You Can Now Track Social Posts in Google Search Console

Google just did something that proves a point I’ve been making for quite a while: your website is not the only thing that matters for getting found. It matters when you are mentioned anywhere on the internet, including your social content. Google is making this obvious.

A brand new feature in Google Search Console, called platform properties, is now available for everyone. If you post on Instagram, TikTok, X, or YouTube, you can now connect those accounts directly to Search Console and see how your posts show up in Google Search, Discover, and Google News. And you don’t need a website to sign up.

What Are Platform Properties?

Search Console has always tracked website traffic. That’s what most people know it for. Platform properties change that. You can now add a social account (not a webpage) as its own property, and Google will show you the same kind of data they collect for a website: clicks, impressions, and the actual search terms that people use to find your content.

Right now, four platforms are supported: Instagram, TikTok, X, and YouTube.

Here’s how to connect one:

1. Open Search Console and click “Add property” in the property selector dropdown.
2. Choose the platform you want to connect.
3. Follow the prompts to sign in and verify you own the account.
4. Give it a few days. Reporting doesn’t show up instantly.

That’s it. No developer needed, no code, no website changes.

Why This Matters for Pet Business Owners

If you run a pet sitting, dog walking, dog training, boarding, grooming or other pet business, there’s a good chance you’re already creating the exact type of content this feature was built for. Here are a few example:

• Video of a dog walk through the neighborhood
• A quick tour of your boarding facility
• A photo or video from a pet sitting visit
• Before-and-after grooming photos

That’s video and social content, and it’s the format Google is now explicitly telling you it tracks in search results. Reels, TikToks, and YouTube videos already show up when someone searches “dog trainer near me” or “best cat sitter in [city].” This feature just means you can finally see it happening instead of guessing.

This is the same idea behind Answer Engine Optimization, just showing up in a new place. AI-powered search is looking everywhere for you; your website, social posts, blogs, news articles, and more. It needs to find you, understand what you offer, and trust you enough to recommend you. Google building a tool to measure your social content inside Search Console is Google admitting the same thing I’ve been telling you: discovery isn’t confined to your website anymore.

What This Won’t Do

This isn’t some magical trick to make you show up everywhere. Instead, it helps  you understand how and where people find you. Here are a few things to keep in mind.

• It’s measurement, not a ranking boost. Connecting your account doesn’t make Google show your content more often. It just shows you what’s already happening.
• It only tracks what happens on Google. Platform properties only show how your content shows up on Google Search. It won’t track when people see your content on the platform itself, so you won’t get TikTok’s own view or like counts here. Keep looking at each platform for that type of analytics.
• There’s no history. Like any new Search Console property, this will start collecting data when you connect your platforms. It doesn’t pull in past data.
• Facebook isn’t included. That’s a real bummer since so much of the pet community lives in Facebook groups and pages.

My Prediction: Facebook Could Be Next

Here’s my guess . . .  and I have no “inside knowledge” or anything other than my own gut to go on. Instagram is owned by Meta, and it’s one of the four platforms included at launch. Facebook is also owned by Meta. Given that Google already has a way to verify and pull data from one Meta-owned platform, I wouldn’t be surprised if Facebook gets added down the road.

Again, I have no idea if this’ll happen. It’s just a hunch based on how these things tend to roll out. If you post on Facebook regularly though, I’d keep an eye on this rather than assume it’s permanently left out. I’ll be watching, for sure, and I hope I’m right since that’s where I post most often!

Should You Connect Your Accounts?

If you’re posting video or photo content on Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube with any regularity, yes. It’s free, it takes about five minutes, and it’s a layer of data you literally cannot get anywhere else right now. If your social presence is mostly Facebook and you rarely touch the other three, there’s less urgency today, but you know how things go! Things could change tomorrow.Either way, this is one more sign that your online visibility is bigger than just your website. If you want a clear picture of how your pet business actually shows up across Google, AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity, and search right now, that’s exactly what my AI Search Visibility Report digs into. Connecting a Search Console property is a good start. Knowing the full picture is better.