Platform Properties is a new function in Google Search Console, showing us which keywords drive clicks to social posts and video content that feature in the search results.
This goes beyond our current ability to have a surface-level understanding of which keywords are surfacing brands’ Instagram, TikTok, X and YouTube content on Search – we can now understand exactly how audiences interact with these posts, helping close the gap that’s existed for years between SEO and social.
How Can Platform Properties Help a Holistic Search Campaign?
This new data helps us gain a stronger understanding of the specific keywords driving Clicks and Impressions to brands’ social profiles. This unlocks opportunities to further align cross-channel collaboration by integrating SEO keyword strategies with social media content production.
When we’re able to target the content of social media posts to specific topics and keywords where we know we’re cutting through in the search results, we can aim to make on-site and off-site content work in tandem to cover more SERP real estate on search terms that are most important for our brands.
The Changing Face of the Search Results
This update to GSC follows a change in July 2025, when Instagram changed its policy around search engine visibility. This meant business Instagram accounts being able to opt in to their content appearing in Google’s search results.
Essentially, Instagram posts could now function as searchable web content that people can discover through Google, not just through Instagram itself. Compared to even just a few years ago, a search results page in 2026 is much more likely to be packed with video, UGC and AI-generated content.
What Does This Mean for Your Social Media Strategy?
Gemma Broughton, Iff’s Senior Performance Marketing Manager, sees this as a really helpful step from Google: “This update breaks the black box of understanding what drives discovery for social content. Until now, we’ve been able to see how a post performs once users find it, but had no idea what search terms actually brought them there in the first place.”
“We’ll finally get to see intent, not just engagement, and gain a deeper understanding of what users are trying to solve/achieve when they search. This provides a whole new perspective for content planning, from a strategic POV down to writing titles and captions for search intent.”
Furthermore, Gemma is positive on the potential impact of Platform Properties to help Paid Social efforts: “Organic social content is often a goldmine for ad inspiration, and with search data now showing you which content drives discovery, we’ll have sharper signals for scroll-stopping hooks. Adapting those angles into Meta Andromeda-friendly Paid Social ads can help unlock more reach.”
How to Enable ‘Platform Properties’ in GSC
Google Search Central shared the following on how to implement Platform Properties, with this coming available to users across summer 2026:
- Open Search Console.
- Go to the Search Console verification page, or open the property selector drop-down anywhere in Search Console and click “Add property.”
- Select one of the four available platforms: Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube.
- Follow the onscreen verification steps to securely authorize the connection.
Source: Google Search Central
Unlocking New Keyword Opportunities in GSC
In this new landscape, Platform Properties opens up new opportunities to identify high-intent keywords from social assets, which can then be tested in on-site SEO and Paid campaigns, further highlighting just how valuable the opportunities of a cross-channel approach can be.
This also adds another string to the bow of social media campaigns, unlocking the benefits of social campaigns to boost brand visibility even further in an increasingly ‘SEO Everywhere’ world.
What Would We Like to See Next from Search Companies?
Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools are offering more and more functionality as search evolves at an increasingly fast rate. The obvious next steps from an SEO perspective would be to gain deeper insights about how users interact with Gen AI results (Clicks data to go with those Impressions, Google…), however it also hints at how much more data must be waiting to be unlocked. What extra information would you like to see those platforms share?
To help your brand stay ahead of the curve in the new landscape, reach out to the team at Iff Digital for a chat about how we can help your brand.