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Google Launches Search Profiles for Publishers and Creators

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Google has officially launched Search Profiles: dedicated pages where publishers and creators can showcase their content directly within Google Search and Discover. The feature went live on 4 June 2026 in the US, following months of testing that search industry observers had been tracking since at least late 2025.

What are Google Search Profiles?

Search Profiles are customisable pages tied to a publisher or creator’s identity in Google Search. They surface in three places on mobile: a creator’s Knowledge Panel, Discover feed cards, and a direct shareable URL in the format profile.google.com/@handle.

Publishers can populate their profile with an avatar, bio, website link, and connected social and video accounts. A “Follow on Google” button lets audiences subscribe to the publisher’s content feed, making it more likely their articles and videos appear in Google Discover. Profiles also support pinned content and merchandise store links.

Claiming a profile can trigger the creation of a Knowledge Panel for publishers who do not already have one. For those with an existing panel, it is enhanced with an updated avatar, latest content, and a direct profile link.

Who can claim a Search Profile?

Eligibility is restricted to publishers and creators with a minimum follower count on at least one qualifying platform:

  • YouTube: 10,000 subscribers
  • Instagram: 10,000 followers
  • X: 10,000 followers
  • TikTok: 10,000 followers

Update, 25 August 2026: These were the thresholds after the first round of cuts. At launch they were 100,000 on YouTube, Instagram and X, and 300,000 on TikTok. Google cut the first three to 35,000 on 13 August 2026 and TikTok to 100,000, then dropped TikTok to 35,000 as well on 25 August. See Google lowers the follower threshold for Search profiles to 35,000.

Update, 16 September 2026: Google cut all four platforms again, from 35,000 to 10,000, alongside new multi-account support and an updated article view. See Google cuts the Search profile threshold to 10,000 and adds multi-account support.

Claimants must be aged 18 or over. The feature launched in the US only. On 6 October 2026 Robby Stein, VP of Product for Google Search, opened it to creators and publishers in India and Canada, with Brazil “rolling out soon”, and Google’s help page lists all three countries under the same 10,000 thresholds. To claim, visit creators.google/profile. Changes to name, bio, or linked social accounts require Google approval, and new content typically appears within 24 hours.

What this means

Search Profiles are a Discover feature first, not a ranking feature. Google has confirmed they do not affect search rankings. The benefit is visibility within the Discover feed, where following a publisher increases the likelihood their content appears on the Google app home screen.

The Knowledge Panel connection is the more significant SEO angle. Claiming a profile can create or strengthen a publisher’s entity in Google’s Knowledge Graph, which has long-term implications for how Google resolves and trusts the source.

The follower threshold is still the limiting factor, though a far less severe one than at launch. At 10,000 followers on any one of YouTube, Instagram, X or TikTok, the feature is within reach of established niche creators and small editorial operations that the launch bar of 100,000 shut out. What has not changed is what the threshold measures: eligibility rests entirely on social following, so a publisher with a substantial organic audience and a small social presence is still excluded regardless of the size of its readership.

It has also launched at a point when Discover’s long-term role is uncertain. AI Overviews are reducing click-through rates on traditional search results, and whether investment in Discover presence will offset that remains an open question.

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