Lesson 2 of 6 · Social search and brand discovery
Add and verify each social account
What it is
Before you start, make a private list of the exact accounts or channels your business owns. Confirm who can sign in and approve access. Agencies should have the account owner handle sensitive approval if necessary. 1. Open Google Search Console. Use the welcome screen or open the property selector in the sidebar and choose Add property. 2. If platform choices are available, click Add beside YouTube, TikTok, X or Instagram. 3. Follow Google's prompts to verify the correct account or channel. Check the displayed identity before approving. The prompts can differ by platform, so use the current instructions rather than a copied website-verification method. 4. Once ownership is verified, click Go to property. 5. Repeat for each account or channel, including multiple accounts on one platform. 6. Allow a few days for data to appear. An empty new report is not proof that nobody finds your content. The walkthrough is a labelled teaching sequence, not a screenshot of your Google account. Google has not supplied a current platform-selection screenshot in the setup help page, so we have not invented one. Google's current setup instructions.
Why it matters
A separate verified property keeps the performance of each account identifiable. You do not need to buy a tool or run a Local-SEO.com scan to follow this setup.
Add your social account to Search Console
Illustrated steps, not a live Google screenStep 1 of 5
Search Console → Add property
Open Add property
In Search Console, open the property selector and choose Add property. The welcome screen is another starting point.
✓ Good example
You select the plumbing business channel, verify ownership and write down the property name and setup date. Then you repeat for its Instagram account.
✗ Common mistake
Pasting instagram.com into a website URL-prefix form and assuming that verifies your profile. Do not try to place a DNS record or HTML tag on a platform you do not control.
You pass when: You have either verified an available platform property or recorded that the platform choices are not yet available to your account.