Few of us are under the illusion that we own the content that we post on Instagram, but we do get a say in how that content is presented—we can choose which photos and videos we share, what captions appear (or don’t appear) on each post, as well as whether or not we include where the image was taken or shared from. We might not control the platform, but we can control the content of our posts—unless those posts are found on search engines like Google.
As reported by 404 Media, Instagram is now experimenting with AI-generated SEO titles for users’ posts—without those users’ input or permission. Take this post for example: Author Jeff VanderMeer uploaded a short video of rabbits eating a banana to his Instagram. The video was posted as-is: There was no caption, location tag, or any other public-facing information. It’s just a couple of rabbits having a bite.
Instagram, however, took it upon itself to add a headline to the post—at least when you stumble upon it on via Google. Rather than display a link featuring Jeff’s Instagram handle and some metadata about the video, the Google entry comes back with the following headline: “Meet the Bunny Who Loves Eating Bananas, A Nutritious Snack for…” (the rest of the headline cuts off here).
VanderMeer was less than pleased with the discovery. He posted a screenshot of the headline to Bluesky, writing, “now [Instagram] appears to generate titles [and] headlines via AI for stuff I post…to create [clickbait] for [Google] wtf do not like.”
This was not the only AI-generated headline VanderMeer was roped into. This post from the Groton Public Library in Massachusetts, which advertises VanderMeer’s novel Annihilation as the library’s December book group pick, was also given the clickbait treatment on Google. Just as with VanderMeer’s post, the Groton Public Library didn’t include any text in its Instagram post—just an image showing off the book. But if you see the post within a Google search, you’ll see the following partial headline: “Join Jeff VanderMeer on a Thrilling Beachside Adventure…”
404 Media’s Emanuel Maiberg says that they’ve confirmed that Instagram is also generating headlines for other users on the platform, all without permission or knowledge. Google told Maiberg the headlines are not coming from its AI generators—though it has been using deceptive AI-generated headlines of its own on Google Discover. In fact, the company says its search engine is simply pulling the text from Instagram itself. Maiberg found that these headlines do appear under title tags for Instagram posts when using Google’s Rich Result Test tool. When digging through the code, Maiberg also discovered AI-generated descriptions for each post, which could be what Instagram is ultimately using to generate the headlines.
Why is Instagram generating AI headlines for posts?
I reached out to Meta for comment, and this story originally published before they responded. However, a Meta spokesperson has since confirmed to me that Instagram has recently started generating these titles using AI. The goal, according to the spokesperson, is to make it easier to know what a post is about before you click the link. They also noted that these headlines might not be totally correct, as with all AI products. In addition, the spokesperson explained that search engine optimization indexing is not necessarily new. The company has been doing this for years in the U.S. to increase visibility for posts from professional accounts.
That last point is all fine and good, of course. No one is surprised that Instagram is indexing posts for search engines: Most social media platforms do that. Otherwise, you’d never find any of their posts on platforms like Google. The issue is generating fake headlines with AI without letting anyone know about it. Just because Meta AI is capable of generating headlines doesn’t mean it is good at it, or even that it should—especially when users never consented to this practice in the first place. It’d be one thing if Instagram had an option before you post—something like “Generate a headline for me using Meta AI that will appear in search engines for my post.” Most of us would opt out of that, but it’d at least be a choice. However, it appears that Instagram decided that users like VanderMeer weren’t capable of writing a headline as clever as “Meet the Bunny Who Loves Eating Bananas.”
What do you think so far?
The worst part is, the AI doesn’t even accurately describe the posts, a risk the Meta spokesperson readily admits to. That Groton Public Library post was only about a book club meeting featuring VanderMeer’s novel, but the headline says “Join Jeff VanderMeer,” as if he’d be making an appearance. Not only did Instagram add a headline without VanderMeer’s consent, it spread misinformation about his whereabouts. And for what? Some extra engagement on Google?
If Instagram wants its posts to appear as headlines on search engines, it should include the actual posters in the conversation. As VanderMeer told 404 Media: “If I post content, I want to be the one contextualizing it, not some third party.”
Opting out of AI-generated Instagram headlines
While Meta has yet to add a dedicated on/off switch for these headlines, one thing you can do to ensure your posts don’t get an AI clickbait makeover is to opt out of indexing as a whole. If you run an account that relies on discoverability, this might not be worth it, since you’ll be impacting how users find your posts outside of Instagram. However, if you don’t care about that, or you don’t need the SEO at all, you can stop Instagram from making your posts available on search engines—and putting an end to the AI-generated headlines, at that.
There are three ways to accomplish this, according to Instagram:
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Make your account private: Head to Instagram’s in-app settings, then choose Account privacy. Here, tap the Private account toggle.
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Switch your account from professional to private: Open Instagram’s in-app settings, scroll down and tap Account type and tools. Here, choose “Switch to personal account.”
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Manually opt out of indexing: Head to Instagram’s in-app settings, then choose Account privacy. You should see an option to stop your public photos and videos from appearing in search engines.
