Squarespace Refresh 2025: How New AI Tools Are Redefining SEO, Design, and Online Growth

Squarespace has just announced its Refresh 2025 update and unlike many AI launches we have seen lately, this rollout feels different.

This update is about building a full ecosystem of AI-driven SEO, design and business growth solutions that are practical, user-friendly and directly integrated into the Squarespace platform.

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So, what is really changing? And more importantly what does this mean for businesses?

What’s Inside Squarespace Refresh 2025?

The new update introduces a suite of AI-powered tools that aim to make building, running and scaling a website easier than ever.

The focus is clear that AI should save you time, improve your visibility across both search and AI-driven platforms and help you grow smarter not just faster.

One of the most talked-about additions is Squarespace Beacon AI.

Think of it as a built-in digital partner. Instead of spending hours figuring out product listings, optimizing content or testing discounts, Beacon AI automates those repetitive tasks while offering data-backed recommendations.

The company is also introducing a new set of SEO and AI visibility tools under what they call “AI Optimization.”

This includes everything from scanning how your site shows up in ChatGPT or other AI platforms, to identifying broken links, to suggesting better meta titles, descriptions and alt texts for search visibility.

On the design side, Squarespace is making websites more dynamic and customizable with its Finish Layer tools.

With professional-grade editing features that give users animation, layout, and responsive editing flexibility without needing a design degree.

Chief Product Officer Paul Gubbay summed up the update in one line: “With Refresh 2025, we are expanding our product suite by combining design expertise with AI-powered tools to make it easier to run a business while maintaining an authentic brand.”

How Is Beacon AI Different From Other AI Tools?

It is easy to dismiss AI announcements these days. After all, every platform from Shopify to Wix is pushing AI into their products.

But Beacon AI stands out because it does not just “generate text” or “design layouts”—it handles practical growth tasks that every business struggles with.

For example:

• It can compose detailed product descriptions from just a short input or even an image.
• It can recommend discounts tailored to your business model, making sure you boost sales without undercutting profits.
• It can generate FAQ sections that not only answer customer questions but also improve your chances of being cited in AI-driven search results.

This makes Beacon AI less of a “content gimmick” and more of a growth partner built into your site’s backend.

What Are the New SEO and AI Visibility Tools?

The Refresh 2025 update pays special attention to SEO not just traditional search, but the growing role of AI search engines like ChatGPT and Gemini.

Squarespace rolled out several scanners that analyze how visible your site is, where it’s falling short, and what you can fix immediately.

Here’s how they work in practice:

• AIO Scanner: Tracks where your website is being mentioned in AI platforms (like ChatGPT). It then creates personalized reports and visibility recommendations.
• SEO Scanner: Reviews your site’s content, headlines, and metadata, and suggests optimized copy that works for both Google search and AI overviews.
• AI Site Scanner: Monitors your website’s health such as broken links, slow-loading elements, and performance issues and provides quick fixes.

By merging AI visibility with classic SEO optimization, Squarespace is essentially saying: ranking in Google isn’t enough anymore—you need to be visible in AI conversations too.

What’s New for Design in Refresh 2025?

Squarespace has always marketed itself as the designer-friendly platform. With Refresh 2025, that reputation is being reinforced.

The Finish Layer feature introduces advanced tools like interactive block animations, responsive editing for mobile and even AI-generated image and video backgrounds.

These upgrades let small businesses and solopreneurs achieve the kind of polished design that once required a custom developer.

Meanwhile, Blueprint AI, which was previously focused on templates, now has a chat-based design assistant.

Instead of sifting through dozens of templates, users can describe what they want—“a minimalist portfolio with earthy tones,” for example and Blueprint AI will generate a design aligned with the brand’s identity.

There is even integration with Squarespace GPT, which allows users to build and customize sites directly inside ChatGPT using conversational prompts.

Why Does This Matter for Businesses in 2025?

The internet is entering a new phase where discovery does not only happen on Google. Consumers are increasingly turning to AI agents, chat platforms and smart assistants to find products, services, and answers.

This means businesses need tools that don’t just optimize for Google but for AI search visibility too.

With Squarespace’s AIO Scanner and Beacon AI, small businesses can track whether their brand is being recognized in AI-generated overviews and take action when it’s not.

It also levels the playing field: even a solo entrepreneur with zero coding experience can now compete with larger brands in terms of SEO visibility, design polish, and automation.

How Does Squarespace Compare to Competitors?

Wix, Shopify and WordPress have all added AI-driven features in recent months but many of these are surface-level.

For instance, Shopify’s AI helps with product description generation but it does not yet provide AI-based discounting or visibility reports for AI-driven search engines.

Wix has AI design tools but its SEO automation hasn’t caught up to AI search realities.

Squarespace is clearly positioning itself as the first to blend SEO + AI search visibility + business growth automation into one ecosystem. It is not about just building a prettier site but about being discoverable and profitable in an AI-first internet.

What’s Next for Squarespace Users?

The rollout of Refresh 2025 features is phased.

• Some tools, like the SEO Scanner and AI Product Composer, are already live, while others, such as AI video backgrounds and expanded Beacon AI automation, will be available later this year.
• For users, this means a year of experimentation and learning.

The key takeaway? Squarespace is turning into a unified AI-powered business hub.