Search Is Being Rewritten with Social Media at the Centre
The way people search for information online has started to change, and social media now plays a central role in how answers are found. Search is no longer just about keywords and links, but about content appearing where people already spend their time.
Think back to 2020. If you wanted an answer, you had to ask a question. You’d open Google, type in your question, and let the algorithm do its thing. You’d get a page of links, skim a few headlines, click into one or two, and hope the answer was buried somewhere on the page.
Today, if you Google the same question, the first thing you see is an AI Overview: a neatly packaged answer pulled from hundreds of thousands of sources and served directly on the results page.
If you want to dig deeper and check sources, you can click the tiny link icon to see where that information came from. But most people don’t.
That’s why nearly 80% of Google searches now end without a click. Users are getting what they need from snippets, summaries, and answer engines, without ever visiting a website.
This isn’t the death of search. It’s a new era full of potential, possibilities, and new learnings. The biggest shift isn’t just how people search; it’s where the answers are coming from. However, this evolution also comes with a need for caution. As information is summarized and delivered instantly, the responsibility to question accuracy and verify original sources has never been greater.
The Way We Use Search Is Changing
The traditional Google search is no longer the starting line. Instead, search has become proactive, and users don’t always have to ask a specific question to get fed the answers they want or need.
AI-curated feeds on platforms like Instagram and TikTok learn habits, interests, and intent, then surface relevant content automatically, and far more effectively than any 2010s-era algorithm ever could. How-tos, reviews, and recommendations now populate users’ pages before they actively go looking for them. Nearly a quarter of consumers already prefer social platforms over traditional search engines for certain queries, and that number continues to grow with younger audiences. TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube aren’t just discovery platforms anymore; they’re search engines in their own right.
Instagram Content Is Search Content
Google is now pulling content directly from social media for search results. This means that search results are increasingly embedding Instagram posts directly into the Google results pages.
How To Integrate Social SEO Into Your Strategy
For many years, hashtags have been the key to discoverability on social media. With the rapid adoption and integration of AI, hashtags are taking a back seat to Social SEO.
Social SEO is writing and creating content that makes your brand discoverable both inside social platforms and through Google’s AI-powered results. It prioritizes clarity, intent, and usefulness over volume, helping your content rise to the top of results.
In practice, that means:
- Writing keyword-rich captions that sound human
- Creating short explainer videos that answer specific questions
- Using on-screen text and captions that AI can read and interpret
- Posting consistently: having consistent themes on your social channels strengthens your visibility and builds algorithmic trust.
- Optimizing profile information (bio, username, and links) to match the keywords users are searching for.
The Takeaway: Search and Social Go Hand in Hand
If you want your brand to be found, you can’t treat social as a separate channel. You need to optimize it the same way you would a website or landing page.
The good news? If your content is genuinely helpful, clearly written, and designed around real questions and interests, you’re already building for future success.
Want to improve your social media presence? Reach out to paula@worthingtonpr.com and refresh your strategy for maximum impact.
References
https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/software/social-media-new-google/
https://www.bain.com/insights/goodbye-clicks-hello-ai-zero-click-search-redefines-marketing
