How to get your articles into Google Discover

Google Discover can send more traffic in a day than search sends in a month. It can also send nothing for weeks. The difference usually comes down to a few things you control before you hit publish, and one setting that a surprising number of sites never turn on.

There is no application

You don't sign up for Discover. Google's documentation says content is automatically eligible if it's indexed and meets Discover's content policies. No special tags or structured data are required. Being eligible doesn't guarantee you'll appear, though. Discover picks articles based on each user's interests, so eligibility only gets you into the pool.

That means the first question is simple: is the page indexed? Check it with the URL Inspection tool in Search Console before worrying about anything else.

Turn on large image previews

This is the one most sites miss. Discover cards with a big image get far more attention than cards with a small thumbnail, and Google only uses a large image if you allow it. You allow it with the max-image-preview:large robots setting, which many CMS themes and SEO plugins include by default. Check your page source for it.

Google's guidance also asks for images at least 1200 pixels wide. Use a real photo or graphic that shows what the article is about. A site logo as the featured image is a common reason for a small or missing preview.

Write headlines that describe, not tease

Google tells publishers to use page titles that capture the essence of the content, and to avoid clickbait. In practice that rules out a few habits:

• Withholding the key fact to force a click ("You won't believe what this player said").
• Exaggerating the stakes in the title, snippet or image.
• Sensational wording, stacked exclamation marks and ALL-CAPS words.

A good Discover headline states what happened or what the reader gets, then adds one reason to care. "India's pace attack took 18 wickets in two Tests. Here's what changed" works. "This changes EVERYTHING for India!!" doesn't.

Follow the content policies

Discover has its own content policies. They start with Google Search's general rules on dangerous content, deceptive practices, harassment, hateful content, manipulated media, medical content, sexually explicit material, violent extremism, gore and vulgar language. On top of those come three Discover-specific rules: ads and sponsored content must be clearly labelled, content must not be misleading, and publishers must be transparent about who is behind the content. Clear bylines, author pages and contact details cover that last one.

Policy problems don't always look obvious. A health tip without a source, a finance post that promises returns, or a headline that implies something the article doesn't support can all count against you.

Give people a reason to click today

Google says timely content and content that tells a story well or offers unique insight tends to do well. Discover isn't only news. Evergreen pieces appear too, especially when they match a topic someone follows. What rarely works is a generic article that repeats what ten other sites already published.

Watch Discover updates

Google occasionally ships updates aimed at Discover specifically. It ran one in February 2026, which finished rolling out on 27 February according to Google's Search Status Dashboard. If your Discover traffic moved sharply around a date like that, check the Google updates tracker before changing anything on your site.

How to measure it

Search Console has a Discover performance report. It only appears once your site gets a minimum amount of Discover traffic, so an empty report on a new site is normal. Track clicks per article rather than site-wide totals. Discover traffic is spiky, and one hit can hide a month of misses.