If you run a site on WordPress.com, the new AI assistant is basically like having an extra editor, designer, and image creator sitting inside your dashboard, waiting for instructions. The catch: you do have to enable it first, and there are a couple of fine-print details most people miss.

Related /

• WordPress.com’s AI assistant can now edit styles, text, and images

Who actually gets the AI assistant?

Before you go hunting for toggles, it’s worth checking if your site is even eligible.​

You can turn on the built-in WordPress.com AI tools if:

• Your site is on the Business or Commerce plan on WordPress.com.
• Or your site was created using the AI Website Builder and you’re on any paid plan.

There’s one more important nuance: the AI assistant is optimized for block themes, not classic themes.

• With a block theme, you see the AI assistant directly in the editor and Site Editor.
• With a classic theme, you won’t see the assistant in the editor, but you can still use AI to generate and edit images from the Media Library, featured images, and Image blocks.

If you’re on a free plan with a non‑AI site, or using self‑hosted WordPress.org, this specific built‑in assistant and toggle won’t be there—you’d need plugins or third‑party tools instead.

How to enable the WordPress AI assistant

Once you know your site qualifies, turning it on is a one-time setup buried in Settings. Think of it like flipping the master switch for AI on your account.

Here’s the step-by-step:

1. Open your Sites list
   • Go to your WordPress.com hosting dashboard at my.wordpress.com/sites while logged in.
   • You’ll see a list of all the sites connected to your account.
2. Pick the site that should get AI
   • Find an eligible site (Business, Commerce, or AI Website Builder + paid plan).
   • On the right of that site’s row, click the ⋮ three‑dots action menu.​
3. Jump into Settings
   • From the dropdown, click Settings.
   • This takes you to that site’s configuration panel, not your global account settings.
4. Find the AI tools area
   • Scroll or navigate until you see the “AI tools” section.
   • This is where WordPress collects all the AI‑related switches for that site.
5. Toggle on “Enable AI assistant”
   • Flip the Enable AI assistant toggle to “on”.
   • There’s no complex configuration; once it’s on, it becomes available across your editor, Site Editor, and media tools on that site.

If you created your site with the AI Website Builder recently, there’s a good chance this is already enabled by default, but it’s still worth checking this section so you know where to control it.

Where the AI assistant actually shows up

Once enabled, the assistant quietly spreads into different corners of your dashboard instead of living in a single “AI” page. That’s what makes it feel native and not like yet another plugin bolted on top.

Here’s where you’ll spot it:

• Inside posts and pages
  • When you edit a post or page in the block editor, you’ll see an AI icon—a four‑pointed star—that opens the assistant.
  • From there, you can ask it to draft, rewrite, summarize, adjust tone, or translate text right in the editor.
• In the Site Editor (Appearance → Editor)
  • On block themes, the assistant appears in the Site Editor, where it can adjust layout, spacing, sections, and styles via prompts.
  • You might say things like “make this hero section more spacious” or “change site colors to brighter, bolder tones” and see the changes applied live.
• Media → Library and image flows
  • When you open the Media Library, or set a featured image, or use the Image block, you can use AI to generate images from text or tweak existing images (for example, changing background color or style).
• Block notes and collaboration
  • If you collaborate with teammates using block notes, you can type @ai inside a note to pull the assistant into the conversation.
  • It can fact‑check a block, suggest headlines, or propose examples without leaving the page.
• Help and guidance layer
  • There’s also a Help Center AI assistant you can open for “how do I…” type questions—things like “How do I add a contact form?” or “What’s the difference between pages and posts?”.

What you can do with it day to day

Enabling the assistant is just the first step; the real value is in how you use it in your daily publishing routine.

1. Draft and rewrite content faster

Inside a post or page, the assistant becomes your writing sidekick. You can:

• Ask it to rewrite paragraphs to sound more confident, friendlier, or more concise.
• Get headline ideas when you’re stuck on a title.
• Translate sections into other languages if you cater to a global audience.
• Tighten event details, descriptions, or product blurbs to sound more exciting.

Think of it less as “write my whole article for me” and more as a smart editor you can nudge at any point.

2. Redesign without touching code

The AI assistant understands block layouts and site structure, which means you can talk to it like a designer. For example, you can prompt it to:

• Make a section feel more modern and spacious.
• Add a testimonials section below a specific area.
• Brighten your entire color palette or suggest cleaner, more professional fonts.

Because it sits inside the Site Editor, you see the changes as they happen, rather than bouncing between tools or copying CSS snippets.

3. Generate and tweak on‑brand images

Instead of digging through stock sites, you can ask the assistant to generate images directly inside WordPress.com. For instance:

• “Generate an image of a croissant for this blog post.”
• “Change the background color of this image to blue.”
• “Design a flat illustration of a laptop and coffee cup for my about page.”​

The images integrate naturally with your Media Library, so they’re ready to use across posts, pages, and featured slots.

4. Collaborate smarter with your team

With block notes and @ai, the AI assistant becomes part of your review workflow instead of a separate tool. You and your teammates can:

• Ask it to fact‑check specific blocks.
• Request alternative headlines or CTAs on the fly.
• Get suggestions to strengthen a weak paragraph while you discuss edits in context.

For teams shipping a lot of content, this replaces a lot of back‑and‑forth in external docs or chat threads.

A few practical tips before you dive in

Once you’ve enabled the AI assistant, you’ll get more out of it if you treat it like a collaborator you need to brief well—not a magic button.

A couple of useful habits:

• Write clear prompts. Tell it what you want (e.g., “rewrite this intro in a more casual tone for small business owners”) instead of vague “make this better” requests.
• Keep control over your voice. Let AI do the heavy lifting on first drafts, then tweak phrasing so it still sounds like you or your brand.
• Use it to break creative blocks, not replace your perspective. It’s great at structure, headlines, summaries, and layout tweaks; your unique angle still needs to come from you.

Once that “Enable AI assistant” toggle is on for your site, you can safely forget about the settings page and just interact with it where you already work: the editor, the Site Editor, the Media Library, and your block notes. That’s when it stops being “a feature” and starts feeling like part of your everyday publishing workflow.