
- Blog images
- Privacy Policy
- Terms & Conditions
- Refund Policy
- Shipping Policy
- Categories
- Sub-categories
- Collections
- Coupons
For larger design and experience changes, merchants can use AI Chat to update homepage design, category page design, product detail page design, overall UI, website colors, user experience, store flow, size charts, and custom elements.
What happens when the website is published?
After publishing, the website moves to ShopIQ's production infrastructure and receives a production URL such as https://project-id.shopiq.app. Production websites remain online continuously and do not sleep due to inactivity.
Can merchants connect a custom domain?
Yes. After publishing, merchants can connect their own domain name from the Settings section using standard DNS mapping with A Records and CNAME Records. Domains are purchased separately — domain purchase is not included in ShopIQ subscriptions.
Does using the AI website builder consume AI credits?
Yes. AI-powered website generation and AI-assisted website edits consume AI credits because they happen through AI Chat.
Manual edits through the CMS do not consume AI credits. For example, manually updating a product image or editing a banner does not consume credits. Asking AI to redesign the homepage does consume credits.
Important things to know
The AI website builder helps merchants move faster, but merchants remain responsible for reviewing all website content, product details, images, policies, and legal information before publishing. AI can assist with creation and editing, but the merchant is responsible for accuracy, content rights, and compliance.