Website troubleshooting
How to fix website problems with AI.
AI can help investigate and repair a website, but it needs evidence of the problem and access to the right project. Start by reproducing the error, protect the last working version, and test one repair at a time.
If the live site is down, forms have stopped delivering, or a recent edit exposed private data, stop making speculative changes. Restore a known working version where appropriate and involve the responsible developer or hosting provider. A code rollback does not undo leaked information or restore every database change.
Describe what is broken
Give ChatGPT or Claude the affected URL, what you expected, what happened, when it last worked and what changed recently. Include the screen size and browser for layout problems. Redact customer information, access tokens and other secrets from screenshots and error logs.
A useful request sounds like this:
The contact button on /services works on desktop but is covered by the menu on a 390-pixel-wide screen. Reproduce the problem in the local preview. Explain the cause before editing. Keep the button destination and form behavior unchanged. Do not deploy or submit a real inquiry.
Match the symptom to the first check
A page says "not found"
Check the exact URL, including the ending slash, and compare it with the actual file or route. Check links, redirects and the address listed in the sitemap. Do not send every missing page to the homepage; people should reach the relevant replacement or a genuine missing-page response.
The new copy does not appear
Compare the local preview, the deployed revision and the public URL. The change may not have been published, or an older asset may be cached. Confirm the cause before repeating the edit.
The layout breaks on a phone
Provide the viewport width and a screenshot. Ask the agent to identify the overflowing or overlapping element and test nearby screen sizes. A screenshot of one desktop width is not enough.
A form says "sent," but no email arrives
Check the form destination, provider response, delivery logs and destination inbox. A success message alone does not prove delivery. Use an authorized test address and clearly labeled test data; do not send real customer information as a debugging shortcut.
A repair from this website
In the November 3, 2026 audit of Hire Brian, six blog article URLs ending in a slash returned 404 even though their files existed. Search Console reported those same six missing URLs. The server was not resolving the directory's index file correctly.
The fix changed that file lookup and added tests for the canonical pages, aliases and redirects. The repaired URLs returned 200 in live checks. That repaired access; it did not prove that Google had indexed the pages or improved their rankings.
The lesson is specific: inspect the URL and response, identify the failing behavior, and add a test that would catch the same failure again. More keywords would not have repaired those missing pages.
Ask for the smallest repair that addresses the cause
- Preserve the current work and identify a known working version. Do not discard unrelated changes.
- Reproduce the issue in a preview or staging environment. Ask the agent to state its diagnosis and evidence.
- Review the proposed files and risks before applying the repair.
- Run the check that failed, then check the surrounding behavior: links, forms, navigation and mobile layouts.
- Approve the reviewed revision, deploy through the established process, and verify the public result.
Use the ChatGPT workflow or Claude Code workflow for the editing and review steps. Do not give a tool unrestricted account access because its first attempt did not work.
When to bring in a person
Stop for payment failures, exposed data, suspicious access, broken authentication, destructive database changes or uncertain domain and email settings. Those need someone who can assess the system and consequences, not just produce a page that looks right.
If your website is difficult to maintain because you do not own the accounts or lack a usable project, read the ownership guide. I can review whether coaching, a separately quoted repair or an AI-ready website rebuild makes sense. Repairs are not automatically included in the $2,499 rebuild package.
Need help with your website?
Send me your current site and we can discuss a rebuild or coaching. The client-owned website package is $2,499 one time for up to 40 pages, with 2 weeks turnaround. Hosting and AI subscriptions are separate.
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