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Instagram Content Now Appearing in Google Search
Instagram posts are now showing up in Google search results. As of 10 July 2025, Google has started indexing public Instagram posts – meaning that your posts could show up in Google search results for relevant searches.
Specifically…
Instagram is allowing public content from professional accounts to appear in search results on Google and other search engines. So if you’ve got a business or a creator account on Instagram, your content could now be indexed and surfaced in organic search results.
What does this Instagram update actually mean?
Your Instagram content could gain additional exposure if people are searching for specific topics related to your Instagram posts. There’s potential that your Instagram profile will receive more organic traffic as a result of being displayed in search results. And your Instagram content will be seen by more potential customers or supporters. It’s also worth noting that Your Instagram content now has a longer shelf life and can appear in search results long after it was published.
Does the change apply to all Instagram content?
No.
The change will apply to posts and reels on public business or creator accounts that have search engine indexing enabled.
Content from private or personal Instagram accounts will not appear in search results. Nor will public posts from creators under the age of 18.
For eligible accounts, Posts and Reels will be indexed. Stories and Lives won’t be indexed.
What do you need to do differently?
If you want your Instagram content to be optimized for search engines:
Search engine indexing
Ensure search engine indexing is enabled within your Instagram account. Firstly you’ll need to make sure you have a business or creator account that is set to public. Then go to “settings” > “Who can see your content” > “Account privacy” > toggle on “Allow public photos and videos to appear in search engine results”. This should have been switched on automatically for all public accounts on 10 July 2025. (To switch it off, follow the same steps but toggle to off).
Keywords
Decide which keywords (search terms) you want your content to show up in search results for. (You may want to research the popular phrases that people search for in your niche. As a general rule, the more specific the keyword, the higher your chance of ranking in search results).
Captions
Ensure your captions include those keywords (and other contextual signals to show relevance to those keywords).
ALT text
Ensure your images include ALT text. (ALT text is a written description of an image to help people using screen readers understand what the image is showing). Search engines use ALT text to understand the content of your image, giving the search engines further context to your post helping the search engine to assess your post’s relevance to the search. (Scroll down to the bottom of your post, select more options, tap Accessibility and Translation and then ‘Write Alt text’).
File names
Image file names. Although, Meta doesn’t share your image file names publicly, search engines can access them. Naming your image files with clear, descriptive file names, will give search engines more context when indexing your posts. (If you want to rename existing file names, you will need to be on a desktop (not mobile) and right-click the file then select ‘rename’).
Hashtags
Align hashtags to relevant keywords to help surface posts in search results.
Further Considerations
Skillsets
The boundaries between PR, social and search are becoming more and more blurred. That’s not a bad thing, but we do need to consider whether we’ve got the right skills in the right places. If your SEO team aren’t already talking to your social team, they need to be. Lots of SEO best practice will apply to discoverability on social.
If you need to upskill your team (either broadly in SEO fundamentals, or more specifically in social search), I’ve got online courses launching soon on both of these topics. Send me a message and I’ll add you to the waitlist so that you can get discounted rates when they launch.
Planning
Social creators will also need to carefully consider the impact of context (or lack of) on their posts. Posts created for a specific audience at a specific time may now gain broader visibility through search engines after the social relevance has faded. This needs to be considered when planning content – is the post designed to engage existing audiences or attract new audiences? And of the latter, will the post still make sense in 3-6 months time?
Whilst you can’t control which of your social posts are surfaced in search results, some content will more naturally lend itself to a longer shelf-life than others (educational content for example). This content will become your evergreen content on social, so optimise this content effectively and plan for it to make sense regardless of when it is surfaced.
Tracking
As boundaries blur, so too does our ability to track supporter journeys. To understand what’s working, we’ll need to combine insights like keyword visibility, traffic sources and click through rates, with platform native metrics such as reach, and engagement. It’s rumored that Google Search Console will reflect performance data for Instagram content around relevant queries. Whilst, Instagram Insights will categorise incoming traffic from search engines under “External sources”.
If you think your measurement frameworks and reporting templates might need some work, feel free to get in touch.
Onward journeys
With search engines now driving traffic to social media, consider what you want these audiences to do next. Can they learn about your offer or take an appropriate action (an email sign up or a donation for example) directly from your social profile?
Conclusion
This Instagram update represents a real opportunity for your Instagram content to be seen by more potential supporters. But more than this, it represents a shift in how content is discovered, and a fluidity between channels.
Want to find out more? We’ve got an online course on Social Search launching soon. If you’d like a discounted rate, send us a message titled ‘social search waitlist’. Hope to see you in The Den soon.
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