Designing your site for AI agents

To stay relevant, your site needs to be agent friendly. That means it should be easy for AI to understand, interact with, and complete tasks on it.

1. Use structured, machine readable interfaces

APIs are key. Agents work best when they can pull data from clean JSON or REST endpoints. Avoid complex or heavily scripted layouts. Use clear structure and readable elements.

Think of AI agents as digital interns with a checklist. If your site doesn’t clearly tell them what’s where and how to act, they get lost or stall out.

2. Set up a dedicated AI subdomain

Spin up a subdomain like ai.example.com. This can host pages that are optimized for agents. Think of it as a clean, fast, action oriented version of your site built specifically for machines.

Some early adopters are already seeing a jump in agent-driven traffic by exposing product data, booking workflows, and support flows on AI-specific endpoints.

3. Secure and permission aware flows

Agents need to perform actions with trust. Your flows should confirm big steps with the user, especially anything sensitive. Always design with consent and clarity in mind.

The key is to enable automation without losing control. Ask for confirmation before irreversible steps, and give users visibility into what agents are doing.

4. Provide task templates

Give agents a way to execute full workflows. This might be booking a service, making a purchase, or running an internal task. Break your processes into clear, step by step actions that agents can follow.

Instead of just content, provide instructions. If your site is a kitchen, agents need a recipe, not just ingredients.

5. Add an llms.txt file to guide AI agents

Just like robots.txt tells search engine crawlers where they can go, llms.txt is an emerging standard for AI agents and LLMs.

Placing an llms.txt file at the root of your domain helps agents understand:

• What paths are allowed or blocked
• Where to find public APIs
• Links to task instructions or agent-specific guides
• Rate limits and contact information

This is especially useful for large-scale LLM-based tools or autonomous agents trying to understand how to use your site safely and effectively.

Is traditional UI obsolete?

Not obsolete, but changing fast.

People still need clean visual experiences. But a growing number of interactions will start with an AI agent, not a person. That means your site needs to support both human users and AI visitors.

Design your system to expose:

• Clear actions and endpoints
• Light, consistent forms
• Progress tracking that agents can update and users can view

Instead of dashboards, expect more push notifications and quick confirmations. Interfaces will become more event driven and conversational.

What this means for your digital strategy

You are not just designing a website anymore. You are building a platform for agents to operate on. Here is a quick checklist to future proof your site:

The agent ready web checklist

✅ Structured content using semantic HTML or JSON

✅ Public APIs for search, forms, and transactions

✅ Minimal client side rendering and heavy JavaScript

✅ Lightweight login or no login where possible

✅ Predefined task flows and instructions

✅ Audit trails and visibility for human oversight

✅ llms.txt file to communicate with AI agents

The big picture: Internet is changing

We are moving into a new internet era. One where autonomous agents do the work on behalf of users. The winners will not be those with the flashiest design but those who build systems AI can understand and use.

This is not just about keeping up. It is about getting ahead.

AI is not the next interface. It is the next user. If your site cannot serve users, it will not be part of the future web.

Start designing for agents today. Treat them as real users. They are the next big audience.