Squarespace Releases AI Visibility Report and New Discovery Tool.

Small business owners are largely in the dark about how AI describes their businesses online. Squarespace released a report this week showing that 78% of small business owners don't know where to start when it comes to AI search visibility, and most have never even checked what AI systems say about them.

The company is responding with a new AI Visibility tool designed to help businesses understand and improve how they appear in AI-powered search results and chatbot responses. The announcement comes as AI-driven search through platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google Gemini increasingly shapes how customers discover businesses.

The research reveals a significant awareness problem. While traditional SEO has become table stakes for online businesses, AI search represents uncharted territory for most small business owners. Unlike Google's traditional search results, where business owners can at least see their rankings and click-through rates, AI systems summarize and synthesize information in ways that are often opaque to the businesses being described.

Squarespace's AI Visibility tool aims to bridge this gap by showing business owners exactly how AI systems currently represent their businesses and providing actionable steps to improve that representation. The tool scans how various AI platforms interpret and describe a business based on its online presence, then offers specific recommendations for optimization.

AI-powered search fundamentally changes customer discovery. When someone asks an AI assistant to recommend a local photographer or suggest marketing consultants, the AI synthesizes information from across the web to form its response. Businesses that haven't optimized for this new reality risk being overlooked entirely, even if they have strong traditional SEO.

The tool addresses several key challenges:

• Discoverability: Ensuring AI systems can find and accurately describe your business
• Accuracy: Correcting misinformation or outdated details AI may surface
• Competitive positioning: Understanding how you compare to similar businesses in AI responses
• Structured data: Implementing markup that helps AI systems parse your offerings

Squarespace positions the feature as complementary to their existing SEO tools. Following their recent expansion into financial services, the company continues building out capabilities that help small businesses compete in an increasingly AI-mediated marketplace.

The AI Visibility tool is available now to Squarespace customers through their marketing dashboard. The company says it will continue updating the tool as AI search evolves, adding support for new platforms and refining recommendations based on what works.

For businesses not on Squarespace, the underlying principles still apply. Focus on structured data, maintain consistent information across platforms, and actively manage your online presence with AI consumption in mind. The days when search optimization meant targeting only traditional search engines are over.