Why Your Squarespace or Wix SEO Stopped Working and What to Do About It

Last Updated:
August 13, 2025

Optimize your site for the new AI-driven search. Learn how to improve your visibility and attract more visitors without complex coding.

AI and SEO: What’s Changing, and Why It Matters if You’re on Squarespace or Wix

Why This Matters

Ever noticed your web traffic taking a mysterious dip, despite your best SEO efforts? You’re not alone. Search engines have quietly raised the bar. Google’s new AI Overviews, Bing’s push for smart answers, and other so-called “helpful” search upgrades mean that people now get straight answers, often without ever leaving the search page.

If you’re running your business or personal site on Squarespace, Wix, or any similar builder, this shift is more significant than a technical tweak. Suddenly, you could find the number of visitors to your online shop dropping off, with your hard work propping up someone else’s AI-generated summary instead of bringing people through your virtual door.

The real kicker here is that your easy-to-use site builder gives you excellent basics for SEO, but the search landscape has changed. Modern AI acts like a fussy librarian, cherry-picking only what it decides are the most helpful and authoritative answers. The rest gets quietly filed away where no one ever finds it.

To put it simply, if your site doesn’t answer real questions, offer a fresh point of view, or show authority, you vanish from the results people actually see. That can cost you actual business. No one wants their website to become the overlooked, dusty book on the shelf.

Common Pitfalls

Before you panic and start rewriting everything, let’s name the usual traps that Squarespace and Wix users stumble into:

Assuming the Platform Will “Do SEO for You.” Wix and Squarespace automate the boring parts: clean code, fast hosting, decent security. But as for getting Google or Bing to love your content? Sorry, you can’t press a button for that.
Thin Content or Generic Text. “Welcome to my shop, we offer great products”—that’s not SEO, that’s beige wallpaper. AI-driven search spots this instantly, shrugs, and moves on.
Setting and Forgetting. An About page written in 2017 and never touched since? AI algorithms now look for freshness. Stale content sinks.
Missing Key Tools. Squarespace and Wix both have SEO options: custom URLs, meta descriptions, and image alt text. However, most users don’t touch them, or worse, leave the default “Home” and “Untitled” page titles everywhere.
Chasing Vanity Keywords. Trying to rank for “best photographer” globally from a studio in Luton. Spoiler: You’ll never beat the billion-pound competition.

Each of these issues reduces your chances of showing up when people search for exactly what you do best. Fortunately, the fixes are straightforward, and you don’t need to be a coder to succeed at this.

Step-by-Step Fix

If AI is going to change the rules, adjust your approach. Here’s how to upgrade your site content and SEO settings, step by step.

1. Review Your Content Like a Customer

First, resist the urge to guess what’s working. Look up your top pages in Google Analytics or your built-in Squarespace/Wix stats. Which pages actually get visits? Turn a sharp eye on those.

Ask yourself:

Does this page answer a specific question or solve a real problem?
Would a newcomer find useful, up-to-date info here, or is it a dusty old sales pitch?
If you arrived from Google, would you stay, or bounce back for a better answer?

If your main page on “wedding cakes” gives less info than Tesco’s online shop, Google’s AI will just keep sending traffic there instead.

Pixelhaze Tip: Instead of rewriting every single page at once, pick your best-performing two or three. Give them the treatment first and build from there. You’ll see results faster, and it won’t feel like you’re painting the Forth Bridge.

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2. Freshen Up What Matters

AI is always looking for recently updated and genuinely useful content. The good news is you don’t have to publish War and Peace every week, but you do need to show signs of life. Here’s how:

Update dates and data (“2024’s top three eco paints for your lounge” instead of “our favourite tips”).
Rewrite intro paragraphs to reflect the latest info or trends.
Add a new Q&A or mini case study at the end of a popular article.
Audit product or service pages for dead links and out-of-date “offers”.

Regular tweaks send a message that your site is alive, reduces bounce rates, and boosts your credibility, which AI values when picking the ‘best answer’.

Pixelhaze Tip: Schedule a 30-minute content “review slot” once a month. Fix broken links, add a fresh stat, or tackle one nagging typo. It’s easier to keep up than fall behind and have to do a full content rescue job later.

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3. Use Every SEO Setting Your Platform Gives You

Website builders want your success stories. That’s why they include plenty of SEO settings. The problem is that most people leave them blank, or fill them with copy-paste descriptions.

Take a tour through your platform’s SEO panel:

Give every page a meaningful title. “Contact” is not as helpful as “Book a Free Consultation | Elm Avenue Physio”.
Fill in meta descriptions that actually sell the click: “See how our Luton bakery makes vegan wedding cakes to order.” Don’t stuff keywords, but offer a preview that’s snappy and to the point.
Set alt text for every image. Describe what’s actually in the image and why it matters, not “image123.jpg” or “photo”.

Both Wix and Squarespace let you individually tweak URLs, hide “untitled” pages from Google, and set custom Open Graph text for better sharing on Facebook or Twitter. Take advantage of these options.

Pixelhaze Tip: Keep a simple SEO checklist by your desk. Every time you publish or edit, do a quick pass: page title, meta description, custom URL, meaningful image alt text. It takes minutes and works wonders for your search presence.

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4. Build Real-World Authority Instead of Focusing Solely on Keywords

You can’t trick AI with keyword-stuffing anymore. What it wants is evidence that you know your stuff, and that people trust you. Here are some ways to demonstrate your authority:

Add customer reviews, testimonials, or case studies.
Link to (and from) credible third-party sources, such as local news, partners, or trade bodies.
Show off awards, relevant qualifications, or press coverage.
Publish how-to guides, video walkthroughs, or short explainers that prove you solve real problems for real people.
Encourage others to mention your site through features in community blogs, business directories, or local events pages.

AI measures this authority and rewards it with higher visibility or even a mention in its answer cards.

Pixelhaze Tip: Highlight the stories in your business. Did you solve a quirky customer problem, launch a new workshop, or get a feature in the local paper? Write it up as a blog post or news update for a fresh, authentic authority boost every time.

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5. Diversify Content Types for Greater Reach

Offering information in different ways gives you more opportunities to appear in search, especially in AI-curated snippets, People Also Ask boxes, and video showcases.

Try these approaches:

Write an FAQ section answering your customers’ most common questions.
Create a “how-to” with clickable steps and photos (e.g. “How to Change a Bicycle Tube in 5 Minutes”).
Share a quick tip video or a demonstration right on your page (Wix Video and Squarespace Video Blocks make this simple).
Break up chunky text with bulleted lists, pull-out quotes, and headlines. This approach helps both readers and search engines.

Pixelhaze Tip: Let your personality come through in your content. If your cake shop FAQ explains, “No, we won’t make a wedding cake that’s shaped like a flaming badger,” readers will remember you. AI also prefers specific and unique content it can quote.

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6. Track, Tweak, and Repeat

SEO needs ongoing attention. Once your updates are live, watch how they perform using your analytics—do rankings or clicks improve after your changes? Which topics attract the most visits?

Squarespace and Wix provide clear analytics dashboards showing where users go, how long they stay, and what brings them to your site. If something underperforms, try testing alternate headlines, images, or a different page arrangement.

Pixelhaze Tip: Don’t chase perfection from the start. Digital tweaks are easy to undo or refine, and you’ll learn faster from small adjustments than waiting for one perfect page.

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What Most People Miss

The real difference between ticking SEO boxes and truly succeeding in today’s AI-powered search comes down to giving solid proof that you’re the best answer, not just another website.

Most people:

Think having a website is enough, as if Google’s a friendly doorman.
Forget to update, refresh, or expand their content, making it easy for AI to overlook them.
Focus only on what they want to sell and ignore what users actually ask.

Those who succeed take a different approach. They get obsessive about solving real problems for real people. They check which questions their customers ask every day and weave those answers into updated articles, quick videos, or case studies. They keep things current, trustworthy, and express their true voice.

To get ahead, move past bland content. Use your real perspective, update with intention, and let your personality show. AI looks for uniqueness and expertise that only you can offer.

The Bigger Picture

After you make changes for the AI-driven era, your site stands out instead of blending into the background. Visitors find what they need, get answers quickly, and gain trust in your knowledge about your field.

This approach pays off in concrete ways:

You save time by focusing only on content that gets results.
Your reputation as an expert grows as more people find and cite your answers, including coveted search engine features.
By relying on solid content and authority, you worry less about new algorithm updates.
You build genuine connections with visitors—repeat customers and advocates who help spread the word about your business.

This change is about more than simply “keeping up.” You now have the opportunity to become the go-to resource for your industry, even as the rules continue to evolve.

FAQ

How does AI change SEO for website builders?
AI tools in Google and Bing now show direct answers, summaries, and highlight “top sources.” If your site isn’t seen as authoritative, useful, or up-to-date, you may see less traffic. The algorithm rewards the best answers, not just whoever has the most pages.

Can Squarespace or Wix sites compete with bigger platforms?
Absolutely. While you might not outrank Wikipedia or major news sites, with specific, high-quality answers for your audience you can still land “featured snippet” spots, answer cards, and strong local search rankings. Size matters less than relevance and usefulness.

What SEO tools should I use on Wix or Squarespace?
Both offer custom titles, URLs, meta descriptions, image alt text, and clean sitemaps. Squarespace’s SEO panel and Wix’s “SEO Wiz” are your friends—work through every setting for every key page. Double-check for untitled or blank pages.

How often should I update my site?
There’s no universal answer, but monthly reviews are a good habit. Weekly updates on your most important or rapidly changing pages (news, offers, events) help signal freshness.

If I’m not techie, can I still do all this?
Yes. Everything in this guide is achievable without coding or plugins. The key is to focus on clarity, honesty, and helpfulness. AI prioritizes straightforward and valuable information. Take it step by step.

Jargon Buster

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
The set of tactics and tweaks that help your website appear higher up in search results, from keywords and titles to fast loading speeds and good reviews.

AI (Artificial Intelligence)
Smarter computer systems that read content, identify patterns, and make decisions, such as what answers to show when someone Googles a question.

Meta Description
A short snippet (155–160 characters) that explains what your page is about, shown on search engine results pages.

Alt Text
A description of an image specifically added for people using screen readers, but also helps search engines understand what your pictures show.

Algorithm
The recipe (part secret, part public) that Google and others use to decide which web pages show up where in their search results.

Featured Snippet
A highlighted answer that appears above the usual search results, offering top visibility.

Common Pitfalls Quick Recap

Leaving SEO fields blank or on the default setting
Chasing overly broad or irrelevant keywords
Overlooking updates to keep content fresh and alive
Ignoring analytics and missing what your visitors really want
Piling up similar, short, or thin pages with near-identical info
Mistaking “unique” for simply swapping out words, instead of demonstrating true expertise

Wrap-Up

AI is updating the SEO rulebook, but you don’t need to be an engineer to stay ahead. Use your website builder’s SEO tools fully, keep your content current, and focus on answering your audience’s questions better than anyone else.

Your site’s success in the AI era relies on relevance, trust, and clarity. No machine can fake your expertise. Keep it genuine, keep it accurate, and make sure your best content sees the light.

For more useful guides like this, join Pixelhaze Academy for free at https://www.pixelhaze.academy/membership.