Evaluating Digital Marketing, Innovation, and Entrepreneurial Impact in AI-Built vs. Professionally Developed DeFi Websites

This study evaluates whether an AI-built DeFi website case can match professionally developed DeFi platforms in digital marketing performance, innovation-related strategic behavior, and entrepreneurial impact. Using a multi-method design, we compare five established DeFi websites (Aave, Lido, Curve, MakerDAO, Uniswap) against one AI-built interface (Nexus Protocol). The analysis is designed as a five-platform benchmarking study of established professional DeFi websites, complemented by one AI-built case (Nexus Protocol) used as an illustrative comparison rather than a representative class of AI-built interface. The objectives are to (i) test differences in traffic composition and acquisition strategies, (ii) quantify how engagement signals predict authority and branded traffic, (iii) examine cognitive processing and trust-cue attention via eye tracking, and (iv) model emergent engagement and authority dynamics using agent-based simulation (ABM). Web analytics (March–October 2025) show significant variation in traffic composition across professional platforms (ANOVA F = 3.41, p = 0.0205), while regression models indicate that time on site and pages per visit positively predict Authority Score (R 2 = 0.61) and Branded Traffic (R 2 = 0.55), with bounce rate exerting an adverse effect. PCA and k-means clustering identify three strategic archetypes (innovation-driven, balanced-growth, efficiency-focused). Eye-tracking results show that professional interfaces generate tighter fixation clusters and shorter scan paths, indicating higher cognitive efficiency. In contrast, fixation on key UI elements and trust cues is comparable across interface types. ABM outputs further suggest that reduced engagement depth in the AI-built interface yields weaker long-run branded-traffic and authority trajectories. Overall, the study provides an integrated evaluation framework and evidence-based implications for AI-driven interface design in high-trust fintech environments.