Website design audit: a person, ChatGPT or Lighthouse?
Lighthouse measures speed, not whether your site looks generic, and ChatGPT gives average advice. A person compares your site to your industry and tells you what to fix first.
When someone asks me whether their site is "good", they've usually already run Lighthouse or asked a chatbot. Both are useful, but they answer a different question. This guide helps you pick the tool for what you actually want to know.
I sell audits, so I'm not neutral. That's why I've also included what each option does better than I do.
Lighthouse and PageSpeed Insights
Lighthouse, Google's tool that also powers PageSpeed Insights, measures performance, accessibility, best practices and technical SEO. It's free, it's objective and you should always run it.
What it doesn't do is look at the design. A site identical to a thousand others can score 100 across the board. If your problem is that your site doesn't convince people, Lighthouse won't find it.
Asking ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini to review it
You share a screenshot or the link and ask for feedback. It's fast and sometimes catches useful things: confusing copy, a button nobody sees, low contrast.
The limit is that the model leans toward the average, just like when it designs. It often suggests exactly what makes a site look AI-made: add testimonials, a benefits section with icons, a gradient "to bring it to life". And it doesn't know your industry or your competitors unless you tell it.
The Slop Score
The Slop Score is the automated tool we built for one question: how obviously AI-made is your site, and why. It checks design tells, copy tells and builder fingerprints, and tells you which ones weigh most.
It's free and takes a minute. What it can't do is tell you what to put in place of what's wrong: that takes understanding your business.
An audit by a person
A designer visits your site like a first-time visitor, compares it to others in your space and tells you what to change, ranked by impact. It's the only option that judges whether your site communicates what you do.
Audits from studios and freelancers usually cost hundreds of dollars and take weeks. Mine is smaller and more direct: a 15-minute video, your Slop Score explained, the ten fixes that matter most with a prompt for each, three sites in your space to study and a re-check at 30 days. It arrives within 72 business hours, and the price moves with demand.
Which one to use
- Your site is slow or has errors: Lighthouse.
- You want quick ideas on some copy or a section: a chatbot, with context about your business and your customer.
- You want to know whether the AI shows and what gives it away: the Slop Score.
- Your site works but doesn't convince, and you don't know where to start: an audit by a person.
Ideally, combine them: Lighthouse and the Slop Score first, since they're free, and an audit once you know the problem is design. If you'd rather fix it yourself, how to make your website not look AI-generated lists the fixes in order.
Frequently asked questions
What is a website design audit?
It's a review of your site by a designer who looks at how it looks, what it communicates and what a first-time visitor understands, and gives you a list of changes ranked by impact.
Does Lighthouse check design?
No. Lighthouse measures performance, accessibility, best practices and technical SEO. A generic site can score 100 in every category.
Can I use ChatGPT to audit my website's design?
It helps catch confusing copy or contrast issues, but it tends to suggest the average, which is exactly what makes a site look AI-made. Give it context about your business and customer, and be wary when it suggests adding sections.
How much does a website design audit cost?
With studios or freelancers it's usually hundreds of dollars. The Anti Web Slop audit has a live price that goes up with every sale and down every day without one, with a fixed floor, and it's credited if you then hire the redesign.