AI agents have arrived. Can they use your website?
This week OpenAI previewed Operator, an assistant that opens a browser and books, orders and fills in forms on someone's behalf. It is early and imperfect, but it changes who your website is built for.
By the Xuru Technologies team · 26 January 2025
Key takeaways
- On 23 January 2025 OpenAI released Operator as a research preview for ChatGPT Pro users in the US.
- Operator uses its own browser to type, click and scroll through ordinary websites, and hands control back to the person for logins, payments and confirmations.
- Clear, standard website forms and buttons are easier for agents to complete; fiddly, hidden or image-only steps are not.
- The basics that help agents — plain labels, accessible forms, consistent prices and policies — also help human customers.
For twenty years, websites were built for two visitors: people and search engine crawlers. A third visitor is now appearing: software that acts for a person. When someone asks an assistant to "book a table for four on Friday" or "reorder the same printer ink", the assistant may open your website and try to do it.
What happened
OpenAI introduced Operator on 23 January 2025. According to TechCrunch, it launched for ChatGPT Pro subscribers in the US and works with a browser of its own, reading the screen and interacting with buttons, menus and forms the way a person would. OpenAI said it partnered with services such as DoorDash, Instacart, OpenTable, Uber and others while testing, and that the agent asks the user to take over for sensitive steps such as entering payment details.
It is slow and makes mistakes, and OpenAI calls it a research preview. But the direction is clear: the big AI companies are building assistants that do things, not just answer questions.
What it means for businesses
Most small businesses will not see agent traffic in large volumes this year. What matters is the trend, because the websites that work well for agents tend to be the websites that already work well for people:
- Booking and ordering flows get tested by machines. If an agent cannot find the date picker or the "Add to basket" button, it gives up — and the customer may simply be offered a competitor that worked.
- Clarity beats cleverness. Buttons labelled "Book now" and forms with proper labels are easier for agents to understand than custom widgets with no text.
- Consistency matters. When your prices, hours and policies differ between your website, Google profile and booking apps, both people and AI tools lose confidence.
- Trust steps stay human. Payment, login and final confirmation still sit with the customer, so those screens must be quick and reassuring on a phone.
What to do now
| Area | Quick check |
|---|---|
| Forms | Every field has a visible label; error messages say what to fix |
| Buttons | Real buttons with text, not images or icons alone |
| Booking | A person can complete a booking without a pop-up blocking the way |
| Information | Hours, prices, location and policies written as text, not inside images or PDFs |
| Accessibility | Keyboard-only users can complete the main task — a good proxy for agent-friendliness |
None of this is speculative work. An accessible, clearly structured site converts better today, ranks better in search and will be ready when assistants become a normal way to shop and book. Our WCAG 2.2 checklist is a practical place to start.
Frequently asked questions
What is an AI agent?
An AI agent is software that can take actions to complete a goal, such as browsing to a website, filling in a form or placing an order, rather than only answering a question in text.
Do I need to rebuild my website for AI agents?
Usually not. Clear labels, standard forms, fast pages and accurate information cover most of what agents need, and they help human visitors too.
Will AI agents replace visits to my website?
Some visits will be made by assistants on a customer's behalf. Your website still holds the information and the booking or ordering system they use, so it becomes more important, not less.
A website people and AI can both use.
We build fast, accessible websites with booking and ordering that work smoothly on every device — and for the assistants your customers are starting to use.
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