Sitemaps for AI Overviews on Squarespace

Configure sitemaps for AI Overviews visibility on your Squarespace site.

AI Overviews pulls content from Google's search index to generate answers. If your Squarespace pages aren't properly indexed, they won't appear in AI responses. Your sitemap tells Google which pages exist and when they were updated. But Squarespace's default sitemap settings aren't optimized for AI visibility. Here's how to fix that.

The Problem

Squarespace auto-generates sitemaps, but they often exclude important pages or include bloated sections that dilute your authority. AI Overviews prioritizes recently crawled, high-quality pages. A poorly configured sitemap means Google might miss your best content or index outdated versions.

The Solution

You need to optimize Squarespace's sitemap to highlight your most valuable pages while removing noise. This means configuring what gets included, ensuring proper priority signals, and making sure Google can efficiently crawl your content. Most of this happens in Squarespace's SEO settings, with some manual verification.

Access your current sitemap structure

Go to yoursite.com/sitemap.xml to see what Squarespace is currently submitting. You'll see pages grouped by type: main pages, blog posts, products, events. Note which sections are bloated or include pages you don't want indexed, like thank-you pages or draft content.

Configure page indexing in SEO settings

In your Squarespace admin, go to Settings > SEO > Search Engine Optimization. Review each page's SEO settings. Turn off 'Enable in Search Results' for pages you don't want in AI Overviews: contact confirmations, archive pages, or duplicate content. This removes them from the sitemap entirely.

Optimize blog post inclusion

In Settings > Blogging, check 'Search Engine Optimization.' If you have hundreds of old posts, consider excluding older, irrelevant content from search results. AI Overviews often pulls from recent, relevant posts over archived content that might be outdated.

Set up proper URL structures

Go to Settings > SEO > URL Slugs and ensure clean, descriptive URLs for important pages. Avoid generic slugs like 'page-1' or 'untitled.' AI Overviews considers URL structure as a relevance signal, so descriptive paths help your content get selected.

Add structured data where possible

In the Code Injection section (Settings > Advanced > Code Injection), add structured data markup for key pages. Focus on FAQ schema for support pages, Product schema for services, and Organization schema for your About page. This helps AI Overviews understand your content context.

Submit and monitor in Search Console

Connect your site to Google Search Console and submit your sitemap manually at Search Console > Sitemaps. Add yoursite.com/sitemap.xml. Monitor the Coverage report to see which pages Google is indexing and fix any errors that prevent crawling.

Update content freshness signals

AI Overviews favors recently updated content. In each page's SEO settings, make sure the 'Last Modified' date updates when you make changes. For blog posts, update publication dates when you refresh content with new information.