Skip to main content

The End of Websites: Why We're Moving to a Conversational Web

· 4 min read
Miguel Branco
Miguel Branco
Founder & CEO, RAW Labs

Traditional websites are facing an existential challenge. Not immediately, but the shift is undeniable.

For three decades, the web has been a collection of pages. Click, scroll, search, repeat. It's an interaction model we've accepted despite its inefficiencies.

But a fundamental shift is underway. Instead of browsing through pages, we're beginning to converse with our systems. And they're responding intelligently.

The Inefficiency of Current Web Interactions​

Consider a common scenario: shopping for car insurance. The current process involves opening Google, clicking through 5-10 insurance websites, filling out identical forms repeatedly, manually comparing prices, and perhaps using a comparison site that shows a fraction of available options.

This process consumes hours for what should be a minutes-long task.

Now envision this alternative: "Find me car insurance for a 2019 Honda Civic, clean driving record, $500 deductible." Your device communicates with 50 insurers, retrieves quotes, and presents the best three options. Completed in 30 seconds.

This isn't speculative—it's about to happen.

The Current State of AI-Web Integration​

ChatGPT can already book flights through plugins. Claude analyzes spreadsheets and generates code. Siri controls smart home devices. These aren't proof-of-concepts—they're production features slowly being rolled out.

The pattern is evident: LLMs are beginning to cope with tool usage. But these tools aren't traditional websites—they're APIs, function calls, and structured data interfaces.

Your meticulously designed landing page? LLMs bypass it. Your conversion funnel? Mostly irrelevant to machine interactions. Your A/B tested UI elements? Invisible to programmatic access.

The critical question becomes: Can an AI agent understand and utilize your service programmatically?

Emerging Protocols for AI-Service Communication​

APIs represent just the foundation. The real innovation lies in protocols specifically designed for AI-to-service communication:

  • MCP (Model Context Protocol) - Enables AI systems to connect directly to data sources
  • Function calling - Allows AI to trigger actions across services
  • OpenAPI specifications - Becoming the standard for AI service discovery
  • Structured data - Schema.org evolved for AI agent consumption

Organizations building these interfaces today are positioning themselves for a post-website paradigm. It's a strategic imperative.

Industry Impact: Disruption and Opportunity​

The transformation will create clear winners and losers across industries.

Declining relevance:

  • Traditional SEO (when users bypass search results)
  • Web design agencies that focus primarily on visual interfaces
  • Display advertising (invisible to AI agents)
  • Landing page optimization
  • Conventional digital marketing strategies

Rising importance:

  • API design and documentation
  • Structured data architecture
  • Function calling interface development
  • Strategic data partnerships

The Shift in Digital Gatekeepers​

Google has long controlled website traffic. Now OpenAI, Anthropic, Apple, and others will try to gain control over AI assistant interactions.

These organizations determine which services their AI can access. Integration with their platforms becomes as critical as search engine visibility once was.

This transition from search algorithms to AI platform gatekeepers will be a gradual process. On the other hand, the market hasn't fully recognized its implications.

Preparing for an AI-First Future​

Three critical questions for any digital service, which can help us understand the impact across our own companies and services:

  1. If traditional search disappeared tomorrow, how would users discover your service?
  2. Can an AI agent comprehend your offering from your API documentation alone?
  3. Can it execute transactions without human intervention?

If these questions reveal gaps, you may be optimizing for yesterday's web, not tomorrow's.

The Path Forward​

While most users still navigate the web traditionally, forward-thinking organizations are beginning to architect for AI-first interactions. While it may be early - it is early! -, any work in this direction may be beneficial even for internally-developed AI agentic applications, which, similarly, require use of APIs and other external tools. It is an area worth betting on early.

Early adopters will have significant advantages in this new paradigm. Those who delay risk obsolescence, joining the ranks of Yellow Pages and Blockbuster.