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Import a site: an exact copy of a site, checked page by page against the original

Import a site copies an existing website exactly as visitors see it today: every page you pick, with its words, pictures, fonts, colors, and layout. aiKit then takes a picture of every page of the original and of the copy, at computer width and phone width, scores how closely they match, and uses AI to fix the pages that don't match yet. You get a match report with a score for every page, and the copy stays private until you press Go live. After that, you change it the normal way: type or dictate a request, attach pictures, pin a spot, and review the draft before it publishes. It lives at /home/import, with an Import a site button on the Projects page.

Import a site →
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Step 1: the address and the pages

  • Type the site's address (with or without https://) and press Find pages. aiKit reads the site's own page list (its sitemap), the links in its menus, and its robots.txt file. This takes a few seconds and uses no AI.
  • The pages it found are listed with their titles and addresses. The first 50 are ticked. Untick any you don't need, use Filter pages to find one, Pick the first 50 to tick them again, or Home page only to start small. Up to 50 pages go in one import.
  • Pages the site's robots.txt asks robots not to copy are shown but can't be ticked. aiKit also waits between pages, and longer if the site asks for it, so the import never strains the site.
  • If you type an address with a folder in it, like example.github.io/shop/, only pages inside that folder are imported, and that address becomes the copy's home page.
  • Only public websites can be imported. Private network addresses are refused.
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Step 2: confirm you may copy it

  • Tick I own this site, or its owner said I may copy it. Import won't start without it, and the import service checks it again on its own.
  • Add a note if you like, for example "Our own bakery site" or "Owner approved by email on May 3". The note and who confirmed it are saved with the project.
  • The copy uses only the site's own words and pictures. aiKit never adds text or images that weren't on the original.
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What it costs

  • Before you start, the screen shows about how long it will take and about how much AI it may use. Copying the pages and comparing them uses no AI. Only the fixes for pages that don't match yet use AI.
  • Admins see the estimate and the real cost in dollars. Everyone else sees them in credits.
  • Each import has a hard AI limit, and the project's normal daily AI limit applies too. If either is reached, the import finishes with what it has and says so.
  • When the import is done, the report says what it really used.
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Step 3: while it runs

  • A clock shows the time so far, and six stages tick off with their own times: Finding the pages, Capturing each page, Building the copy, Comparing with the original, Fixing the differences, and Saving the copy. A bar shows how many pages are done.
  • Capturing opens each page in a real browser at computer width (1440 pixels) and phone width (390 pixels), scrolls through it so every picture loads, and saves what visitors see, including pages that are built by JavaScript.
  • Building the copy saves every picture, font, style, video poster, and document (like a menu PDF) the pages use, and points the copy at its own files. Tracking scripts (analytics, ad pixels, chat widgets) are left out.
  • You can leave the page. The import keeps running, and the address of this screen (/home/import?project=…) brings you back to it.
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Step 4: the match report

  • The big number is the average match across the pages, out of 100. Under it, First copy shows the score before any fixes. Next to it: how many pages reached the pass mark of 95, why the fixing stopped, and what the import used.
  • Pages lists every page with its score. A small number with an arrow is the score before fixes. Green is 95 or better, amber is close, red needs attention. A page that couldn't be opened says why.
  • Pick a page to compare it. Side by side shows the original and your copy next to each other, and scrolling one scrolls the other. Slider puts one over the other; drag the slider (or use the arrow keys) to wipe between them. Computer and Phone switch the screen size. After fixes and First copy switch between the copy now and the copy before the AI fixes.
  • How the score works: it mixes how close the two pictures are (each separate spot that differs costs a little, so a wrong icon counts even though it's small) with whether the same words, pictures, headings, fonts and colors are in the same places.
  • What was fixed lists each fix: an Automatic fix (aiKit tried copying the page the other way it can: as the browser shows it, or from the site's own page code, and kept the closer one), and each AI fix with its before and after score. Still different lists what still doesn't match, in plain words.
  • Every AI fix only changes that one page. A fix that made the page less like the original, added words the original site doesn't have, or added a new file was undone automatically, and the report says so.
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Forms on the imported site

  • Contact, quote, and sign-up forms keep exactly how they look, but now send to your Requests inbox in aiKit, with each field labeled the way the form labels it. The visitor sees a thank-you in the form's place, and it works with JavaScript turned off too.
  • Search boxes stay on the page but have no search behind them on the copy. Sign-in and payment forms are left as they were and don't send anywhere new. Good to know lists any of these.
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Good to know

  • Links to pages you didn't import still work: they go to the original site.
  • Some fonts are licensed to one web address, like Adobe Fonts. aiKit can't copy those. The report names the font service; add the copy's new address in that font account, or the copy shows a similar font until you do.
  • A file that couldn't be copied (too large, or the site refused it) keeps loading from the original site, and the report counts them.
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Step 5: go live, keep it as a draft, or ask for changes

  • Go live asks you to confirm, then puts the copy on its own new aiKit address. The original site is not touched. Connect your own domain afterward from the project's Hosting tab.
  • Keep as a draft opens the copy's project page. It's an ordinary project in your list: chat, Versions, pins, and the rest all work.
  • Request a change opens the project's editor window. Type or dictate what you want, attach pictures or screenshots, or pin a spot on the page. Once the site is live, every change waits as a draft with a before and after until you press Publish.
  • Suggest improvements looks at the copy and offers 3 to 5 concrete ideas for this site, each with the reason and exactly what the AI will be asked. Ideas never add prices, phone numbers, reviews or claims that aren't already on the site. Do this sends one to the AI editor as a request (it shows on the Feedback tab and uses an AI edit like any other change). Other ideas asks for a fresh set.
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