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Putting it to work
How to let ChatGPT find your Squarespace website
Check Squarespace site availability, crawler settings and page content, then measure real citations without confusing training controls with search access.
To make a Squarespace page available for AI search, confirm that it is public and review the site's crawler settings. Then test the published address and the effective rules, rather than treating a dashboard toggle as proof of a citation.
Keep the site's privacy decisions intact. A password-protected client page should not become public just because a checker cannot read it.
Where is the Squarespace AI crawler setting?
Squarespace's AI search guide gives this route:
- Open Settings.
- Select Crawlers.
- Review Block known artificial intelligence crawlers.
- If the site's intended policy permits that access, clear the blocking option.
- Test the public domain and an important published page again.
A broad AI control can cover several purposes. Review the current platform explanation and the rules it serves before assuming that the switch represents a precise search-only or training-only choice.
Write down the original setting, the approved change and the date. If someone else manages the website, ask them to review the policy instead of changing it without context.
What else can stop a page being available?
A site-wide crawler setting does not turn an unpublished or private page into a public one. Check the final page while signed out, with no customer or administrator session available.
Record whether the response is the intended page, a password screen, a redirect or an error. A normal visitor should be able to read the useful answer without opening a private account.
| Layer | What the observation establishes |
|---|---|
| Public site and page | A signed-out visitor can reach the content |
| Crawler rules | The declared policy for a bot and path |
| Successful request | Access worked for that request at that time |
| Search citation | A tested answer actually linked to the page |
| Referral visit | A visitor followed a link that analytics recorded |
The general crawl guide explains those layers. Keep the record precise so a missing citation is not repeatedly treated as the same technical fault.
How should I check the effective result?
Run the AI crawler checker against the primary HTTPS domain. Read its explanation and inspect any relevant path restriction. Keep a copy of the result with the page URL.
If a request is challenged or rejected, investigate the actual response with the platform or site manager. Do not remove a password from private material as a shortcut. Search systems decide independently whether accessible content belongs in an answer.
Use one deliberate change at a time where practical. If the page content, domain and crawler settings all change together, a later improvement is harder to attribute to a particular action.
Can Squarespace measure AI mentions itself?
Squarespace also documents an AI Visibility feature for English-language version 7.1 sites. It runs selected prompts and reports observed mentions or positions, with usage depending on the site's available credits. Review the displayed credit cost before running a set.
This is a different observation from the public access check. Keep the tested prompt and date, and distinguish questions containing the firm's name from questions that do not mention it.
A branded question can show whether a system recognises the business. A non-branded service question asks whether it chooses the business among possible answers. Report those groups separately instead of combining them into an unexplained success percentage.
What should a UK business put on its pages?
State the service clearly, including the actual location or area served and the next step a customer can take. A price needs its relevant conditions. An assistant should not have to infer whether a quote covers one visit, an ongoing subscription or a particular package.
For an independent UK studio, a public service page might answer what is included, who the service suits, how booking works and where work can be delivered. This is an illustrative editing brief, not a claim about a named client's results.
The answer-readiness checker can help inspect that text. Keep the firm's real contact and service details consistent across relevant public pages.
How do I know whether the work helped?
Use a repeatable visibility log with the same useful customer questions over time. Record the assistant, mode, date, cited URL and any resulting referral data.
Review several observations before claiming a pattern. A single answer can vary, and an access fix does not establish the cause of every later citation. The useful outcome is a clear record of what changed and what was actually observed.
Which questions come up most often?
Does the Crawlers toggle control every AI service identically?
Check the current platform explanation and effective rules. A broad switch is not proof of a separate search-only policy for each service.
Is Squarespace AI Visibility the same as a crawler test?
No. Prompt results are observed answers; a crawler check concerns access policy and responses.
Should private pages be public for AI search?
Keep private pages protected. Improve and test content deliberately published for prospective customers.
Where this comes from: Squarespace Help, Optimize your site for AI-powered search engines; controls and AI Visibility scope checked in current documentation; checked 30 October 2026. Worked examples are illustrative unless a source is named.
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AEO Lookup editorial team
We write practical guides for people who run small UK firms, and we check every fact against its source on the date shown. Read how we review, or tell us if something has changed.