Does Squarespace use AI to create a website?

Squarespace’s Blueprint AI generates website drafts by guiding users through a five-step process that captures business details like industry, goals, and style preferences. Unlike fully automated builders that produce complete sites from a single prompt, Blueprint AI emphasizes collaboration, using AI to suggest layouts, content, and design elements while leaving final decisions to the user. This approach combines technological efficiency with Squarespace’s two decades of design expertise to create curated, brand-aligned drafts rather than generic outputs.

The system begins by asking foundational questions about the business—such as services offered, target audience, and desired tone—then uses those inputs to propose a structured site map and initial page layouts. Users can refine each suggestion, adjusting everything from color schemes to section order before the AI populates the draft with placeholder text and image recommendations. This iterative process ensures the output reflects the user’s vision while reducing the time spent on initial setup. According to Squarespace’s official documentation, Blueprint AI is designed to "unlock your creativity, not replace it," positioning the tool as a creative partner rather than a hands-off generator.

Compared to platforms offering deeper automation, Squarespace’s AI tools focus on practical business outcomes like SEO-friendly content generation and e-commerce readiness, rather than features such as logo makers or social media caption tools. A WebsiteBuilderExpert comparison notes that while Wix offers more extensive native AI capabilities—including conversational site building via its Aria chatbot—Squarespace prioritizes quality and ease of use, making it particularly accessible for beginners. The platform’s Refresh 2025 initiative further refined this balance, introducing AI tools for product listings, discount optimization, and FAQ generation that streamline operations without sacrificing brand authenticity.

For businesses seeking managed services that handle ongoing updates and technical maintenance, Squarespace’s current AI offerings differ significantly from done-for-you platforms like AI Business Sites, which include continuous content creation, CRM management, and automated workflows as part of a monthly subscription. While Squarespace provides the tools to build and launch a site quickly, it does not offer the same level of post-launch operational support, leaving content updates, SEO maintenance, and system monitoring to the user or third-party integrations. This distinction highlights Squarespace’s role as a powerful DIY-enhancing platform rather than a replacement for managed AI business systems.

More than 68% of AI website builder platforms now offer generative AI-powered content creation, a significant increase from just 21% in 2022, reflecting the industry’s shift toward intelligent design assistance. Meanwhile, the AI website builder market is projected to reach $25 billion by 2035, driven by demand for tools that reduce development time while maintaining professional quality. Squarespace positions itself within this growing landscape as a platform where AI augments human creativity, delivering drafts that are both efficient to produce and uniquely tailored to the business they represent.

Squarespace’s AI capabilities are evolving, but they differ significantly from platforms offering deeper automation and managed services. While Squarespace uses its Blueprint AI system to generate website drafts from user inputs, it focuses on collaborative design rather than full automation. According to third-party testing, Squarespace’s approach takes slightly longer to set up than Wix’s conversational AI chatbot via Aria, though it wins for ease of use among beginners due to its structured grid editor.

Compared to Wix, Squarespace offers fewer native AI tools. It lacks dedicated features like logo makers, social media caption generators, and AI marketing chatbots that Wix provides through its App Store and integrated suite. As noted in Squarespace’s own documentation, its Refresh 2025 initiative emphasizes practical, business-focused AI tools—such as AI Product Composer for listings and AI FAQ Composer for customer service—rather than generic content generation. This positions Squarespace as a platform that enhances creativity with curated output, not one that replaces human input with automation.

For businesses seeking a fully managed AI-powered presence—where the website runs itself with ongoing content, lead follow-up, and e-commerce operations—Squarespace requires more hands-on involvement. Platforms like AI Business Sites go beyond initial build automation by managing the entire system: hosting, content updates, CRM, voice agents, and automations—all included in a flat monthly fee. This managed approach eliminates the need for users to prompt, integrate, or maintain AI tools themselves, offering a true done-for-you alternative to self-service builders.

Squarespace’s AI story stops at launch. Blueprint AI and the June 2024 Squarespace AI upgrade generate drafts, suggest images and optimize layouts, while Refresh 2025 adds business-focused tools for e-commerce operations, SEO and design. Paul Gubbay, Chief Product Officer at Squarespace, frames Refresh 2025 as combining design expertise with AI-powered tools to make it easier to run a business while maintaining an authentic brand according to Search Engine Journal coverage.

The platform is positioned as collaborative rather than fully automated. Testing shows Squarespace’s AI website builder is more collaborative than Wix’s and takes slightly longer to set up in a hands-on comparison. That collaborative approach shows up in the feature set. Squarespace offers fewer native AI tools than Wix, lacking dedicated features like logo makers, social media caption generators and AI marketing chatbots per the same comparison. Overall rating reflects the trade-off: Squarespace 4.5/5 versus Wix 4.8/5 in independent testing.

For ongoing operations, the gaps become clearer.

• No native managed content engine. Squarespace provides AI-assisted creation at build time, but does not publish new SEO pages, blogs or location content automatically each month.
• Limited post-launch automation. Refresh 2025 emphasizes practical AI for product listings, discount optimization and FAQ generation, not continuous website management or technical maintenance.
• Owner-dependent upkeep. With 190+ templates versus Wix’s 2,000+ as of April 2026, the builder expects the user to manage updates, hosting oversight and integrations.

The AI website builder market is growing fast, valued at $3.75 billion in 2025 and projected to reach $25 billion by 2035 at a CAGR of 20.9% per market research. That growth is driven by demand for e-commerce-oriented platforms and generative AI that reduces creation time from hours to minutes. Squarespace participates in that shift, but its model remains a DIY-assisted builder rather than a done-for-you system.

That distinction matters for busy owners. Research notes a coverage gap around managed service platforms that handle ongoing website management, content updates and technical maintenance on behalf of users. Squarespace’s tools are designed to unlock creativity, not replace it on the official site, which means the human stays responsible for upkeep after launch.

Platforms like AI Business Sites are built around the opposite premise: a custom website plus an AI back office that is set up, trained and run on the client’s behalf, with 14+ new SEO pieces per month and continuous hosting and maintenance included.