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- Google popularity only weakly predicts TikTok popularity: across 29 everyday topics with a typed TikTok match, the rank correlation was 0.29 on 5 October 2026.
- The most TikTok-first topics were glute workout, song recommendations, how to style jeans, running tips and Japan travel tips, each small on Google with tens or hundreds of thousands of typed TikTok searches a week.
- The most Google-first were cheap flights, credit score, nail designs, high protein breakfast and pasta recipes: searches that end in a booking, a number or a recipe.
- All compared fitness and home topics leaned TikTok; none of the compared food topics did, and 4 of 5 education topics leaned Google.
- For 21 of 50 topics TikTok returned only topic groups that pool many searches, so we left them out of the comparison rather than set a pooled figure against one Google keyword.
As of 5 October 2026, how popular a topic is on Google only weakly predicts how popular it is on TikTok. For 29 everyday topics where TikTok's data had a typed search phrase to compare, the rank correlation between TikTok searches in the 7 days to 5 October 2026 and Google's average US monthly searches was 0.29, where 1 would mean the same order and 0 no link at all.
In this TikTok vs Google search comparison, workouts, styling and travel tips ranked far higher on TikTok. TikTok recorded 240,227 searches in the 7 days to 5 October 2026 for "glutes workout", while Google shows 90 US searches a month for "glute workout". Searches that end in a booking, a number or a recipe stayed Google-first: cheap flights, credit score, nail designs, high protein breakfast and pasta recipes.
Key statistics
Free to quote and share with a link to this page. Each figure comes from the data listed under Sources and data.
Across 29 everyday topics with a typed TikTok search match, the rank correlation between TikTok searches in the 7 days to 5 October 2026 and Google's average US monthly searches was 0.29, a weak link.
TikTok recorded 240,227 searches in the 7 days to 5 October 2026 for "glutes workout", with no videos matched to it, while Google Keyword Planner shows an average of 90 US searches a month for "glute workout".
TikTok recorded 206,396 searches in the 7 days to 5 October 2026 for "SongRecommendations", while Google Keyword Planner shows an average of 260 US searches a month for "song recommendations".
"cheap flights" was the most Google-first of 29 everyday topics compared: 4,090,000 US Google searches a month on average, against 211,763 TikTok searches in the 7 days to 5 October 2026 for "cheap flight".
In a 5 October 2026 comparison of typed TikTok searches with Google searches, all 3 fitness topics and all 3 home topics leaned towards TikTok more than a typical topic, while none of the 3 food topics did.
For 21 of 50 everyday topics checked on 5 October 2026, TikTok's search data returned only TikTok-generated topic groups that pool many searches, and no matching typed search phrase.
How to read the comparison
The two platforms count differently, so we compare order, not size. TikTok's number is "Search popularity" from Creator Search Insights for a typed search phrase: searches in the last 7 days, worldwide. Google's number is Keyword Planner's average monthly searches in the United States, averaged over the 12 months to September 2026, as Google defines it.
So this page never says "TikTok gets X times more searches than Google". For each topic we divided the TikTok number by the Google number, then compared that with the typical (median) topic. We call the result the lean index. A lean index of 1 is a typical topic. A lean index of 20 means the topic leans 20 times further towards TikTok than a typical topic does. A lean index of 0.05 means it leans heavily towards Google.
We only compare like with like: a phrase people type on TikTok against a phrase people type on Google. TikTok also returns broad topic groups that pool many searches under one name. Those are kept out of every comparison on this page and described separately in TikTok's topic groups.
TikTok vs Google search: the most TikTok-first topics
These ten topics rank much higher on TikTok than their Google numbers would suggest. Most have a few thousand US Google searches a month or fewer, and tens or hundreds of thousands of typed TikTok searches in a week.
Here are the top five with both numbers.
| Topic (Google keyword) | Typed TikTok search | TikTok searches, 7 days to 5 Oct | Google US searches a month | Videos on TikTok |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| glute workout | glutes workout | 240,227 | 90 | 0 |
| song recommendations | SongRecommendations | 206,396 | 260 | 1,480 |
| how to style jeans | How to style jeans | 168,250 | 590 | 878 |
| running tips | tips for running | 260,826 | 1,900 | 1,273 |
| japan travel tips | Japan travel tips | 35,989 | 480 | 1,067 |
Data: TikTok Creator Search Insights via TokConnect (typed searches, global, 7 days to 5 October 2026) and Google Keyword Planner via Keywords Everywhere (US, average of October 2025 to September 2026). Checked 5 October 2026. Download the data.
The pattern is easy to see. Seven of the ten are tips, ideas, hacks, tricks or a "how to": things you understand faster by watching someone do them. A glute exercise, a way to style jeans or a running form fix needs a demonstration more than a web page, and nobody has to book or buy anything to try one.
Two of the ten had no videos matched to them at all: "glutes workout" and "small apartment decorating ideas" (179,382 searches in the 7 days to 5 October 2026). That is what TikTok calls a content gap: real searches with nothing made to answer them.
The most Google-first topics
At the other end are topics where Google is far ahead. Most of them end in an action outside the app: booking a flight, checking a number, following a recipe step by step, or picking a design to copy.
| Topic (Google keyword) | Typed TikTok search | TikTok searches, 7 days to 5 Oct | Google US searches a month | Lean index |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| cheap flights | cheap flight | 211,763 | 4,090,000 | <0.01 |
| credit score | Credit score | 118,740 | 201,000 | 0.04 |
| nail designs | Design nails | 302,190 | 368,000 | 0.06 |
| high protein breakfast | quick breakfast high protein | 82,708 | 90,500 | 0.07 |
| pasta recipes | Pasta recipes | 160,419 | 135,000 | 0.09 |
Same sources and dates as above. Download the data.
Google-first does not mean "nobody searches it on TikTok". TikTok still recorded 211,763 searches in the 7 days to 5 October 2026 for "cheap flight" and 302,190 for "Design nails". It means the topic is relatively bigger on Google than a typical topic in our set. Study and career searches also leaned Google: "studying tips", "interview tips to get the job" and "how to learn Spanish" all sat in the bottom ten.
Which categories lean TikTok
We picked five topics in each of ten categories, and compared those with a typed TikTok match. Fitness and home leaned TikTok in every compared topic, travel in 3 of 4. Food leaned Google in all 3 compared topics, and education in 4 of 5.
| Category | Topics compared (typed match) | Of those, lean TikTok | Label-only topics | Median lean index |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fitness | 3 | 3 | 2 | 10.45 |
| Home | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3.75 |
| Travel | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3.24 |
| Money | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1.0 |
| Fashion | 2 | 1 | 3 | 11.04 |
| Entertainment | 2 | 1 | 3 | 30.29 |
| Education | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0.26 |
| Food | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0.09 |
| Beauty | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0.06 |
| Tech | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0.19 |
Five topics per category, chosen before we pulled any numbers. "Label-only" means TikTok returned only topic groups for that topic, so it is not compared. Checked 5 October 2026. Download the data.
Beauty and tech had only one compared topic each, and fashion and entertainment two, so their rows say little about the whole category. The clearest results are fitness and home on the TikTok side and food and education on the Google side, where three to five topics agree.
Full results: all 50 topics
The 29 compared topics are sorted from most TikTok-first to most Google-first, followed by the 21 label-only topics. "Match" says how closely the typed TikTok phrase fits the Google keyword: exact, close (same words with a little added or reordered) or loose (same need, slightly different words).
| # | Topic (Google keyword) | Category | Typed TikTok search used | Match | TikTok searches, 7 days | Google US searches a month | Lean index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | glute workout | Fitness | glutes workout | close | 240,227 | 90 | 203.1 |
| 2 | song recommendations | Entertainment | SongRecommendations | close | 206,396 | 260 | 60.4 |
| 3 | how to style jeans | Fashion | How to style jeans | exact | 168,250 | 590 | 21.7 |
| 4 | running tips | Fitness | tips for running | close | 260,826 | 1,900 | 10.4 |
| 5 | japan travel tips | Travel | Japan travel tips | exact | 35,989 | 480 | 5.7 |
| 6 | road trip ideas | Travel | Road Trip Ideas | exact | 169,916 | 2,400 | 5.4 |
| 7 | small apartment ideas | Home | small apartment decorating ideas | close | 179,382 | 2,900 | 4.7 |
| 8 | cleaning hacks | Home | clean hacks | loose | 64,019 | 1,300 | 3.8 |
| 9 | math tricks | Education | Math Tricks And Tips | close | 69,206 | 1,600 | 3.3 |
| 10 | plant care | Home | Plant Care | exact | 125,037 | 6,600 | 1.4 |
| 11 | home workout | Fitness | Workout at home | close | 178,946 | 9,900 | 1.4 |
| 12 | how to save money | Money | Save your money | close | 321,467 | 18,100 | 1.4 |
| 13 | things to do in paris | Travel | paris france things to do | close | 472,847 | 33,100 | 1.1 |
| 14 | how to invest | Money | How to invest money | close | 211,863 | 14,800 | 1.1 |
| 15 | budgeting tips | Money | Budgeting Tips | exact | 38,111 | 2,900 | 1.0 |
| 16 | mens fashion | Fashion | Men’s fashion | close | 134,413 | 27,100 | 0.38 |
| 17 | meal prep | Food | Prep Meals | close | 296,970 | 60,500 | 0.37 |
| 18 | side hustles | Money | side hustle ideas | close | 211,194 | 49,500 | 0.32 |
| 19 | resume tips | Education | ResumeTips | close | 266,426 | 74,000 | 0.27 |
| 20 | learn spanish | Education | how to learn Spanish | close | 111,311 | 33,100 | 0.26 |
| 21 | job interview tips | Education | interview tips to get the job | close | 282,015 | 90,500 | 0.24 |
| 22 | study tips | Education | studying tips | loose | 226,667 | 74,000 | 0.23 |
| 23 | how to build a pc | Tech | PC build | close | 24,707 | 9,900 | 0.19 |
| 24 | books to read | Entertainment | Read books | close | 174,412 | 74,000 | 0.18 |
| 25 | pasta recipes | Food | Pasta recipes | exact | 160,419 | 135,000 | 0.09 |
| 26 | high protein breakfast | Food | quick breakfast high protein | close | 82,708 | 90,500 | 0.07 |
| 27 | nail designs | Beauty | Design nails | close | 302,190 | 368,000 | 0.06 |
| 28 | credit score | Money | Credit score | exact | 118,740 | 201,000 | 0.04 |
| 29 | cheap flights | Travel | cheap flight | close | 211,763 | 4,090,000 | <0.01 |
| – | curly hair routine | Beauty | none (topic groups only) | label-only | – | 8,100 | – |
| – | hair growth tips | Beauty | none (topic groups only) | label-only | – | 2,400 | – |
| – | makeup tutorial | Beauty | none (topic groups only) | label-only | – | 14,800 | – |
| – | skincare routine | Beauty | none (topic groups only) | label-only | – | 135,000 | – |
| – | anime recommendations | Entertainment | none (topic groups only) | label-only | – | 12,100 | – |
| – | movie recommendations | Entertainment | none (topic groups only) | label-only | – | 22,200 | – |
| – | shows to watch | Entertainment | none (topic groups only) | label-only | – | 74,000 | – |
| – | capsule wardrobe | Fashion | none (topic groups only) | label-only | – | 40,500 | – |
| – | outfit ideas | Fashion | none (topic groups only) | label-only | – | 110,000 | – |
| – | wedding guest dresses | Fashion | none (topic groups only) | label-only | – | 110,000 | – |
| – | pilates workout | Fitness | none (topic groups only) | label-only | – | 14,800 | – |
| – | weight loss tips | Fitness | none (topic groups only) | label-only | – | 12,100 | – |
| – | air fryer recipes | Food | none (topic groups only) | label-only | – | 301,000 | – |
| – | smoothie recipes | Food | none (topic groups only) | label-only | – | 74,000 | – |
| – | bedroom decor | Home | none (topic groups only) | label-only | – | 18,100 | – |
| – | organization ideas | Home | none (topic groups only) | label-only | – | 2,900 | – |
| – | best headphones | Tech | none (topic groups only) | label-only | – | 135,000 | – |
| – | best laptop | Tech | none (topic groups only) | label-only | – | 110,000 | – |
| – | chatgpt prompts | Tech | none (topic groups only) | label-only | – | 9,900 | – |
| – | iphone tips | Tech | none (topic groups only) | label-only | – | 590 | – |
| – | packing tips | Travel | none (topic groups only) | label-only | – | 1,300 | – |
Data: TikTok Creator Search Insights via TokConnect, search_topics, global, typed searches in the 7 days to 5 October 2026. Google: Keyword Planner average monthly searches, United States, October 2025 to September 2026, via Keywords Everywhere. Checked 5 October 2026. Download the data (JSON, both sides, every match decision and calculation).
TikTok's topic groups
For 21 of our 50 topics, TikTok returned no typed phrase that fit, even after a second search with a different wording. What it returned instead were topic groups: names TikTok writes itself, such as "iPhone tips and settings", "skincare routines and steps" or "cleaning hacks and efficiency tips", each pooling many related searches into one figure.
We do not compare these with Google, because one pooled figure against one exact Google keyword would overstate how TikTok-first a topic is. They are still useful as a sign of how big a whole area is on TikTok. Beauty and tech were the most group-heavy categories: 4 of 5 topics in each returned only topic groups. Our TikTok search volume guide explains how to read them.
What this means for your content
Check both platforms before you decide a topic is too small. "glute workout" looks dead on Google at 90 US searches a month. On TikTok, "glutes workout" drew 240,227 searches in the 7 days to 5 October 2026 and had no videos matched to it.
Three practical rules came out of the data:
- Workouts, styling and travel tips belong on TikTok first. All three compared fitness topics and 3 of 4 travel topics leaned TikTok.
- If the search ends in a booking, a number or a recipe card, Google holds more of it. Cheap flights, credit score and pasta recipes were among the five most Google-first topics.
- Use TikTok's wording, not Google's. TikTok's typed phrases were "Design nails" for nail designs and "Prep Meals" for meal prep. Put the TikTok phrase in your caption, on-screen text and first spoken line, as our TikTok SEO guide explains.
If you already rank on Google, this is also a cheap way to find your TikTok topics. Take your Google keywords, check each one on TikTok, keep the typed phrases, and start with the ones whose lean index is high. Our guides to TikTok keyword research and how TikTok search works cover the next steps.
Using TokConnect, take these keywords from my Google keyword list: [paste 10 to 30 keywords]. For each one, search TikTok topics and pick the typed search phrase closest to my keyword, skipping broad topic groups whose names join several ideas. Give me its 7-day searches and video count. Then put them next to the Google monthly volumes I paste below, divide TikTok by Google, and rank the keywords from most TikTok-leaning to least. Flag any keyword whose typed TikTok search has more than 100,000 searches and fewer than 100 videos.
Free to start, 50 credits, no card. Or paste it into ChatGPT, Claude or Cursor once you connect TokConnect.
What other research says about TikTok as a search engine
Surveys ask people where they search; our data shows what they search for. The two fit together. Adobe's January 2026 survey of 807 US consumers found 49% use TikTok as a search engine, up from 41% in 2024, and 61% of them prefer video tutorials when they do. Yet 89% of Gen Z still named Google as their preferred place to find information, and 14% of consumers said they were more likely to rely on ChatGPT than Google.
That matches the shape of our results: TikTok leads on workouts and how-to tips, Google keeps the lookups. Google's own Prabhakar Raghavan said in 2022 that "almost 40%" of young people looking for lunch go to TikTok or Instagram instead of Maps or Search, a figure from internal research on US 18 to 24 year olds (TechCrunch). BrightLocal's 2025 survey of 1,000 US adults put it lower for local businesses: 10% of Gen Z use TikTok for local search, against about 30% who default to Google.
On the platform side, TikTok told advertisers that 57% of its users use the search function, from internal data, when it launched Search Ads in the US in September 2024. And Pew found that 20% of US adults regularly get news on TikTok, up from 3% in 2020, and 43% of adults under 30. More numbers like these are collected in our TikTok search statistics.
How we got these numbers
Topics. On 5 October 2026, before pulling any numbers, we wrote down 50 everyday topics: five in each of beauty, food, fitness, fashion, travel, tech, money, home, entertainment and education. Each is the plain phrase a person would type, such as "skincare routine" or "air fryer recipes". We left out brands, news and holidays so that one October week would not be skewed by Halloween or similar. The list, the matching rule and the analysis plan are saved in the dataset under studyDesign.
TikTok side. For each topic we ran TokConnect's search_topics tool (5 results), which returns TikTok's own Creator Search Insights topics. We make TokConnect. We took the typed search phrase that matched best: an exact match where one existed, otherwise the closest phrase that kept every main word and the same meaning, otherwise the most literal phrase for the same need. Where the first search had no typed match, we searched once more with a wording written down in advance, usually the singular or plural form (10 results). That found typed matches for 6 more topics. In total 29 topics have a typed match (7 exact, 20 close, 2 loose) and 21 are label-only. The number is TikTok's search popularity: searches in the last 7 days, worldwide.
Google side. We pulled all 50 keywords in one batch from the Keywords Everywhere API using its Google Keyword Planner source, for the United States. The figure is Keyword Planner's average monthly searches over October 2025 to September 2026, for the exact keyword and its close variants.
Analysis. We ranked the 29 compared topics on each side, measured how well the two orders agree (Spearman rank correlation, 0.29), divided each TikTok figure by its Google figure, and scaled the result so the median topic scores 1 (the median ratio was 13.14). TikTok-first means the top of that list; Google-first means the bottom. On exact and close matches only (27 topics) the correlation was 0.24. Swapping Google's 12-month average for its September 2026 figure gave 0.37 and left 9 of the top 10 and 8 of the bottom 10 unchanged.
Why we changed the rule after the first pull. TikTok returns two kinds of record with a clear gap between them. Typed search phrases, like "Credit score" or "cheap flight", ranged from 24,707 to 472,847 searches in 7 days (80 records). Topic groups that TikTok names itself, like "skincare routines and steps", ranged from 1,828,948 to 4,819,145 (440 records), and nothing fell in between. Our first plan matched each topic to whatever TikTok returned, which mixed both kinds. Because a pooled group overstates a topic next to one Google keyword, we switched to typed matches only after seeing the first pull. The original first-pass matches are kept in the dataset under topicGroupFirstPass, marked as not used.
Limits.
- The two numbers measure different things: TikTok counts 7 days worldwide, Google averages a month in the US. Read the ratios as an order, not as "TikTok has X times more searches".
- 29 compared topics is a small sample, and the 21 label-only topics are not random: beauty and tech lost most of theirs.
- One week of TikTok data, pulled 5 October 2026. A search that spiked or dipped that week will look more or less TikTok-first than usual.
- Both sides count exact wording, and small changes move the numbers. Google shows 90 US searches a month for "glute workout"; TikTok's closest typed phrase was "glutes workout".
- Choosing the closest phrase involves judgement in a few cases. Every choice and the reason for it is in the dataset.
Download the data (merged dataset, both sides, match decisions and calculations). Raw pulls: TikTok topics (both searches) and Google volumes. Free to reuse with a link to this page.
Frequently asked questions
Is TikTok replacing Google as a search engine?
No. Adobe's 2026 survey found 49% of US consumers use TikTok as a search engine, but 89% of Gen Z still prefer Google for finding information. In our 5 October 2026 comparison, TikTok led on workouts, styling and travel tips while Google kept lookups such as cheap flights and credit score. People use both, for different jobs.
What do people search on TikTok instead of Google?
Things that are easier to watch than read. TikTok recorded 240,227 searches in the 7 days to 5 October 2026 for "glutes workout", while Google shows 90 US searches a month for "glute workout". "How to style jeans", running tips and Japan travel tips were also strongly TikTok-first, and every fitness and home topic we could compare leaned TikTok.
Can you compare TikTok search volume with Google search volume?
Only by order, not by size. TikTok's Creator Search Insights counts searches over 7 days worldwide; Google Keyword Planner averages monthly searches for one country. Compare a typed TikTok phrase with a typed Google keyword, not one of TikTok's broad topic groups. See TikTok search volume for what TikTok's number means.
Which topics are better on Google than TikTok?
Searches that end in an action outside the app. Cheap flights had 4,090,000 US Google searches a month against 211,763 TikTok searches in the 7 days to 5 October 2026 for "cheap flight". Credit score, nail designs, high protein breakfast and pasta recipes were also strongly Google-first, as were study and job-interview searches.
How do I find TikTok search volume for my Google keywords?
Open Creator Search Insights in the TikTok app or at tiktok.com/csi, search each keyword and note the search popularity of the closest typed phrase, which is a 7-day global count. It has no export or bulk lookup, so for a long keyword list an agent connected to TokConnect can run the same check and rank your keywords, as in the prompt on this page.
Is TikTok SEO worth it if a keyword has low Google volume?
Often, yes. "glute workout" shows 90 US Google searches a month, but TikTok recorded 240,227 searches in the 7 days to 5 October 2026 for "glutes workout", with no matched videos. Check TikTok's own numbers before you drop a topic. Our TikTok SEO guide covers how to rank once you pick one.
Sources and data
- Using TikTok as a search engine (Adobe Express survey, February 2026)
- 1 in 5 Americans now regularly get news on TikTok (Pew Research Center, September 2025)
- Google exec suggests Instagram and TikTok are eating into Google's core products, Search and Maps (TechCrunch, 12 July 2022)
- Consumer Search Behavior study (BrightLocal, 2025)
- TikTok Search Ads Campaign launches in US (MarTech, 24 September 2024)
- About Keyword Planner forecasts and average monthly searches (Google Ads Help)
- Keywords Everywhere API documentation
- TikTok vs Google search dataset, 50 topics, 5 October 2026
