We've been deep in the world of Answer Engine Optimization, running the CiteMET playbook across our best content. The initial results were solid - we saw users engaging with our AI Share Buttons, and we knew we were successfully seeding our content into AI platforms. But with our team's background in AI, we saw this as just the first step.
We understood that for a Large Language Model (LLM), a single, quick interaction is a whisper. A true signal of authority, one that builds lasting memory, comes from a deeper conversation. We saw an opportunity to transform that initial whisper into a meaningful dialogue.
Introduction
You just spent the weekend "vibecoding" a masterpiece. You used Lovable or Bolt to generate the UI, you tweaked the prompts until the design was perfect, and you finally hit deploy. The site looks incredible in Chrome.
Excited, you paste the URL into ChatGPT or Perplexity to see what it thinks. You wait for the analysis.
And then you get the response that haunts every modern developer:
"I'm sorry, but I cannot access the content on that page. It appears to be blank."
You check the link. It works for you. So why is the smartest AI on the planet seeing a ghost town?
The answer isn't a bug in the AI. It's a fundamental flaw in how modern web frameworks handle visibility. It's called the Hydration Gap, and if you're building with standard AI coding tools, your site almost certainly has it.
The "App Shell" Illusion
To understand why AI is blind to your site, you have to understand the difference between what a browser sees and what a bot sees.
Most modern AI builders (Lovable, Bolt, Replit) export Single Page Applications (SPAs) using Client-Side Rendering (CSR).
How CSR Works (The Human View)
- The browser requests your URL.
- The server sends back a tiny, almost empty HTML file.
- The browser downloads a massive JavaScript bundle.
- The JavaScript runs, fetches data, and "paints" the screen.
This is great for humans. The transition feels smooth, like a native app.
How CSR Works (The AI View)
AI crawlers—specifically the bots used by OpenAI (ChatGPT), Anthropic (Claude), and Perplexity—are optimized for speed and cost. They often do not run a full "Headless Browser." They don't want to download 2MB of JavaScript and wait 5 seconds for it to execute.
They grab the Initial HTML and leave.
When you look at the "View Source" of your vibecoded app, this is likely all you see:
<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>My Awesome App</title> </head> <body> <div id="root"></div> <script type="module" src="/src/main.tsx"></script> </body> </html>
See that
<div id="root"></div>It is literally a blank page.
The "Lazy" Crawler Economy
You might ask, "But doesn't Google render JavaScript?"
Sometimes. Googlebot has a "rendering queue." It will crawl your HTML first, and then—days or weeks later—it might come back with a headless browser to render the JavaScript.
But we aren't just optimizing for Google anymore. We are optimizing for Answer Engines.
- ChatGPT (User Agent): Does not reliably execute JS.
- ClaudeBot: Primarily text-based ingestion.
- Perplexity: Scrapes for speed.
If your content relies on JavaScript to exist, you are telling these engines: "I have no content."
This is the Blank Page Problem. You cannot be cited if you cannot be seen.
The Fix: Static Site Generation (SSG)
The solution isn't to stop using React or Lovable. The solution is to change how you build it.
You need Static Site Generation (SSG).
With SSG, the "rendering" happens on the server, before the user (or bot) ever visits.
- Build Time: We take your React code and compile every route (,
/,/about) into a real/pricingfile..html - The Result: We inject the text, images, and data directly into the HTML.
- Deployment: When a bot hits your URL, it gets the full meal, not just the menu.
The Difference is Night and Day
Before (CSR):
<body><div id="root"></div></body>
After (cite-met SSG):
<body><h1>The Future of Web Design</h1><p>Here is my full article content...</p></body>
When you deploy with cite-met, we act as this compilation layer. We automatically detect your standard React/Vite structure and inject an SSG engine during the deployment pipeline.
We pre-render your entire site so that when ChatGPT comes knocking, it sees 100% of your content instantly. No JavaScript required.
Don't Let Your Framework Betray You
Vibecoding is the future of building UI. But if you rely on the default export settings of these tools, you are building for an empty room.
You spent hours prompting the AI to build your site. Don't let technical debt keep that same AI from reading it.
Is your site suffering from the Blank Page Problem? Most developers don't know until they check.
👉 Click here to run a free visibility scan on your site. We'll show you exactly what the crawlers see (or don't see).