“Search Profiles are a valuable resource for brands: we will also see them in browser SERPs and in e-commerce”, according to Herge
Google Discover is shedding its skin, and this time the change may not stop at the surface.
For the new episode of SEO Confidential we met Johnny Herge, a specialist in technical SEO and AEO for enterprise companies at Amsive, who has been closely watching the evolution of Discover and Search Profiles for months.
According to Johnny, this goes well beyond Discover. During our conversation he explained why Search Profiles may soon break out of their fence and enter classic SERPs as well, and why Google chose to call them “Search” Profiles rather than “Discover” Profiles.
That is no small detail, especially if you work in e-commerce: brand profiles are heading in the very same direction.
Over the course of the interview we also talked about publishers, brands, EEAT, Preferred Sources and what publishers, content creators and companies can really do to stay visible in a search world increasingly driven by AI.
Three practical tips, a few bold predictions, and a look at a future that has already begun.
Enjoy the read!
“Search Profiles and preferred sources are an olive branch Google is extending to publishers”, Johnny Herge told us
In recent months many publishers have recorded a drop in traffic from Google Discover, partly due to the growing presence of social content and AI-generated summaries. How do you think Discover is evolving, and what strategies should publishers adopt today to keep earning visibility?
Despite the significant changes made to Discover, I believe that, all things considered, the renewal process is not over yet and we will probably see further transformations. However, I am convinced — and I often repeat this to my clients — that the author of the article will become more and more important.
That is down to two factors: the author has gained a visibility channel thanks to the ability to have their own Search Profile. But I also think that, in the new era of publishing, the author is often a better indicator of content quality than the publisher. I imagine Google is aware of this and reflects it in the content it serves to users.
Publishers can help themselves by helping their authors. There are certainly several ways to do that, and I am sure we will see some interesting approaches in this respect. But it will be important to help your authors reach certain thresholds on social channels. I think publishers should start standardizing certain practices, such as adding follow buttons for authors’ social accounts inside articles, sharing authors’ posts on social media and perhaps even providing support to help them understand how to claim their Search Profiles.
In your article on Search Engine Land you explain that Search Profiles (or “Discover Publisher Profiles”, as you call them) are taking on an increasingly important role, despite still being poorly documented by Google. What impact do you think they may have on the visibility of publishers, companies and creators in the coming years?
Unfortunately, at the end of the day, I do not think publishers will get much out of them. From a user experience (UX) standpoint, pushing users to follow publishers will increase visibility, but I consider the “following” aspect almost a feature in its own right. The profiles themselves, though, probably will not boost your visibility beyond that; ultimately they host your social profiles, and users who liked your articles will now see your social posts. I am rather uncertain about how much users will adopt and interact with profiles in general.
Individual creators, on the other hand, will benefit enormously, in my opinion. These Search Profiles, as I see it, are the gateway to Discover for those who are not publishers. On social media, I think there are a lot of people making interesting content, and the visibility potential on Discover is truly incredible.
My curiosity about Search Profiles stems from my interest in how Google intended to change the Discover experience. Before Google announced them, Damien Andell and I were talking about exactly what we had noticed. We called them “Discover Publisher Profiles”, but Google officially named them “Search Profiles”. Now, my biggest curiosity is understanding how this will change the user experience in Search as well.
Some publishers are already testing editable profiles with custom banners, featured content and links chosen directly by the publisher. Do you think this evolution could turn Publisher Profiles into a sort of new homepage within the Google ecosystem? And what impact might it have on SEO and branding strategies?
I would say these “Search Profiles” do not strike me as a minor development effort, so I expect they are not meant for Discover alone. Also, as I said before, I find it very telling that Google calls them “Search Profiles” and not “Discover Profiles”.
Like anyone who talks about Discover, I use the Google app a lot instead of sticking to the Chrome browser on mobile devices. When you run a search in the Google app, links to Search Profiles often appear in the SERP. I imagine that at some point we will see them in browser SERPs too.
Since I also work a lot in e-commerce, I have been following the updates on brand profiles, and I find it significant that Google is taking a profile-based approach for brands as well.
Search Profiles seem intent on bringing users back to following publishers and creators directly, instead of just reading AI answers. Do you think this strategy can really help publishers maintain a direct relationship with their audience?
I am not really sure. I talk to a growing number of publishers who are taking a proactive approach in choosing which large language models (LLMs) they allow to access their content, and it seems like a smart move to me. But I am not saying that from an AI-SEO perspective; I am saying it as someone who, like everyone else, is watching the industry change. It simply seems like an impossible scenario for all publishers to manage, one that affects the business side well beyond mere visibility in search engines or in the AI space.
I do believe, however, that both Search Profiles and preferred sources are an olive branch Google is extending to publishers. Publishers should take advantage of the features dedicated to them whenever they can, and Google would do well to keep building tools that push users towards publishers’ content.
AI systems are starting to evaluate individual authors more and more. Do you think that, in the future, personal reputation could become more important than the publisher’s?
I think there will be cases where it may work that way, but I believe it all fits into a bigger picture. Large publishers, with established levels of credibility, will probably always have an edge. That said, many large publishers receive huge amounts of traffic from Discover even though they have not yet reached the highest level of credibility. I could imagine a future in which an extremely authoritative and credible journalist with a personal site receives more traffic than a big brand.
Aspects like this will also matter in the fight against AI-generated content on publishers’ sites.
If you had to give three practical tips to a company that wants to increase its visibility on Google Discover, where would you suggest starting?
When I do this, I like to highlight the items that require minimal effort, because a lot of content simply is not a fit for Discover and a site may not gain visibility even when everything is technically correct.
- Check and claim your Search Profile. Verify that your social media accounts are linked, make sure your information is correct, consider adding featured links, and so on. This process is usually not particularly difficult and has an obvious upside: Search Profiles may be further integrated into Search and your social posts could earn greater reach.
- Check your Open Graph tags. Make sure the images are not generic images used across the whole site, but specific to the article, ideally the article’s header image. Remember to use
max-image-preview:largeand to keep images within the suggested specifications.- Then make sure you follow general EEAT best practices. Ensure the author is clearly identified on the page. Use schema for the author, the article and the organization. Include an “About us” page on your site that explains your organization.
Google has introduced Preferred Sources, letting users choose which publishers they want to see more often in Top Stories. Do you think this change could reshape how companies and publishers build their relationship with their audience and their brand value?
I think it is important to encourage users to add you as a preferred source, but my impression is that many users are not using this feature right now, unfortunately. I think that if some brilliant CRO figured out how to get users to use this feature frequently, it could be a huge asset for brands, but I have not seen anything like that yet. That said, I bet some brilliant CRO will pull it off, and probably every publisher will adopt that strategy, and that will matter. But right now, I am not sure how these relationships will change.
Preferred Sources seem to reward sites that manage to build a direct relationship with readers. What strategies would you recommend to a publisher or a company to convince users to pick their brand as a preferred source on Google?
As I said in the previous question, I do not know what the best method is. I think there are plenty of interesting opportunities. Obviously, use the CTA button Google provides in its official documentation. I believe that as users become aware of this feature, they will increasingly expect to find that button. Maybe once a week or once a month, publish a social post pointing users to this feature and suggesting they add your publication. Finally, you can also include it in your “link-in-bio” tools.
Claim your profile, before it is too late
As we have seen, Search Profiles and Preferred Sources are far more important than people think, and yet they are still talked about far too little. That is exactly why I wanted to dig into the topic with Johnny Herge, who has been watching them closely for months.
I agree with Johnny on one point in particular: these tools are not mere niche features tied to Discover, but genuine gateways to the future of search.
Whether you are a publisher, a content creator or a company, the way you present yourself to AI systems today may determine how much visibility you will have tomorrow, in an ecosystem where artificial intelligence will play an increasingly central role in the answers users receive.
The simplest yet most concrete piece of advice remains this: claim your profile, keep everything up to date, and start getting familiar with these features before they become a standard everyone takes for granted.
Thanks again to Johnny for his time and for the food for thought he shared with us.
See you in the next episode of SEO Confidential, where we will keep taking you behind the scenes of the SEO (and GEO) world, with international guests and topics that often fly under the radar but will be vital for your brand.
See you soon!
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