Case study · Our own website
Quick answer: we gave an AI agent access to theclaymedia.com, our Search Console data and a change log, and let it work for two weeks. It found and fixed real problems quickly. It also made mistakes, and we caught them because every change was logged and reversible. Rankings have not moved yet, and we say so below.
The setup
We have run client websites since 2009, and our own site had the problem we see on most client sites: nobody was assigned to it between redesigns. So we assigned an AI agent.
The agent can read and edit the site and read Google Search Console. It starts every session by reading its own change log and the current search data. Before it edits an existing page it records how to undo the edit. Anything that changes a URL, removes a page, touches a form, or makes a claim about prices or clients goes to Chris first.
This is the working version of what we describe in our guide to agentic websites, and it is the same approach we offer clients as agentic website management.
What it fixed
These are all in the change log, with dates.
A page ranking ninth with zero clicks
Our website cost guide had 2,245 impressions at an average position of 9.2 over 90 days and no clicks. The page opened with three sentences about retainers. The price range sat in the fourth paragraph. The agent moved the price answer to the top, using only figures already in the page’s own table, and rewrote the title to match.
A dead sitemap
The only sitemaps on file in Search Console were an old one last read in 2022 and a blog post submitted by mistake. The agent submitted the real sitemap index.
Links to a private page
Our best-ranking local page had nine table-of-contents links pointing at a private AI chat. Readers who clicked them hit a wall. The agent changed them to in-page anchors.
A wrong founding date
Pages said we were founded in 2014 or 2010. Chris confirmed 2009, and the agent corrected eleven occurrences across ten pages.
It also moved the homepage from a hard-coded template to an editable page, replaced an unsourced statistic with plain copy, and added a vetting page for the person a business owner forwards our email to. Each step is logged.
What it got wrong
The useful part was not that the agent never made a mistake. It was that every mistake was visible and reversible.
- It flagged three pages as exposed. An early audit called three client documents publicly visible. When we checked them, they were already password-protected. The flag was wrong, and a person caught it before anything was changed on a false alarm.
- It broke its own script. WordPress converts the double ampersand in a line of code into HTML entities. A sticky mobile button stopped appearing. The agent found it on the live page and rewrote the script.
- Its edits were invisible for hours. Elementor’s cache kept showing the old page for up to 16 hours after a change. Caching was turned off and the agent now checks the rendered page, not just the saved one.
- It used the wrong word. Visitor-facing copy said “mockup” where Chris wanted “free homepage design”. It was changed site-wide once he said so.
What stays with a person
Always needs a person
- Changing or removing a page address
- Prices, guarantees and client names
- Anything that touches a form or lead tracking
- Installing or updating plugins
- Whether the company can be named at all
The agent handles
- Titles and meta descriptions
- Fixing broken or misdirected links
- Rewriting openings that bury the answer
- Readability and design consistency
- Reporting what changed and how to undo it
The last item on the left matters. When the agent named a client on a page, Chris asked for the name to come off until he had checked what he is allowed to say publicly. It was changed the same morning.
Results so far
It is too early to claim a ranking result, and we will not pretend otherwise. In the 90 days before this started, our site earned roughly nine non-branded clicks. Google needs weeks to re-evaluate rewritten pages. We will update this page with the same Search Console comparison when there is enough data.
What we can already show is the change log itself. Thirty-four dated entries in two weeks, each with a reason, an undo step and a check that it rendered correctly. Ask your own agency whether they can show you the same.
What this means for your website
- Someone has to watch the numbers weekly. Software can do that cheaply. People forget.
- Fix the click before writing more. A page ranked ninth with no clicks needs a better opening, not a new article.
- Insist on a change log. If your agency cannot show what changed and how to undo it, you cannot judge their work.
- Keep a person in charge of anything risky. Prices, claims and legal wording are not for software.
If you also want to understand how AI assistants decide which companies to recommend, read The GEO Keyword Method. If you want us to set up AI inside your business, see Managed AI Services.
See what your homepage looks like when someone is watching it
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The Clay Media has built and managed business websites since 2009. What to check before you call us.
