Imagine this scenario: your company is investing thousands of euros in creating content for TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube and X (Twitter). You see the views and likes, but you’ve never been able to say for sure — how many of these social media videos or posts actually drive real customers through Google Search and Google Discover?

Until now, it’s been a complete ‘black box’. But the rules of the game have just changed for good.

Google has launched the most eagerly awaited innovation in digital marketing — Platform Properties within Google Search Console (GSC). For the first time ever, you can link your social media profiles directly to Search Console and analyse their organic performance in Google search results.

An important note for the Latvian market: if you log into your GSC account now and don’t yet see this feature under ‘Add Property’ — don’t panic! Google is rolling out this tool gradually. In the Baltic region and Latvia, it will appear in many accounts over the coming weeks. However, those businesses that prepare their implementation and content strategy now will gain a huge competitive advantage as soon as the feature is switched on.

Below is a detailed explanation of what this tool is, why it’s critically important for your business, and how it’s changing the future of SEO.

What exactly are ‘Platform Properties’ and how do they work?

Until now, Google Search Console only allowed you to add and verify domain addresses that you owned (for example, tavsdomēns.lv).

With Platform Properties, you are given the option to verify and link third-party platform accounts:

• Instagram (Posts and Reels)

• TikTok (Short videos)

• YouTube (Channels, long-form videos and Shorts)

• X / Twitter (Long-form posts and threads)

Verification takes place via secure API authorisation (OAuth) — you simply log in to your social media account via the GSC interface, confirm access, and Google begins collecting data on how content from these platforms appears in the Google search index.

4 Reasons Why This Is a Tectonic Turning Point for Every Business

To understand why the marketing world is ‘buzzing’ with excitement about this, let’s look at the main reasons, providing a well-founded explanation and a real-world example for each.

1. Accurate organic SEO attribution for social media is finally possible

• Reason: Until now, social media marketing teams and SEO specialists have worked in separate ‘bubbles’. A social media specialist would boast about 100,000 views on TikTok, whilst an SEO specialist would focus solely on the website’s organic traffic. It was impossible to prove that a competitor’s customer acquisition was directly driven by a TikTok video that appeared on the first page of Google search results for a specific search term.

• Example: A company selling motor oils and technical fluids films an educational TikTok video on the topic ‘How to choose the right synthetic motor oil for winter’. Through the new ‘Platform Properties’ panel in GSC, the company can now see that this specific TikTok video has appeared 14,000 times (impressions) and generated 1,200 direct clicks. This data no longer needs to be cited — it is accurate first-party data from Google.

2. AI Search (Gemini, SearchGPT) and the indexing of social content

• Rationale: Modern search engines no longer simply extract text links from traditional web pages. Artificial intelligence (Google Gemini, SearchGPT) generates and quotes short videos, social media posts and expert opinions directly in its responses to users. If your social media content is linked to GSC, Google is able to process it more quickly and accurately, understand its context and present it as an authoritative source in AI-generated responses (AI Overviews).

• Example: A user searches for “How to fix a water leak in a washing machine”. At the top of the results, Google Gemini displays not an article from 2018, but a YouTube Shorts clip from yesterday by a local repair technician, as this content is indexed with the highest priority in the Google Search Console data stream.

3. New-generation search behaviour (Gen Z and social search)

• Rationale: Younger users no longer search for products or reviews by typing words into the traditional search bar. They use Google to find real people’s experiences on TikTok or Instagram. Google is aware of this and is increasingly highlighting ‘Perspectives’ and ‘Short Videos’ blocks at the top of search results. With Platform Properties, you get full analytics on which of your social media posts Google has chosen to display in these sections.

• Example: A restaurant or hotel creates an Instagram Reel about a weekend offer. Using GSC, the marketing manager sees that 40 per cent of all organic traffic to this pony farm/recreational venue comes not via the website itself, but via an Instagram Reel that Google displays in search results for ‘best nature-based holiday spots’.

4. No more guesswork about keywords on social media

• Reason: The analytics built into social media platforms (such as Instagram Insights or TikTok Analytics) only show how many people have viewed the content within the app itself. They DO NOT RECORD which keywords people typed into Google Search to find your social media profile. GSC’s new panel provides a full list of keywords (queries) that have brought users from Google to your social media profiles.

• Example: You discover that the keyword ‘how to install solar panels yourself’ brings the most clicks from Google Search to your YouTube channel, even though the video itself was titled differently. This data allows you to optimise video descriptions and topics for future content straight away.

Why should Latvian businesses act NOW (even if the button hasn’t appeared yet)?

As Google is rolling out this feature gradually, most of your competitors in Latvia are currently completely unaware that such an option even exists. They’re still measuring social media performance solely by the number of ‘likes’ and ‘shares’.

Your strategic advantage, if you start preparing today:

1. Content SEO optimisation on social media (SSO – Social Search Optimisation): Start writing precise, descriptive texts, and use keywords and captions in your Reels and TikTok videos. When Google activates ‘Platform Properties’ on your account, you’ll already have a relevant content archive that Google can index straight away.

2. Reciprocal linking: Ensure that your company’s website features correctly JSON-LD structured data (SameAs links to social media) and that the exact website address is specified in the BIO sections on social media. This will speed up the authorisation and data linking process.

3. Overtaking competitors organically: Whilst others are spending thousands of euros on paid advertising (Paid Ads), you’ll gain free organic traffic from Google Search by utilising your existing social media resources.

Step by step: How to check and set up the feature as soon as it becomes available

1. Go to Google Search Console.

2. In the top-left corner, click on the menu for your existing property and select ‘+ Add property’.

3. Check whether a third option, ‘Platform property’, has appeared in the list next to ‘Domain’ and ‘URL prefix’.

4. Select a platform (e.g. Instagram or TikTok).

5. Authorise and confirm the connection.

6. Once connected, go to the new “Platform Performance” section, where the first search data will start to accumulate within 24–48 hours.

Summary

Google Search Console’s “Platform Properties” is not just another minor update — it marks the boundary between old-school SEO and the new, comprehensive content ecosystem. Brands that can integrate their website and social media into a unified organic search strategy will be the ones to dominate Google’s search results in the coming years.

Check your Google Search Console today and be the first to make the most of this tool!

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE UPDATE (FAQ)

Q: Will linking social media accounts to Search Console affect my website’s rankings?

A: It won’t directly change your website’s rankings, but it will increase your brand’s overall visibility in search results (SERP DOMINANCE), as your social media videos may also appear alongside your website in the search results.

Q: Do I have to pay for this feature?

A: No, Google Search Console and all its features, including Platform Properties, are a 100% free tool.

Q: What should I do if this option isn’t visible in my GSC account yet?

A: The feature is being rolled out gradually worldwide. We recommend checking your account regularly and, in the meantime, optimising your social media content with relevant keywords and descriptions.