How Google Discover publisher profiles work and why they matter

Google introduced publisher follows and profile pages to Discover last year but the feature remains lightly documented and poorly understood.

Since then, publisher profiles have started appearing more broadly across Discover for publishers, creators, and social-first accounts.

Here’s how Discover publisher profiles appear to function today, how they connect to social accounts and the Knowledge Graph, and why some publishers are already getting access to more customizable profile experiences.

Why publisher profiles matter more now

As a technical SEO, I’m used to Google leaving plenty unsaid in its documentation. Discover publisher profiles take that even further.

Google’s official Discover documentation barely mentions profile pages, despite the growing role they appear to play in how publishers and creators surface across Discover. 

The timing is notable. As publishers reassess visibility in AI-driven search experiences, Discover profiles give users more direct control over the publishers they follow while aggregating content across websites and social platforms.

Because Google has shared so little about how these profiles work, I’ve spent a lot of time analyzing them across publishers, creators, and social-first accounts. Several patterns are starting to emerge around:

• How Google builds these profiles.
• How they connect to the Knowledge Graph and social platforms.
• Which publishers appear eligible.
• Why some publishers are already getting access to more customizable profile experiences.

Dig deeper: Inside Google Discover: 20 pipelines, 42 million cards, and what they mean for publishers

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What Discover publisher profiles actually are

In September 2025, Google rolled out one of the most significant Discover updates in years, introducing publisher follows and dedicated profile pages.

The update changed Discover in several ways:

• Publishers received landing pages that aggregate their content.
• Users gained a more direct way to influence which publishers appear in their feeds.
• Social content became more integrated into the Discover experience.

This update came against the backdrop of the shift in sentiment toward AI’s impact on publishers’ visibility. Paired with preferred sources in Google Search, this gave users more control over which publishers they wanted to see while giving publishers another way to surface relevant content to the right audiences.

For the most part, publishers can’t control the layout of their profile pages. But in March, people began noticing a small group of publisher profile pages with a more premium-looking layout and extra features not found on typical Discover profile pages.

It’s since been confirmed to me that these pages are part of a limited beta group where publishers can control and edit their profiles themselves.

Dig deeper: Google quietly gave 54 publishers control over their Discover profiles. Here’s what they did with it.

The features inside Discover publisher profiles

Aside from the brand name and “Follow on Google” button, publisher profiles typically include the following features:

• Profile photo: These are based on the Knowledge Graph first, but if there’s no Knowledge Graph, the photo often comes from the YouTube account’s profile photo.
• Total followers: The total number of followers across social media platforms. This is not related to followers on Google Discover.
• Social profiles: The various social media accounts associated with the publisher. So far, the following social media platforms are supported:
  • YouTube.
  • TikTok.
  • Instagram.
  • Facebook.
  • X.
  • LinkedIn.
• About: A brief description of your brand. In most cases, this comes from a Wikipedia page or another source connected to the Knowledge Graph, such as your About Us page.
• Latest posts: These come from your articles and social posts across various channels.

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Features on editable publisher profiles

Publishers in this testing group have access to several features with some level of control:

• Customized banner image: At the top of these publisher profiles, there is a horizontal banner image.
• Pinned posts: Publishers can pin Discover cards for articles and social posts to the top of their profile.
• Links: These are general links publishers can add to their profile. They do not need to be articles or social posts, but can be any general links on your site. For example, in the screenshot above, Fox Weather links to an app and a livestream, which would otherwise have a hard time getting visibility in Discover.

Dig deeper: How to increase Google Discover traffic with technical fixes

The two types of Discover publisher profiles

Functionally, there are two types of publishers that receive publisher profiles: those who publish on websites and social media, and those who publish only on social media.

Profiles for web publishers

Publishers who publish on websites include pretty much any brand that publishes on a website: 

• Legacy publishers.
• Local news publishers.
• Trade publishers.
• Company websites.

If an organization has a Knowledge Graph and regularly publishes content, it’s generally eligible for a profile page. Because Google doesn’t currently provide a direct way to find publisher profiles, there’s a decent chance your brand already has one, even if you’ve never seen it. Tools like Damián Taubaso’s Profile Page Finder tool and 1492’s Vision can help you find it.

Generally speaking, these profiles are often more enriched than those for social media publishers. They’re more likely to include an About section, a logo, links to other social media accounts, and links to the website.

The most common issue with web publisher profiles is missing social profile links. To combat this, there are three main steps:

• Add the social media account as a sameAs entry in your organization schema.
• Link to your site’s homepage from the website section in your account bio.
• On your profile page, select the three dots and click Send feedback, then link to the relevant social media accounts you would like linked there.

Profiles for social media publishers

Profile pages for social media publishers are for brands or people who aren’t publishing primarily on a website where they are the primary entity. Glenn Gabe, for example, is treated as the same entity as his organization GSQi, and his publisher profile is linked to the GSQi site.

This primarily includes journalists, people of note, and publishers that only publish on social media channels.

My rule of thumb is that, to be eligible for this, a social media account needs roughly 50,000 followers, although sometimes it can be less, and it generally needs to be safe for work.

publisher profiles for social media publishers can be much less enriched than those for web publishers. Because these aren’t linked to a website, they’re less likely to connect to a Knowledge Graph, which serves as a source of truth for various profile elements. As a result, these profiles are often less complete.

It’s most common for these to be built around X accounts, leading to profile pages with no profile picture and no description. The best way to get a profile picture added is to connect the account to YouTube as well.

Without being connected to a site, you’re limited to submitting feedback on the profile page and getting your other social media accounts added. But without a connected Knowledge Graph, there’s currently no way to add a description to your profile page.

Dig deeper: How Google Discover qualifies, ranks, and filters content: Research

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Where Discover publisher profiles may be heading

Based on the testing already happening, it seems likely that Google will eventually announce editable profile pages as a beta feature for publishers.

That said, I don’t expect the current templates to remain unchanged. From my perspective, the existing layouts aren’t especially user-friendly, and I’d expect Google to continue iterating on how these pages are structured and customized.

I also suspect access to editable profiles will remain somewhat gated. While hundreds or even thousands of publishers may eventually gain access, profile editing is unlikely to become universally available. At least for now, the feature appears more likely to remain limited to established publishers and creators.