Build · Aesthetary Original
Spec work without the risk
You'll be able to make a speculative demo that nobody mistakes for the client's own site, claims or search result.
In this skill
Nobody should mistake it for their site.
Search before you send it
- Search for square brackets
- Fill or cut each one
- Search for their domain
- Read the headers on the link
A spec demo says who made it, claims nothing for them, and stays out of search.
Transcript
A spec demo is a site you build for a business before they've hired you, to show them what you'd do. It's a strong pitch. It's also a page with their name on it, on the public web, that they never approved. Here's one for the print shop that printed the bakery's bags, and the AI's first draft has every problem.
Start with what it claims to be. The title says official site. The preview image points at their real domain, so a pasted link shows their logo, as if they'd sent it. And the footer claims the page as theirs, with all rights reserved. Say who made it, in the title and in a line at the top and the bottom of every page: a concept, not affiliated, not their website. Take the preview tags off, and set their name in plain type, never their logo.
Next, what it says about them. The draft says family-run since 1987, trusted by five hundred businesses, and quotes a happy customer. The AI made all three up. On their page, that's a false claim in their name, and words from a customer who doesn't exist. Keep only what you know is true, like the bags they printed, and label everything else as sample text. If you'd like a customer quote, leave it out until they give you one.
Then search. The draft blocks everything in robots dot txt. That sounds safe, but it backfires: a crawler that's blocked never reads the page, so it never sees a noindex, and the address can still be listed. Delete it. Put noindex in the page's head, and in a header on every response, here from a headers file the host reads. Serve it and ask for the headers: the noindex is there. The review build lesson covers both in more depth.
Before the link goes out, search the folder you'll upload. Square brackets first: one is left, a phone number the AI couldn't know. Their number isn't yours to guess, so the line comes out. Search again: nothing. Then search for preview tags and their domain: nothing.
If they say no, the demo can still show your work, but not with their name on it. Make a copy with the name taken out, and say it was unsolicited. Then check the name is gone.
A spec demo is yours, not theirs. Say so on every page, claim nothing in their name, keep it out of search with noindex in the page and the header, and search for brackets before you send.
