Favicons in Google search results

Google can show your favicon beside your site in search results, but it doesn't promise to. You need a link tag on your home page, a square icon that meets Google's rules, and a site that lets Google's crawlers in.

What you need first

• Access to your home page's head, to add the link tag.
• An icon file in a format Google reads.
• A robots.txt file, or other rules, that don't block the page or the icon.
• Patience. Google recrawls on its own timetable.

No promises

Google's own page says a favicon may still not appear in Google Search results, even if all guidelines are met¹. So treat what follows as a way to become eligible, not a way to be sure.

The steps

1. Make an icon that fits the guidelines

Google wants a square (a 1:1 shape). The smallest it accepts is 8x8 pixels¹. Its advice is to use something larger than 48x48, so it looks good on various surfaces¹.

Google's format list takes in ICO, PNG, JPEG, GIF, BMP, TIFF and PPM¹. SVG isn't named there. The sizes and formats page covers how to make the files.

Google also asks that the icon be visually representative of your website's brand¹. In plain terms, use your logo or something close to it.

2. Add the link tag to your home page

Google gives this form for the header of your home page¹:

<link rel="icon" href="/smile.ico">

Replace the path with your real one. The link element is also used to establish site icons in general². Our walkthrough for link tags goes through it.

Google also supports the older "shortcut icon" form, and apple-touch-icon for iOS-friendly icons¹.

3. Let Google in

Googlebot, Google's page crawler, must be able to crawl the home page and follow any redirects from there to the page where the favicon is specified¹. A second crawler, Googlebot-Image, must be able to crawl the favicon file¹. Neither URL can be blocked by a robots.txt file or by other means¹.

Check your robots.txt file for rules that could cover the folder where your icon sits.

4. Keep the address stable

The favicon URL must be stable, and Google asks you not to change it frequently¹. Pick a file name you can live with.

5. Wait

Google's timing is vague: several days to several weeks, depending on how often its systems decide your content needs refreshing¹. If an old icon is still showing, see the stale icon page.

One favicon per hostname

Google Search supports one favicon per site, where a site is defined by the hostname¹. The hostname is the part of the address before the first slash, such as example.com or news.example.com.

That has a few effects:

• A home page at a domain or a subdomain is supported¹.
• A page in a folder, like example.com/news, isn't treated as a site of its own¹.
• A subdomain can have a different favicon from your main domain¹.

What Google won't show

Google won't show a favicon it considers inappropriate. It names pornography and hate symbols. If that imagery is found in a favicon, Google replaces it with a default icon¹.

Where to go with questions

Google has a feedback form for favicon handling in search results. It says it doesn't promise to act on individual feedback¹. A blank tab is a separate matter from search, so start with the missing icon checklist.