Is TikTok search different from Google search?
Yes. Different people answer the same search. For 15 New Zealand travel searches made from Singapore, creators held 93% of TikTok's top-20 results. Google's AI Overviews for the same searches made 109 citations, and none were TikTok videos. Businesses' own websites were cited in 8 of the 11 answers, and booking or review sites in 10.
By Julien Lauret, Co-founder and CTO, SocialSeal Published Updated
The same 15 searches on both
We took 15 New Zealand travel searches made from Singapore, such as “milford sound scenic flight”, “hooker valley track guide” and “new zealand first time trip”, and looked at who answered on each platform.
On TikTok (top 20 results, 21 October 2026):
| Who | Share of 287 results |
|---|---|
| Creators | 93% |
| Businesses | 6% |
| Official tourism bodies | 0.7% |
On Google (AI Overviews, 29 October 2026). 11 of the 15 searches showed an AI Overview, with 109 citations:
| Source type | Citations | Answers citing it |
|---|---|---|
| Businesses’ own websites (operators, lodges, rental firms) | 28 | 8 of 11 |
| Booking and review sites | 25 | 10 of 11 |
| Video, social and forums (YouTube 14, Instagram 5, Facebook 3, Reddit 3, TikTok 0) | 25 | 9 of 11 |
| Publishers and travel blogs | 22 | 10 of 11 |
| Official tourism and government sites | 9 | 5 of 11 |
Take “milford sound scenic flight”. Google’s AI cited the websites of three flight operators. None of the three appeared in TikTok’s top 20 for the same search. TikTok’s number one was a traveller’s video thanking a different operator for “the trip of a lifetime”. A business that checks only Google’s AI answers would think travellers can find it. A traveller searching TikTok wouldn’t see those operators.
Two differences that matter
1. Who answers. Google’s AI mostly cited businesses: their own websites made 28 of the 109 citations, and booking and review sites another 25. On TikTok, businesses of every kind, booking sites included, held 6% of the results, and creators 93%.
2. Which video platform. For these searches, Google’s AI cited 14 YouTube videos and no TikTok videos. If you want your videos in Google’s answers to searches like these, publish them on YouTube as well as TikTok. See which sources Google’s AI Overviews cite.
What this means for a travel brand
- For Google, keep your website and listings complete, specific and current. In these searches, they were what Google’s AI cited most often.
- For TikTok, you need videos that answer each search. Make them yourself, or work with the creators who already rank. Choose creators by the searches they rank for in your market.
- Track both, market by market. TikTok results change a lot by country: for the same words searched on the same day from two countries, the top 20 shared about a quarter of their videos. See how TikTok search works.
For how businesses get into TikTok’s results, see can a business rank in TikTok search?
How we know
- Searches: 15 New Zealand travel searches in English, tracked in SocialSeal and run from Singapore. Examples: "milford sound scenic flight", "hooker valley track guide", "lake tekapo stargazing", "campervan road trip loop nz", "self drive nz itinerary" and "new zealand first time trip".
- TikTok: Top 20 results for each search, captured on 21 October 2026: 287 results. Each account was classed from its name and captions as a creator, a business (operators, attractions, hotels, restaurants, rental companies, booking sites, agencies, media) or an official tourism body. A spot check of 40 accounts classed as creators found about 3 businesses, so the creator share is probably a few points high.
- Google: Google AI Overviews for the same 15 searches, from Singapore in English, captured on 29 October 2026. 11 searches showed an AI Overview, with 109 citations between them. Each cited site was classed as a business's own website, a booking or review site, a video, social or forum site, a publisher or blog, or an official tourism or government site.
- Limits: One destination, one market and 15 searches, captured eight days apart on the two platforms. TikTok's ranked videos are compared with the sources Google's AI cites.
Other questions
- Does Google show TikTok videos in search?
- Sometimes. In 36 US AI Overviews we captured on 21 and 26 October 2026, TikTok was the second most-cited site, mostly for marketing and travel questions such as "how to market a hotel on tiktok". For these 15 New Zealand travel searches from Singapore, Google's AI made no TikTok citations and 14 YouTube citations.
- Should a travel brand focus on TikTok or Google?
- Both, with different work. Google's AI cited businesses' own websites in most of these answers. On TikTok, creators held most of the results, so you need your own videos for specific searches, or creators who already rank.
- Do I need to check each platform from my customers' country?
- Yes, for TikTok especially. Across 13,191 comparisons of the same words searched on the same day from two countries, TikTok's top 20 shared about a quarter of their videos. The US and the UK shared 13%.
See who answers your searches on each platform
The free Visibility Check runs your customers' searches on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube from their country, so you can see who they find first.
Get your free Visibility Check