SOCi Study in Partnership with Google Provides Evidence of Social Signals as a Ranking Factor

When Google first enabled brands and local businesses to add links to their social media accounts directly to their Google Business Profiles in July of 2023, I was excited.

At first glance, this appeared to be a simple profile enhancement, but to me, it suggested something much more important.

While Google never stated that social signals would become part of their local ranking equation, the fact they were asking businesses to explicitly identify their official social accounts made it reasonable to believe signals from those linked accounts could become meaningful inputs for how Google understands and ranks a local business.

So when Google approached SOCi early last year about partnering on a test, we jumped at the opportunity.

Together with Google and Painting with a Twist, we set out to prove our theory. Would linking local social media accounts to Google Business Profiles improve both local search visibility and customer engagement.

The results of that test provided us some of the clearest evidence yet that local social activity and local search performance are becoming increasingly inter-connected.

Why Painting with a Twist was the right brand for this test

Painting with a Twist is a nationwide franchise offering instructor-led painting classes and creative social experiences across hundreds of locations across the United States.

Led by Marketing Director Skyla Souza, the brand is highly visual, highly local, and naturally social. Customers do not just attend a class, they create something, spend time with friends, take photos, and often share the experience online.

As Souza put it, “Social media is the perfect match for Painting with a Twist because it lets us showcase just how fun and engaging our experiences are.”

And that made Painting with a Twist the perfect partner for this test: a brand with active local social presence, and a customer experience built for sharing.

Social signal testing objectives and measures

Our objective was simple. Determine if linking active social media accounts to Google Business Profiles could actually improve local search visibility and customer engagement. 

Or, to put it plainly: Are signals from linked social accounts actually a ranking factor?

For this test, SOCi and Painting with a Twist selected a group of 31 “studio” locations. The studios were chosen because their average growth rates were consistent with the overall growth rate for all Painting with a Twist studios in the months preceding the test. This created a strong baseline for comparison against the broader network.

Once their Social URLs were added, we began tracking two primary metrics:

• Visibility: measured through Google Business Profile search impressions. 
• Customer actions: measured through website clicks and phone calls on GBP.

We excluded map impressions and driving directions in our measures since classes are often booked in advance by a single person for a larger group, or held at a different location entirely. By omitting those data points, we aimed to reduce the chances our final analysis would be skewed by metrics that tend to signal navigational intent. 

Separately, Painting with a Twist tracked the impact on their business by monitoring website traffic and bookings.

Participating studios began the process of linking their social profiles in November. The active test period ran from January through March 2025.

The Results

By the end of the three month testing period, studios who added social URLs to their Google Business Profiles with SOCi saw a higher level of visibility, engagement and cross-platform discovery. They outpaced the control group in all measures:

• Search impression growth outpaced the control group by nearly 9 percentage points.
• Customer Actions outpaced the control group by more than 10 percentage points.

Search impressions growth for linked studios began to outpace the base group almost immediately after linking their social profiles in November. That gap continued to grow over the test period as studios increased their social activity.

Customer action followed a similar pattern. The test group’s growth rate for web clicks and phone calls outpaced the control group by more than 10% year-over-year.

For phone calls specifically, a growth gap that began in the red increased to 11.5% percent by the end of the testing period.

Painting with a Twist’s own data validated our finding. The studios taking part in the test saw an:

• 8% lift in overall website traffic
• 14% increase in Google-sourced users
• Increase in bookings, not just clicks

For Painting with a Twist, this test proved conclusively that connecting social with search could influence the path from online discovery to real-world action.

What did the test group do differently?

The studios in the test group did not just link their profiles and wait, they were more active across key social channels during the test period. They posted approximately 60% more than those who did not, publishing content that customers wanted to engage with through likes, shares and comments.

Compared to the control group, test group locations:

• Published 61% more Facebook posts
• Published 59% more Instagram posts
• Had 34% of locations posting to LinkedIn, compared to 11% of control locations
• Had 35% of locations posting to TikTok, compared to 21% of control locations
• Had 6% of locations posting to X, compared to 4% of control locations

This increased activity translated to increased visibility and engagement not just in traditional Google search, but on the platforms on which they were posted as well. On Facebook alone, test group reach outpaced the rest of the studios by over 25% by the end of the test period. Engagement out paced them by 15%.

Does this prove Social Signals are a Ranking Factor?

This data certainly seems to suggest that signals from linked social accounts can enhance discoverability and engagement in local search. 

But which signals are doing the work? Is it the freshness of content? The engagement? The content itself? More testing is obviously needed. 

What we do know for certain is that Google is indexing content from linked social accounts. Google acknowledged this directly when we presented this case study together last May. And we see it in action when Google identifies offers and events posted to linked social channels and presents them as offers or events directly on Google profiles.

Takeaway for multi-location brands

Add active social URL links to all your Google Business Profiles. For platforms where you do not have a corresponding localized social media account, links to your brand accounts are acceptable per Google guidelines.

But just linking your social accounts isn’t enough. The content on those accounts needs to be fresh, informative, and engaging.

• Keep linked social accounts active. Maintain a steady flow of recent content across the social channels connected to your locations.
• Create localized content that earns engagement. Prioritize posts, Reels, photos, events, offers, customer moments, and community content that encourages likes, comments, tags, follows, and shares.
• Create more share opportunities. Build in-location moments customers want to photograph, tag, share, and talk about.

For more data and insights, watch our full webinar, Boosting Local Visibility: How Social Signals Drive Google Business Profile Performance, with special guests Skyla Souza from Painting with a Twist, and Ashley Do, Product Manager at Google. 

Our original coverage on this study can be found here: From Clicks to Canvases: The Power of Social Linking in Local Search Success 

Or read the Google Small Business team’s coverage of the study here.