Let’s talk A practical guide from the people doing the work
The best fit is the team that can explain what you will get and show that it works. This guide is written by Hilvy, a studio offering these services. It is a buying checklist, not an independent agency ranking or a claim that we suit every project.
Before making a shortlist
A search for “best AI agency” can lead to very different businesses. Define the outcome first so you do not compare a website studio with a consultancy solving a different problem.
If the main need is a stronger brand, clearer product story or better marketing website, start with design and development evidence. Ask how AI is used during production, but judge the finished work, mobile experience and content structure. The production tool is not the deliverable.
For search, assistants or other customer-facing features, ask to see working behaviour, not just screens. Discuss source data, evaluation, permissions, latency and what happens when the system is wrong. A specialist software team may be the right choice for a complex application.
If your team wants to prepare pages and updates through conversation, ask for a demonstration in a real CMS. Check how drafts, previews and approval work. This is different from a tool that generates a new website once, then leaves your team to maintain it.
Use the same questions with every agency
Compare like-for-like scope. A lower headline price may exclude content migration, integrations, training or ongoing software charges. The right questions make those differences visible before you commit.
Ask for a relevant live website and a walk-through of the agency’s contribution. Designing the marketing site for an AI company is not the same as building its AI product. Look for specific decisions, constraints and responsibilities rather than a row of unexplained client logos.
Ask who can edit, preview, approve and publish. Try a representative task: prepare a service-page draft, change a claim or update a reused section. Confirm which changes still need development and whether the normal CMS remains available without an AI subscription.
Check ownership of the domain, design files, source code, CMS and provider accounts. Request a breakdown of build fees, hosting, model usage and support. Ask what happens after an unsuccessful release, what is backed up and how you would move to another supplier.
Good reasons to choose. Good reasons to pause.
A credible agency can explain when AI is unnecessary and where specialist review is still required. The proposal should be specific enough that both teams can recognise a successful handover.
A named contact, a written scope, relevant project evidence and an honest explanation of limitations. For AI features, ask for a small test against real examples before a wider rollout. For design work, agree the review stages and what material you need to provide.
Guaranteed rankings, a website that supposedly maintains itself or “unlimited” changes without defined boundaries. Ask how those promises work in practice. Certifications and platform logos should be verifiable, and performance results should describe the measurement and the actual project.
Our focus is website design, development, manageable content systems and useful integrations. We are a fit when brand and usability matter alongside the technical work. A large AI research programme or an organisation needing a specialist compliance-led deployment team requires a different brief and expertise.
From a client’s perspective
An existing client’s account of the website build and handover.
More client reviewsDerrick and his team did a great job building our marketing site and leaving us with the tools to sustainably iterate on our website. They didn't stop until the site perfectly matched our design vision, even going past our project timeline to ensure this level of quality. We would definitely work with them again!
John OutwaterData Visualization at RenosterThe details worth asking about
Not necessarily. AI strategy, workflow automation, model development and website design are different disciplines. Start with the outcome you need, then look for relevant delivery experience rather than the broadest service list.
A builder can be enough for a simple, low-risk site that you are comfortable shaping yourself. An agency becomes useful when you need a distinctive design, clearer messaging, migration planning, connected systems or a reliable team to own delivery.
Use a task from your own workflow. Ask how the tool finds source content, creates a draft, respects your page structure and handles a correction. Check the approval step and ask what happens when it cannot complete the task.
No agency controls search rankings. Ask about content quality, migration checks, internal linking, performance and measurement instead. A credible proposal separates the work being delivered from outcomes that also depend on competition and other external factors.
Send the brief, the existing website and the part you want to improve. We will talk through the fit and what a useful first step would look like.
