TikTok and Instagram Are Becoming the New Search Bar

For nearly two decades, Google has been the default place to start when you need an answer. But in 2025, that’s no longer the whole story. Increasingly, users, especially younger audiences, are starting their discovery journeys not on search engines, but inside social platforms like TikTok and Instagram.

This isn’t just a passing trend. It’s a fundamental shift in how people navigate the internet, how they find brands, and how they make decisions. And it carries big implications for how we think about digital marketing, content creation, and visibility.

Shifting from Search to Social

Generational behaviour is leading the way.

Google themselves admit that nearly 40% of Gen Z prefer TikTok or Instagram to search when looking for places to eat, travel inspiration, or product recommendations.

These platforms don’t just answer questions, they offer immersive, authentic, and visually engaging answers. Instead of scrolling through ten blue links, users swipe through short-form videos or carousels that blend education, entertainment, and lived experience.

Social platforms are more than entertainment.

• TikTok has invested heavily in search functionality, indexing captions, hashtags, and even speech within videos.
  
• Instagram is leaning into its “Explore” tab and shopping features to ensure content discovery isn’t left to chance.
  
• For users, these spaces are faster, more engaging, and more trustworthy because they combine information with social proof.

Why Social Search Feels Different

Discovery on TikTok or Instagram isn’t like scrolling through Google’s blue links. It feels faster, more intuitive, and more human.

It’s visual-first. Instead of reading about a product, you see it in action, a quick tutorial, a review, or an unboxing, all in under a minute. That makes information easier to grasp and far more engaging.

It’s driven by intent, not input. Google waits for you to type a query. TikTok and Instagram predict what you want based on past behaviour, surfacing relevant content before you even ask. Search feels less like work and more like discovery.

It’s rooted in trust. Users place more weight on creators and peers than polished brand copy. A genuine review from someone they relate to carries more credibility than any optimised snippet.

Together, these differences make social search feel natural, not like “marketing,” but like stumbling onto advice or recommendations you can actually trust.

What This Means for Digital Strategy

The rise of social search doesn’t mean SEO is obsolete, far from it. It does mean the scope of SEO is expanding. Optimising for Google alone won’t future-proof your brand.

Some key implications:

• Multi-surface discoverability. Brands need to ensure they are visible not just on Google, but on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest.
  
• Content designed for searchability within feeds. That means using intent-driven hashtags, keyword-rich captions, and aligning creative with trending formats.
  
• Joined-up journeys. Users may discover you on TikTok, explore you on Instagram, then return to Google for validation. Strategies need to reflect these non-linear journeys.
  
• First-party content libraries. Owning a bank of short-form, search-friendly content gives brands a competitive edge in a crowded feed.

How Marketers Should Adapt

1. Rethink keyword research. It’s no longer just about Google Keyword Planner. Social platforms have their own search behaviours, TikTok search autocomplete, trending hashtags, and social listening tools are now essential parts of research.
   
2. Invest in short-form video. Brands can’t afford to treat TikToks or Reels as “nice-to-haves.” They’re discoverability assets, just like blogs or landing pages.
   
3. Optimise for authenticity. Content doesn’t need to be polished; it needs to feel real, relevant, and useful. “Unfiltered” is often more powerful than “perfect.”
   
4. Measure differently. Traditional SEO focuses on clicks and rankings. Social search requires attention to watch time, saves, shares, and engagement depth, signals that show users are finding value.

Looking Ahead at the Future of Search

The line between “search” and “social” will only blur further. TikTok’s recent experiments with in-app shopping, Instagram’s emphasis on discovery features, and Google’s own pivot to AI-driven Search Generative Experience (SGE) all point to one truth: the future of search is fragmented, multi-platform, and more user-centric than ever before.

For businesses, the challenge is clear: if you only think about Google, you’re missing where much of your audience is already searching. The opportunity is equally clear: those who adapt early will gain visibility in spaces where competition is still emerging.

The shift from feed to search is not about abandoning Google, but about expanding our definition of what “search” means. Discovery now happens in multiple places, through multiple formats, and at multiple points in the journey.

As marketers, we need to design for this reality by building strategies that combine the rigour of SEO with the agility of social content creation.

Because ultimately, discovery is discovery, whether it starts with a typed query or a thumb swipe. The brands that thrive are those that are prepared to be found wherever their audiences choose to look.