When AI Hallucinates: How Quilting and Crafting Businesses Can Build Trust and Visibility

Tori McElwain
Sep 25
5 min read

by Tori McElwain

Tools powered by artificial intelligence (AI), such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Perplexity, are gaining popularity as preferred platforms for people to ask questions and perform online research, instead of traditional search engines like Bing or Google. These tools do more than just search websites; they summarize, recommend, and even generate clickable links for users. However, there are times when AI makes mistakes.

This mistake has a name: hallucination.

Hallucinations happen when AI makes up information. It might invent a statistic, misquote a source, or - increasingly common for small business owners - create a hyperlink that doesn’t exist. Someone clicks the AI-generated link, lands on a “404 page not found,” and instantly questions the trustworthiness of your brand.

As more Americans rely on AI to search — with 52% now using tools like ChatGPT and Gemini and nearly 60% reporting they use AI to find information at least some of the time — helping AI get your business details right isn’t optional. It’s a vital step in protecting your reputation, building trust, and staying visible in a shifting digital landscape.

This is especially true for quilting and crafting businesses. While AI models like ChatGPT have been trained on some quilting and crafting resources, coverage is patchy compared to fields like technology or medicine. Hands-on creative skills are often underrepresented in the datasets these tools learn from. That means when users ask AI about quilting techniques, classes, or services, the responses may be incomplete or, worse, inaccurate. If your business information isn’t clear and accessible online, AI may “fill in the blanks” - and that can misdirect your potential customers.

“Hands-on crafts are underrepresented in AI training data. The clearer your online content, the more likely ChatGPT and other tools are to surface your business correctly.”

What Does Hallucination Mean for Your Business?

When an AI system hallucinates:

Broken Links Appear: The tool (like ChatGPT or Gemini) fabricates a page URL that looks plausible but doesn’t exist on your site. Users hit a dead end. They get a 404 error page on your website.
Misinformation Spreads: AI may describe your services inaccurately or suggest you offer products you’ve never sold.
Trust Takes a Hit: If someone’s first interaction with your business is a false link or wrong detail, they may not give you a second chance.

This isn’t just a tech glitch. It’s a customer experience problem - one that affects credibility and sales.

Why Is This Happening?

Hallucinations happen for a few key reasons:

Incomplete Training Data: LLMs (large language models) rely on information they’ve seen. If your content isn’t in their “memory bank,” the AI may try to fill in the gaps.
Recent or Niche Information: When someone asks about newer products, events, or very specific topics, the AI may need to crawl (or search) the web - and that’s where mistakes crop up.
Hidden or Unstructured Content: If your FAQs, instructions, or class descriptions are buried behind buttons or expandable tabs, AI crawlers may not “see” them.
Naming Confusion: Generic taglines or inconsistent product names give AI more chances to invent. This is why keywords are so important!

What Quilting and Crafting Businesses Can Do to Help AI Get It Right

You can’t eliminate hallucinations entirely, but you can make it easier for AI to use accurate information from your site.

1. Audit Your Hyperlinks

Check all internal links regularly.
If you remove a pattern, class, or product page, create a redirect so no one hits a 404.
Use analytics to track where 404 errors occur. If a bot keeps “inventing” a page people try to visit, consider redirecting it to the closest real page or creating a resource that matches the need. (if your website host platform doesn't offer this, I have a ChatGPT Prompt for you in number 6)

2. Structure Your Content for Crawlability

Put key details (FAQs, instructions, policies) in HTML, not behind buttons or pop-ups.
Use headings, bullet points, and clear formatting so both people and bots can skim.

3. Use LLMs.txt Where Possible

Website hosting platforms like Wix now allow you to enable LLMs.txt, a lightweight file that tells AI crawlers which pages are official and important (learn more here).
This makes it easier for AI systems to recognize your “real” content.

4. Strengthen Your USP (Unique Selling Proposition)

Don't use generic phrases like “quality quilting for everyone.”
Replace them with specifics: “Longarm quilting services specializing in modern quilts with edge-to-edge designs.”
Clear, unique descriptions reduce the chance of AI mixing you up with someone else.

5. Repurpose and Spread Your Content

Bots don’t just read your website. YouTube is one of the top six sources crawled by AI.
Sharing tutorials, behind-the-scenes videos, or short Q&As on multiple platforms increases the signals pointing back to your brand.

6. Use AI to Audit Your Links

AI isn’t just the source of the problem - it can be part of the solution. You can ask ChatGPT to “pretend” it’s looking for links to your site and see what it comes up with. This helps you catch hallucinations before customers do.

Here’s a simple prompt you can copy and paste into ChatGPT:

“I own [your website URL]. Can you list the most likely pages, products, or resources people might expect to find there? Please include sample URLs you think would exist on my site.”

Then compare the AI’s suggestions against your actual site.

If ChatGPT invents a URL that doesn’t exist, set up a 301 redirect to the closest real page.
If it invents something useful that you don’t have (like “/faq” or “/quilting-classes”), consider creating it.
When ChatGPT gives you incorrect info, click “thumbs down” and provide feedback. Direct user feedback is one of the most powerful ways to train AI to get better.

This step not only strengthens your website but also contributes to the overall accuracy of AI tools — which helps every crafter, teacher, and business owner who might be surfaced in AI search results.

Why This Matters

Every click on a broken link is a missed opportunity — and potentially a lost customer. By taking steps to “teach” AI about your business, you:

Build Trust: Customers see you as reliable and professional.
Increase Visibility: Correct links and structured content mean AI is more likely to include you in answers.
Future-Proof Your Business: AI summaries now appear in more than half of Google searches, and users click fewer traditional links when they do. Optimizing for AI visibility keeps you competitive.

From Hallucination to Clarity

Think of AI hallucinations as the digital equivalent of word-of-mouth gone wrong (remember playing telephone in grade school?). If someone in your quilting guild describes your class wrong, you’d correct them politely - not let the error spread. The same applies here: making small adjustments to your site ensures AI “word-of-mouth” about your business is accurate.

Want to make sure your site is ready for both search engines and AI?

Download my Website & Landing Page Checklist (SEO + GEO Friendly Edition) to learn how to structure your site for visibility, avoid common pitfalls, and build trust every time someone finds you - whether through Google, ChatGPT, or Gemini.