Redefining Square’s organic content strategy for AI search
Overview
Following Google’s March 2025 core update and a broader shift toward AI-driven search, Square saw steep declines in organic traffic to our content marketing business publication, The Bottom Line. I was tasked with helping recover that traffic across priority global markets while redefining our content strategy to keep Square visible in both traditional and AI-generated search.
My Role
I led the editorial strategy for this workstream, setting content priorities and aligning Editorial, SEO, Affiliate, and Integrated Content Strategy around the topics most important to the business.
Strategy and Execution
Rather than treating editorial, SEO/GEO, and affiliate as separate efforts, I aligned them around shared business priorities for consistent messaging. For example, when Square was focused on growing awareness among quick-service restaurants, I made sure our editorial coverage, organic search strategy, and affiliate efforts all reinforced that same topic.
We concentrated on areas where Square already had strong expertise and business relevance, including point of sale, payments, and food and beverage. Alongside traditional SEO improvements, we introduced clearer structure, FAQs, proprietary data, and answer-focused sections to help AI engines better understand and cite our content.
Throughout the work, we kept the content human-first: every change needed to improve the reader experience, not just make content easier for machines to parse.
Results
Published and updated 100+ pieces of content across the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia in Q3 2025.
Increased unique visitors by 41%, helping reverse earlier traffic declines.
Increased AI citations by ~500% on average across priority topics within the first several months.
