Google’s social shift: five new features to know

2026 seems to be the year that the connection between social media, search behaviour and SEO is being fully recognised. This summer a wave of new tech releases supporting this are becoming available to make the data more visible and actionable for us all.

You will have noticed that Google increasingly serves up social content in their search results. Why are they doing this now more than ever? While no absolute figures exist, it’s clear that social media platforms outproduce traditional web in terms of daily content publishing. For example, YouTube alone reports over 20 million video uploads per day, and by comparison, WordPress (one of the largest traditional-web publishing systems) has historically reported about 2-3 million per day.

More importantly, Google is responding to demand. 35% of Millennials and 46% of Gen Zs prefer social media as their go-to search engine (2024 US Forbes Advisor survey). This means they will type what they want to know directly into YouTube, Instagram, TikTok to find a video with the answers, and not Google. AI use is climbing in the ranking too, but data shows that all three (traditional search, social and AI) are used in a cycle during research as users bounce between them to gather the information they need.

In the built-environment, a potential client, resident or stakeholder might:

• Hear about a project through LinkedIn or Instagram.
• Ask AI for a summary
• Google the relevant names they read in connection with this
• Visit the website to dive deeper into the project details and visuals
• Return to social media for the most recent updates and evidence of activity.

This network of behaviour can begin and end anywhere in the list. Your digital footprint needs to be well rounded and interconnected to create the right impression and land your messages consistently.

And new features are dropping all summer to support this connection. Watch out for:

Google Discover is expanding social content. Since late 2025 and expanding.

Google has increased the amount of Instagram, TikTok, X and other social content appearing directly in the highly-personalised Discover feed of recommendations.

Google Search Console, Social Channels. December 2025 and expanding.

This feature gives website owners a combined view of how their website and associated social channels perform in Google Search. This will help you see your website and social presence as parts of the same search footprint.

Google Search Profiles. June 2026.

Creators and publishers can showcase their articles, videos and social posts all in one place on a dedicated Google profile that will show up in your search results. Initially launching in the US, this will drive a direct link between social presence and Google visibility

Google Search Console, Platform Properties. July 2026.

Instagram, TikTok, X and YouTube accounts can now be tracked as individual Search Console properties, even by creators or organisations without their own website. This means teams can examine which searches lead people to a specific social account, which posts appear in Google and how that content performs across Search and Discover

Google Information Agents. Summer 2026.

Google Search agents that can monitor blogs, news sites and social posts together, then produce linked, synthesised updates.