From Scroll to Search: Instagram Posts Are Now Google Results
Not to be outdone by other popular social media platforms, on July 10, 2025, Instagram made a powerful change that altered the way people find businesses online. For the first time, public posts from professional accounts are being indexed by search engines. That means your Instagram posts can work for you outside the app because they will now begin appearing in Google search results alongside your practice’s website and reviews.
OK, Instagram… We See You
For dental practices, this update is a huge opportunity, a chance to reach new patients without paying for ads. Imagine someone in your city typing “dentist near me” into Google and, instead of the usual list of websites and Google Maps results, they see your latest Instagram post about dental implants. That’s free, organic visibility!
Make Instagram Work for Your Practice
Now that Instagram posts are included in search results, dental practices should approach Instagram differently. To capitalize on the change, practices should optimize their Instagram posts with clear, keyword-rich captions, hashtags, and on-screen text. Now, more than a vehicle for gaining likes and followers, each post can act like a mini landing page for whatever service or concept the practice wants to promote.
Because of this, captions matter more now and should include the phrases patients are likely to search for, for example, “dental implants” or “cost of teeth whitening.” A video about treating gum disease, for instance, can now appear in search results when someone is researching the topic. Location-based search terms are extremely popular, so including the city and even the neighborhood, especially in large metropolitan areas, will only help.
The text you add to images and videos also matters now because Google’s image recognition tools can detect and interpret it. This means that alt text, a valuable signal for accessibility, will become important for search relevance as well.
Consistency Counts
Of course, ranking in search results doesn’t happen automatically. It requires a deliberate strategy. Your content manager or marketing partner should consider how each new post will fit into the practice’s overall search visibility and check for Instagram URLs to start appearing in search results. And since this change applies retroactively to everything since 2020, updating past posts with better captions, alt text, and on-screen copy can give existing content new life.
A Boon for Your Practice
Instagram has just given dental practices a massive advantage in the digital marketing space. By sharing authentic, educational, and visually clear content that speaks to patients’ most common questions and needs, you can grow your online presence and improve your chances of showing up in Google search results.
Instagram’s SEO update isn’t just a technical change. It’s an open door. The practices that step through it now will claim valuable search engine space that will be very hard to take away.
