As of the 10th of July 2025, content that businesses post on Instagram may show up in Google search, as well as in other search engines like Bing.
For a long time, other social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube have allowed their content to appear in search, so what Instagram is doing isn’t new. Until now, you’ve also been able to see Instagram profiles in search.
The change is that you can now see individual items of Instagram content in search, giving businesses with Instagram accounts the opportunity to be seen across a broader platform. That means more visibility to potential new customers.
Instagram in Search
During your own searching, you’ll have probably already seen content from other social platforms pop up in the results. Sometimes a single business will appear multiple times for the same search because they have a website, a Facebook post, a YouTube video and a LinkedIn profile. Not only does such dominance provide more visibility for a business, it drowns out the competitors by not leaving enough space for their profiles to be displayed. Take a look at my guide to SEO and social media for a more detailed look at this.
It’s worth noting that, despite historically requesting that Google not show its content in search, Instagram content has fairly frequently appeared in search results nonetheless, even before the 10th of July. However, the social platform’s change in policy will hopefully mean more results in Google searches, and will boost Instagram’s visibility on other search engines that historically honoured the platform’s request to not display content.
What Instagram Content is Displayed in Search?
Since the 10th of July 2025, photos, videos, carousels, and reels from Instagram have all been visible in search.
However, this feature is only available for professional and creator accounts. So if you’re running your business’s Instagram on a personal account, your content won’t be able to show up in off-platform search (though it can still appear on search within the Instagram platform itself). It’s easy enough to switch – without losing your previous posts – with Instagram’s step-by step instructions to creating a business account.
You can also opt out of your content showing on Google by going to your Instagram settings, selecting Privacy, and opting out.
What This Means for Your Business and SEO
More Visibility
For businesses who have professional Instagram accounts, this change should be a good thing: as already discussed, it can boost your visibility, and get you seen by new potential clients. For businesses with only an Instagram account (i.e. not Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, etc.), the change has extra benefits as it allows for visibility where you may not already have had any. And, it gives users a quick, easy way to follow your company and see your content regularly, which isn’t always possible on your website (unless you have a newsletter).
However, it’s worth noting that there’s no guarantee that your content will show up in search just because you’ve posted something on Instagram. It’s still important to have a good social strategy, to create content that’s interesting to your target audience, and to utilise great imagery. Even then, there are no guarantees, but the additional option allows more opportunity.
Website Traffic Changes
If you monitor your traffic with software like Google Analytics, then you may start seeing some changes to traffic distribution. It’s possible that users who would have previously clicked through from search directly to your website now may go to Instagram instead. That would mean an apparent drop in traffic to your website, even though users are still seeing your content.
On the other hand, if users then visited your website from your Instagram profile, after finding Instagram in search, it may affect traffic source information (i.e. the detail on where your website traffic comes from). Someone going directly to your website via Google would display as organic traffic. If they instead go from search to Instagram to your website, their source may show as organic social or referral traffic. It all depends on how traffic is assigned in your account – a setting you can change but which we won’t go into here. Just be aware that distribution of your analytics data may change.
Managing Content
Whether this change greatly impacts your website traffic is yet to be seen, and will likely vary from business to business. Traffic could drop because users instead go to Instagram, or it could increase because users get to your website via extra Instagram visibility. Either way, to get the best results from this change, continue providing good-quality content on both your website and Instagram account; ensure your branding is strong and consistent throughout; and use calls to action in your Instagram content to drive people to your website, where you can better understand their behaviour and send them through a sales funnel.
Conclusion
Though social media accounts appearing in search isn’t new, Instagram’s willingness to be ranked indicates a shift in policy. This can mean greater visibility for businesses with professional or creator Instagram accounts, though it may also lead to a drop in website traffic as users opt to view your social profile instead.