Instagram content on Google? Here’s what’s changing
From 10 July 2025, Instagram will begin allowing search engines to index and display public photos and videos from professional accounts in search results. That means the content you post, including Reels, carousel posts and videos, may soon appear on Google for anyone to find, not just your followers.
Instagram says the update is designed to increase visibility and discovery, especially for creators and businesses who post consistently but may not yet have large followings.
This could mark a real shift in how brands approach their social strategy. Until now, organic reach was largely limited to the Instagram platform itself. But this change opens up the possibility of reaching new audiences without relying solely on in-app algorithms
Our Paid Social expert Liv had this to say:
This could be a really positive change for businesses investing in their social media content and creative. These changes are likely to improve organic reach across other platforms. Making it even more worthwhile for brands, regardless of their follower count, to put effort into their socials.We will definitely see a shift in what we are seeing across social media. As a platform where creative once carried the majority of performance, it will now see the importance of strong, relevant copy more than before. Ensuring your copy isn't going to capture the wrong people organically on google is going to be a new challenge, and will probably take a little while to master. I have a feeling we going to start to see a comeback of hashtags on every social post!
There’s also a fresh challenge. As Instagram content starts appearing on search engines, the way brands write captions will become even more important. What works as a playful or punchy line in-app might look confusing or off-message out of context on Google.
Strong, relevant copy will matter more than ever. And we might even see the return of hashtags on every post as creators look to guide search visibility beyond the app.
If you’d prefer to keep things more private, you can opt out in your account settings. But for many businesses, this could be a valuable opportunity to make social content work harder and go further.