Google Search Console Now Tracks Social Media Performance

Google Search is evolving beyond traditional website results. Today, your YouTube videos, Instagram posts, TikTok videos and X content can also appear in Google Search.

To help businesses and creators understand this visibility, Google has introduced social and video platform properties in Google Search Console.

This new capability allows you to see how your social media and video content performs when it appears in Google Search — giving you valuable insights that can help improve both your SEO and content strategy.

What Is the Google Search Console Social Media Update?

Google Search Console now allows eligible users to add platform properties for services such as YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and X.

Once connected, you can analyse how your content is performing in Google Search, rather than looking only at engagement metrics within each social platform.

Google can surface social and video content in search features such as short-video carousels, latest-post carousels and other content experiences.

This means your social media content can contribute to your overall Google Search visibility.

What Data Can You See?

The new platform properties provide useful performance insights, including:

• Impressions – How often your content appeared in Google Search.
• Clicks – How many clicks your content received from Google Search.
• CTR – The percentage of impressions that resulted in clicks.
• Average Position – How your content performed in Google Search.
• Search Queries – The terms people searched for when discovering your content.
• Content Performance – See which individual videos or posts are generating visibility and clicks.

This data can help answer an important question: Is our social media content actually being discovered through Google Search?

Why Should Businesses Add Their Social Media Properties?

For businesses investing in social media, likes, views and followers are only part of the picture.

Search Console can show you whether your social content is also reaching people through Google.

For example, you may discover that a YouTube video is appearing for valuable search terms, or that an Instagram Reel is receiving impressions from Google Search.

These insights can help you:

• Find new keyword opportunities
• Identify topics your audience is searching for
• Create better video and social content
• Understand which content formats perform best
• Repurpose successful content across platforms
• Connect your social media and SEO strategies

Google also allows you to compare different content formats, such as YouTube Shorts vs. videos or Instagram Reels vs. posts.

How to Add Your Social Media Property to Google Search Console

Adding your social media account is relatively straightforward.

1. Sign in to Google Search Console using the Google account that owns or manages the relevant social media channel.
2. Select the relevant social media property from the property selector.
3. Click Add.

If you want to track multiple platforms — for example, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and X — the relevant properties need to be set up separately.

What Does This Mean for SEO?

This update highlights an important change in modern search.

SEO is no longer only about ranking website pages. Businesses should also consider how their videos and social media content contribute to their overall Google Search visibility.

Your website, YouTube channel and social media profiles can work together as part of one broader content strategy.

For example, if Search Console shows that people are finding your YouTube videos through searches around a particular topic, you could use that insight to create:

• A new YouTube video
• An Instagram Reel
• A TikTok
• A blog article
• A service page
• Supporting social content

This creates opportunities to turn search data into a stronger content strategy.

Local Digital Experts’ Recommendation

At Local Digital Experts, we recommend that clients with a strong social media or video presence consider connecting their relevant platform properties to Google Search Console.

Once connected, our team can analyse the data alongside your existing SEO performance and identify opportunities to improve your content strategy.

The Bottom Line

Google is giving businesses more visibility into how their social and video content performs in Search.

If your business is actively using YouTube, Instagram, TikTok or X, connecting these platforms to Google Search Console can provide valuable insights into how potential customers discover your content through Google.

Want help setting up and analysing your social media Search Console data? Contact Local Digital Experts and our team can help you make the most of these new insights.