LONG URL + Custom SEO Permalinks failing (404 Error)

[Crystalbesh]

To Square Online Support,

I am reaching out regarding a persistent technical failure with the SEO Permalink feature on my Square Online store

The Problem: Custom permalinks set within the Item Editor’s SEO settings are not generating functional URLs. While the "Edit SEO" section allows for a custom slug, the live site ignores this and forces a long, auto-generated string.

Example Case:

• Permalink:  /product/heirloom-roses-silk-scarf

• Actual Live URL: https://crystal-beshara.square.site/product/heirloom-roses-silk-scarf/ONLOOFUKNKNVFIOAAXEKSLI3?cp=true&sa=false&sbp=false&q=false&category_id=PRFVQ5H3SLLIZBJ6ICMOS5RV
  
   

• Tested Desired Permalink: In my browser, even when I manually delete the extra tracking ID (ugly long slug: ONLOOFUKNKNVFIOAAXEKSLI3?cp=true&sa=false&sbp=false&q=false&category_id=PRFVQ5H3SLLIZBJ6ICMOS5RV )  to test the clean permalink I created ( https://crystal-beshara.square.site/product/heirloom-roses-silk-scarf), the page returns a 404 error...

  • Troubleshooting Already Performed:

    1. Edited the item > Scrolled to SEO > Customized the Permalink.

    2. Updated SEO Title and Description.

    3. Published the site multiple times.

    4. Cleared browser cache and tested in Incognito mode.

       I am aware that this has been a reported issue in community forums for several years since 2020. Please do not provide the standard instructions on how to find the SEO settings; I have already followed those steps and they do not work.
       
       

       Why this is a critical issue for my business:

       1. User Trust: The auto-generated URLs look like "spam" links to my customers.

          Platform Restrictions: These links are too long for Google Business Profile products and certain social media platforms.

          SEO & Marketing: The inability to use a clean, human-readable URL defeats the purpose of the SEO tool entirely and hurts my brand’s professional appearance.

          Is there a back-end fix to ensure that the "Custom Permalink" actually acts as a functional URL redirect rather than just metadata? If this is a known limitation of the platform, please clarify why the option exists in the UI.

[Casokitadi]

I ran into a similar URL issue and found that merging custom permalinks with broader SEO fixes worked better when I started using SEO AI to analyze the full site structure. For my own store, SEO AI helped spot the redirect gaps and clean up the slug generation process, which reduced those auto-generated strings significantly.