Building & updates
Built a website with Claude or OpenAI?
Key takeaway
A website made with Claude or OpenAI still needs suitable hosting, secure settings, backups and a way to make changes. A shared preview or code download does not prove it is ready for customers. Lightning Web Hosting assesses the working website and its connected services before agreeing to host it.
In this guide
The tool that built it does not tell you where it is hosted
A website made with Claude, ChatGPT or Codex might be a preview, a published page inside that product, or code you can run on another host. Start by finding out which one you have. A page working in an AI conversation does not by itself confirm a live business website on your domain.
Ask: “Where does this website run? Can customers visit it without my account? Where are the files and any saved information? What happens if I cancel the tool that made it?” Those answers tell you what can be moved and what still needs setting up.
If it is a Claude artifact
Claude can create and share interactive artifacts. Those can use services supplied inside Claude, including saved entries, connected tools or Claude itself. A shared artifact and a standalone website are different arrangements.
Claude’s current guidance allows an HTML export of a custom artifact, but says the exported copy loses the parts that save entries, use Claude or use connected tools. A page may still look right while those functions no longer work. Ask for the software version and have its dependencies checked if you want to run it independently.
Sources: Claude’s guidance on using artifacts outside Claude (opens in a new tab)
If it was made with ChatGPT or Codex
You might have a local code project, a downloaded page, or a deployed site. OpenAI also offers Sites for building and publishing websites in ChatGPT or Codex. Its documentation distinguishes saving a version from deploying it: a deployed Sites address is live. Check which workflow was used rather than assuming everything is just a preview.
If you have code to host elsewhere, ask for the project files, images, build instructions and a list of external services it needs. A React project may need a build before the browser can use it. Forms, sign-ins and stored records can need a separate service behind the visible page.
Making AI-built software ready for business at Lightning Developments
Sources: OpenAI’s guide to creating and publishing Sites (opens in a new tab)
Are AI-built websites secure?
That depends on the code and how it is operated. A polished design is not evidence that access rules, forms and storage have been checked. The same review applies whether a person or an AI wrote the first version.
Before launch, test what a visitor can submit and what another account can see. Confirm that private information stays private and that the website checks who is allowed to make changes. Make sure forms send to the right destination. Check mobile layouts, links, page titles and what happens when a service is unavailable.
Keep secret API keys out of browser code and downloadable website files. For example, OpenAI says its API credentials should be held on the server, not exposed in a browser or app. If a page uses an AI API, also agree usage limits and who pays for those calls.
What makes a secure web host?Common website threats in everyday language
Sources: OpenAI API credential guidance (opens in a new tab)
What needs arranging before it becomes a business website?
A public website needs a hosting destination, its domain connection and HTTPS. It also needs a way to recover its files and content. If it accepts bookings, enquiries or payments, check that each whole journey works with real settings before directing customers to it.
Keep a copy of the source project and identify the accounts that hold the domain, hosting, email, forms and any database. The person controlling those accounts should be someone your business can rely on. An AI chat history is useful context, but it is not a complete deployment or backup record.
Arrange your domain, hosting, email and DNSPlan backups and monitoringCheck the experience on a real phone
How easy is it to update afterwards?
Changing wording in an HTML file can be simple. Making that change safely on the right live website still needs the current files, the correct publishing process and a way to check the result. Asking an AI to regenerate a whole page without that context can remove a feature or overwrite a newer change.
Keep the current source in one place, make a draft, check the page and publish that exact approved version. Test connected features again when their code changes. For a website that remains inside an AI platform, review that product’s editing, sharing and export rules as well.
Can Lightning host a website made with AI?
We can assess HTML or React website projects, including ones started with AI. Send the existing public address or tell us you have project files. We check whether it is a standalone website, which features depend on another platform, and whether it can use our managed update workflow. Moving every AI app without changes is not a promise we make.
An ordinary information website is a different job from an app with customer logins, payments or a live database. We confirm compatibility and any setup work before taking it live. If the site needs modernisation, the agreed rebuild is overseen by humans.
Keep improving it after launch
Thunder hosting is NZ$55 + GST a month per website. Lightning is NZ$99 + GST a month and adds Arc for everyday text, uploaded image and simple layout changes on supported connected websites, subject to fair use. You review a private preview, then approve publication. New pages, blogs and larger changes need agreed scope.
Both plans include AWS hosting, CloudFront CDN, SSL, platform security, daily website backups, free domain registration and DNS. Hosting billing starts when the website is live with us. Your website and supplied content remain yours; outside software and services retain their own terms. You can bring a promising first draft without pretending every detail is finished.