Google rolls out Search profiles for publishers in Discover

Google moved publishers one step closer to owning a repeat audience inside its own ecosystem, rolling out Search profiles in the United States as a new branded surface within Google Discover. The pages are built as enhanced publisher landing pages, with a large header image, a follow button and a place to showcase the latest articles, videos and social posts from a source in one place. Google says the point is to help people find accurate, up-to-date information about publishers and creators, while making it easier to follow them so their work is more likely to show up again in Discover.

The feature sits inside Google’s broader identity and distribution machine. Search profiles can be reached from a creator or publisher’s Knowledge Panel on mobile, by tapping the name of a publisher or creator in Discover, or through a direct URL. Google also said claiming a profile may create a Knowledge Panel for eligible publishers and creators, while existing Knowledge Panels can be strengthened with an updated avatar, recent content and a direct profile link. For publishers, that makes this more than a cosmetic page. It is a new visibility layer tied to Google’s entity recognition system.

Access, for now, is gated. Google said Search profiles are currently available only in the United States, and only for publishers and creators with a sizable audience on at least one major social or video platform. The minimum thresholds are 100,000 followers or subscribers on YouTube, Instagram or X, and 300,000 on TikTok. Users must also be at least 18 and meet Google’s policy requirements. Google said a profile may already have been generated automatically for people who have a Knowledge Panel and meet the requirements, and that separate profiles can be created for multiple online personas.

The timing matters because Google has been pushing Discover toward a more creator-driven feed for months. In September 2025, Google said Discover would surface more content from X, Instagram and YouTube Shorts, and that users could follow publishers and creators directly within Discover after previewing their articles, videos and social posts. Search profiles extend that idea by giving those sources a more durable branded home inside the Google app experience.

Publishers should treat this as a practical audit moment. Branding needs to match across the site, the profile image, the Knowledge Panel and the social accounts Google is pulling from. Profile completeness matters, because the more clearly Google can map a publisher’s identity and latest work, the better positioned that source is to capture followers and repeat attention inside Discover. Google said it plans to expand Search profiles beyond the United States and add more capabilities over time, which makes the current rollout look less like a novelty and more like the start of a broader discovery system.