The preview link your AI builder gives you is fine for showing friends. It isn't fine for customers. A proper domain looks trustworthy, is easy to remember, and stays yours if you ever move the app somewhere else. The good news: connecting one is mostly a matter of copying a few values into the right boxes.
What a domain actually is
When you buy a domain, you're renting a name. On its own it does nothing. DNS records are what make it useful: small entries that tell the internet where to send visitors (and email) for that name.
There are two places involved:
- Where you bought the domain (the registrar, such as Namecheap, GoDaddy, 123 Reg or Cloudflare). This is where you edit DNS records, unless you've moved them elsewhere.
- Where your app is hosted (your AI builder, or a host like Netlify or Vercel). This tells you which records to add.
The usual steps
- Buy the domain if you haven't already. For a UK business, a .co.uk or .uk alongside a .com is a sensible choice.
- Add the domain in your builder's settings. Most builders only allow custom domains on a paid plan. They'll then show you the records they need.
- Add those records at your registrar. Usually an A record for the bare domain (yourbusiness.co.uk) and a CNAME for www. Copy the values exactly.
- Wait, then check. Changes often work within minutes but can take up to a day or two to reach everyone. Your builder should then issue a security certificate, so the site loads over HTTPS.
- Pick one main address (with or without www) and make the other redirect to it, so Google doesn't see two copies of your site.
The exact screens change often, so follow your builder's own help page for the current steps.
