Meta’s July 2025 SEO Update: What Brands Need to Know (and Do Next)

On July 10, 2025, Meta announced a major update that now allows Google and other search engines to index publicly available posts from professional Instagram and Facebook accounts. This includes captions, alt text, bios, location tags, and even historical content dating back to 2020. While Google has always crawled Meta profiles to some extent, this marks a significant expansion that positions social content as a searchable, evergreen brand asset.

This shift coincides with the evolution of AI-powered search experiences like Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE), Bing AI, and emerging integrations across TikTok and Instagram. These systems don’t just rely on links; they interpret context, structure, engagement, and tone to surface relevant content. What we post today isn’t just meant to live in the feed; it’s now powering discovery across the web.

What Changed?

Public content from business and creator accounts on Instagram and Facebook is now:

• Searchable via Google and other engines

• Indexed by default unless manually turned off

• Inclusive of captions, alt text, bios, and geo-tags

• Retroactively applied to older posts (as far back as 2020)

• Excludes personal accounts, Stories, Highlights, and users under 18

This change turns social posts into hybrid assets: part content, part landing page. And with that comes a need for brands to rethink the fundamentals.

What this Means?

1. Discovery Beyond the Feed
Your social content can now reach people who never follow you, never use Instagram, and may discover your brand through AI-generated results, not just hashtags or Reels.

2. Search-First Thinking Is No Longer Optional
Captions are metadata. Bios are category signals. Alt text is both accessibility and relevance. If we once optimized web pages for SEO, we must now apply the same care to our creative briefs and content calendars.

3. Social = Reputation
Search engines may cache and display public content even after it’s deleted. That means legacy content matters. Brands should consider conducting audits of content published since 2020.

4. Visibility Brings Responsibility
Outdated or off-brand content can surface in search and shape first impressions. Brands in healthcare or highly regulated industries need to view this as an extension of compliance and brand safety.

5. AI Discovery is Changing the Rules
AI search favors context, clarity, and consistency. Captions, engagement signals, and visual metadata train the models that surface content. That means the way your audience asks questions, speaks, or searches should shape how you write and post.

What We’re Implementing at Smarty Social

Good news for clients! Strategies have already been optimized with SEO in mind, but now we are taking extra steps to expand on that even further. Here’s how we’ve been managing our clients’ searchability:

• Writing captions that incorporate keywords while maintaining brand voice.

• Optimizing profile bios for SEO. 

• Incorporating CTAs that address consumer frequently asked questions to support signal relevance.

• Developing content calendars with trending ideas while maintaining compliance and aligning with brand initiatives. 

• Harnessing social listening insights to ensure content briefs are optimized for search. 

• With client approval, auditing historical content to determine what should be archived or repurposed.  

Here are additional steps we’ll be taking moving forward with this expanded update:

• Alt text guidelines that balance clarity and optimization

• Ensuring that our community management is timely, engaging with comments within 30 minutes of publishing new content.

We’re also coaching our internal teams and clients on how to build content that marries algorithms with authenticity.

How to Respond Now: Four Strategic Areas

1. Optimize Social Content for Search

Update your bios with keywords, category tags, and location.

Profile Bio: Before

❌ Lacks searchable keywords

❌ No service-specific terms

❌ Doesn't clarify expertise

❌ Location is vague

✅ Short and visual

Profile Bio: After

✅ Includes service keywords (“Botox,” “Acne Treatments”)

✅ Specifies industry and niche

✅ Local SEO with city name

✅ Names provider for authority

✅ Structured and crawlable

Write keyword-rich captions using natural, conversational phrasing.

Caption: Before 

❌ Too vague for search

❌ No keywords or services

❌ Lacks structure or value

✅ On-brand tone

✅ Clear call to action

Caption: After 

✅ Uses natural language search phrases

✅ Includes key services and treatment types

✅ Adds location + provider info

✅ Optimized hashtags for search intent

✅ Balances search value and tone

Add alt text that includes both visual context and search intent.

Alt Text: Before

“Woman smiling”

✅ Accessible? Yes.
❌ Search-friendly? No.
❌ Brand or service context? Missing.

Alt Text: After

“Woman receiving a microneedling facial at GlowDerm LA clinic, performed by board-certified dermatologist Dr. Kim”

✅ Still accessible
✅ Adds service, provider, and location
✅ Keyword-rich and SEO-aware
✅ Trains AI to associate brand with treatment and expertise

Rename image files before upload to improve metadata relevance.

Image File Naming: Before

IMG_4832.jpg

✅ Technically functional
❌ No context or keywords
❌ Useless to search engines or AI models

Image File Naming: After

glowderm-botox-treatment-dr-kim-los-angeles.jpg

✅ Includes brand name (GlowDerm)
✅ Mentions key service (Botox Treatment)
✅ Names the provider (Dr. Kim)
✅ Adds location context (Los Angeles)
✅ Keyword-rich and crawlable

Use geo-specific location tags

Before:
“California”
(no location tag)

❌ Too broad for local SEO
❌ Doesn’t match how users search
❌ Misses opportunity for regional discovery
✅ Technically functional

After:
“Los Angeles Dermatology Office”
“Glow DermLA”

✅ Includes detailed geographic reference
✅ Matches how people search on Google/Maps
✅ Boosts local discoverability
✅ Strengthens authority for niche/region
✅ Ideal for service-based or location-driven brands

Use 5–10 niche-specific hashtags that reflect search behavior.

Before:
#skincare #beauty #selfcare #glowup #love

❌ Too broad and oversaturated
❌ Low relevance for search intent
❌ Doesn’t reflect brand or service niche
✅ Popular—but not strategic

After:
#adultacnetreatment #retinolfacial #laestheticclinic #dermatologistapproved #glowdermla #skincareforwomenover30

✅ Niche-specific and aligned with brand expertise
✅ Matches actual search behavior and long-tail queries
✅ Includes geo-location cues (e.g., “LA Aesthetic Clinic”)
✅ Strengthens contextual relevance for both social and search
✅ Better for training AI models on brand authority

2. Boost Engagement to Train AI

• Encourage deeper interactions like saves, shares, and DMs.

• Post carousels to include more keywords and context per post.

• Use Reels for additional visibility and search reach.

• Engage early by replying to comments within 30 minutes.

3. Align Content Strategy with AI SEO

• Write like your audience searches. Include natural phrasing in your caption.

• Post consistently. Frequency helps build topical authority.

• Double down on your niche. Let the algorithm learn what you stand for.

4. Audit and Manage Your Content Archive

• Review content dating back to 2020. Repurpose or archive anything not aligned with the current brand tone or compliance standards.

• Update high-performing content with new captions or metadata.

• Toggle search visibility settings for sensitive or regulated content.
  Settings → Account → Privacy → "Search Visibility"

Smarty’s Final Take

​​At Smarty, we see this as a watershed moment in the evolution of social strategy. Instagram’s search indexing update blurs the lines between content marketing, search marketing, and social media—areas we already integrate on behalf of our clients. For healthcare and innovation brands, this presents both an opportunity to extend thought leadership and a responsibility to align with evolving consumer search behavior.

Social media platforms are no longer walled gardens. They are fully integrated parts of the web’s information ecosystem. This development reinforces Smarty’s belief that social-first strategy must now be search-informed—and that SEO must begin with the thumb stop.

As an agency, we will be taking immediate action to audit content libraries, adjust content development strategies, and prioritize visibility where it matters most: in the moments your audience is actively searching. 

Want to Know How Your Content Stacks Up?

Let’s talk strategy, audit your archive, or help your team write for the next generation of discovery.

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