Google Site Names and Favicons: 2026 Guide
Imagine you run a small software firm in the United States and rebranded last spring, yet Google still prints the old name on your results. Or it shows a bare domain or an acronym nobody uses, while a plain default icon sits where your logo should be.
That is how the Google site name and favicon work. You cannot set either one by hand, and Google Search Central says Google "can't manually change automatically selected site names." What you can do is state a clear choice and remove every signal that argues against it. This guide shows how, for site owners in the United States, Europe and South Korea, and it helps most with rebrands and brands that run country sites.
What is a Google site name, and how is it different from a title link?
A Google site name is the name of the whole website, shown with each result so people can see where a page comes from. A title link is the clickable headline, and it belongs to one page only. You set your preference for it once, on the home page, while title links need work page by page.
Google's guide to site names, last updated on December 10, 2025, draws this line. If one article shows an odd headline, you have a title link problem, but if every page shows the same wrong brand, the problem is site-wide. Headline rewrites are covered in our guide to why Google rewrites your title tag.
How does Google choose the site name it shows?
Google picks the name with a system its docs call "completely automated." It reads your home page and references to your site across the web. WebSite structured data carries the most weight when you want to state a preference, but the system also looks at the og:site_name property, the title element, headings and other text on the home page.
So your markup is a request, not a command, and if your title says one thing and your Open Graph tags say another, you hand the system a split vote. When it is less confident in your name, Google says it may use other sources or show your domain instead.
What makes a site name easy for Google to accept?
Pick a unique, concise name that people already use for you, and use it the same way everywhere on the home page. Google's example is "Google" instead of "Google, Inc". Avoid generic phrases that describe a service rather than a brand, and expect trouble if another global site already uses the same name, since Google generally won't give two global sites the same name.
Imagine a US practice, Maple Ridge Dental Partners, that calls itself "Best Dentists In Iowa" online. Google's guide uses that exact phrase as its warning, saying such a name "is unlikely to be selected by our system" unless the brand is very well known. The fix is to put "Maple Ridge Dental" in the name property and match the home page title and main heading. I think the best test is this: would a customer say the name out loud?
How do you add WebSite structured data for your site name?
Add one WebSite block to your home page with two required properties: "name" for your preferred name and "url" for the canonical home page, and you can add "alternateName" too, as an optional extra. Google accepts JSON-LD, RDFa or microdata, and you only need the markup on the home page, not on every page of the site.
In JSON-LD, the block sits in a script tag with the type application/ld+json, and it points "@context" to Schema.org, sets "@type" to "WebSite" and then lists your values.
| Property | Required? | What it holds | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|---|
| name | Yes | Your preferred name as text, concise and commonly recognized | A legal form like "Google, Inc" or a generic phrase like "Best Dentists In Iowa" |
| url | Yes | The canonical home page of your domain or subdomain, such as https://example.com/ | A page that is not the root, such as https://example.com/de/index.html |
| alternateName | No, optional | Other names, such as an acronym or short form, in order of preference | A domain backup in mixed case, like Example.com instead of example.com |
If your theme or plugin already prints a WebSite node, add the name properties to it, because Google asks you to avoid a second block. Platform quirks differ, so see our guides to fixing WordPress SEO defaults and what a Shopify theme won't fix. If JavaScript builds your home page, confirm the markup survives rendering, as our guide to how Google renders JavaScript explains. For the format itself, read our complete JSON-LD schema markup guide.
When should you use alternateName?
Use alternateName whenever people know you by more than one name, such as an acronym, a short form or a local-language name, and list the options in your order of preference, most important first. Google says its system "strongly considers" this property when it is not confident enough to use your main name, so it is your safety net.
Imagine a Korean home goods brand, Solbit Living, that sells in South Korea and Europe, where shoppers in Seoul may know it by its Korean name while shoppers in Germany and France know the English one. A sensible setup puts "Solbit Living" in the name property and lists "Solbit" and the Korean name as alternatives, but Google does not promise which name shows to which reader, so treat the list as options, not targeting.
Can a subdomain or subfolder have its own site name and favicon?
A subdomain can but a subfolder cannot, because Google supports one name per domain or subdomain, and one favicon per hostname. So news.example.com can carry its own name and icon, while example.com/news shares the root name and icon. Addresses that start with www or m are generally treated the same as the main domain for names.
This table uses the Supported and Not supported examples in Google's two guides, and the favicon guide does not list www or m.
| Address | Own site name? | Own favicon? |
|---|---|---|
| example.com | Yes, a domain-level home page | Yes, a domain-level home page |
| www.example.com | Counts as domain level, so it shares the main name | Not listed, the favicon guide counts one per hostname |
| m.example.com | Counts as domain level, so it shares the main name | Not listed, the favicon guide counts one per hostname |
| news.example.com | Yes, a subdomain-level home page | Yes, a subdomain-level home page |
| example.com/news | No, subfolders are not supported | No, it uses the root icon |
A German store at example.com/de/ shares the main name and icon, as does a /ko/ folder for Korean shoppers, while a de.example.com or kr.example.com subdomain can carry its own. One catch: a subdomain with no WebSite markup may fall back to the domain-level name. Language targeting is a separate job, covered in our hreflang and international SEO guide. My opinion is that a shared name suits most brands, but it matters more when a Korean brand is known at home by a Hangul name. Even then, weigh the trade-offs in our franchise and multi-location SEO guide before you move a folder for a label.
How do you get your favicon to show in Google Search?
Add a link tag to the head of your home page with rel set to icon and href pointing to the file, and Google wants a square image, at least 8x8px, and ideally larger than 48x48px, in a format such as PNG or ICO. Keep the URL stable, let Google recrawl the home page and accept that display is not guaranteed.
Google's favicon guide, last updated on August 28, 2026, accepts four rel values: icon, shortcut icon, apple-touch-icon and apple-touch-icon-precomposed. The href can be a relative path or a full URL, and the file can sit on a CDN. The full format list is BMP, GIF, ICO, PNG, JPEG, PPM and TIFF, and SVG and WebP are not on it. Google does not say it rejects them, but a PNG keeps you inside the written rules. My advice is a plain square PNG with one letter or symbol, since a full wordmark turns to mush at that size. The guide covers organic results only, not Google Ads logos.
Why does Google show a default icon instead of your favicon?
Check access first, because Googlebot-Image must be able to crawl the icon file, and Googlebot must be able to crawl the home page. After that, check the other rules Google lists: a stable URL, a square shape, a supported format and nothing inappropriate. Even when every rule is met, Google says the icon is not guaranteed to appear.
The easiest mistake to make, in my view, is a robots.txt rule that blocks a folder such as /assets/ where the icon lives. Our guide to robots.txt, meta robots and noindex shows how to test and validate your rules. If your build tool adds a new hash to the file name on every deploy, the URL keeps changing, so serve the icon from one fixed path instead. Google also swaps in a default icon when it finds imagery it deems inappropriate.
What should you do when Google shows the wrong site name?
Work through Google's checklist first, then escalate in the order its docs set, so confirm that your markup, home page signals, redirects and duplicate versions all agree, and allow time for a recrawl. If the wrong name persists, add alternateName, then add your lowercase domain as a backup alternative, and only as a last resort make the domain your preferred name.
Here is the full ladder, in the order Google's guide sets.
- Check that the name in your WebSite markup is the one you prefer.
- Fix structured data errors and test the syntax in the Schema Markup Validator, because the Rich Results Test does not support this feature.
- Make sure the title, headings and other home page text use the same name.
- Confirm you are not naming a subfolder, which Google does not support.
- Check that redirects work and Googlebot can reach the target, then request a recrawl.
- Use the same name on every version of the site, such as HTTP and HTTPS.
- Allow time, since crawling can take "anywhere from several days to several weeks."
- Add alternateName, which Google says its system strongly considers when it is not confident enough to use your main name.
- Add your domain in all lowercase, such as example.com rather than Example.com, as a backup alternative.
- As a last resort, put the lowercase domain in the name property, and Google says its system will generally select it.
- If you are still stuck, post in the Google Search Central Help Community.
In my opinion, a clean domain beats a wrong name, so treat that last rung as a holding position.
How do rebrands and migrations change your site name?
If your old home page redirects to a new one that Googlebot can see, Google says the name will reflect the redirect target, so the new home page should carry the right WebSite markup before you switch. Keep the icon URL stable, and put the same markup on every duplicate home page, including HTTP, HTTPS, www and non-www.
For example, imagine a team in the United Kingdom renaming its software brand from Brightfold to Northpane on a new domain. Before launch, the new home page needs WebSite markup naming "Northpane", with a title and og:site_name to match. Keeping "Brightfold" in alternateName for a while is my suggestion, not Google guidance. Google does note that inner pages need their own recrawl time, so older posts may keep the old name for a while. Our guide to canonical tags and how Google picks your URL helps you merge duplicate versions. Our redirects and site migration playbook covers the move itself. I would also log the switch date, as our Search Console annotations guide explains.
How long does a change take, and how can you check it?
Google says crawling can take anywhere from several days to several weeks, depending on how often its systems refresh your content. Validate your markup in the Schema Markup Validator, since the Rich Results Test does not support this feature, and then inspect the home page with the URL Inspection tool, make sure nothing blocks it and request a recrawl.
Google names three things that can block your home page: a robots.txt file, noindex and login requirements. If the validator flags problems you cannot place, our structured data debugging guide walks through syntax errors, missing fields and policy issues. Our practitioner guide to Google Search Console explains the URL Inspection tool in depth. Google's docs describe no Search Console report for names or icons, so check your own results in Google Search.
What should you check on your home page today?
Open your home page source today and find the WebSite node, then check that the name matches your preferred brand, the url is the canonical home page and any alternateName values are in the right order. Then confirm your title and headings agree, and that robots.txt lets Google reach both the page and the icon file.
If there is no WebSite node at all, adding one is the highest-value fix here, in my opinion. Think back to the rebranded US firm from the start, which cannot type its new name into any Google setting but can make every home page signal vote the same way. That is the whole game with a Google site name. For how Google reads your brand beyond one label, our entity SEO and Knowledge Graph guide is the next step. Which name does Google show for your site today?
Frequently asked questions about site names and favicons
Do the name and favicon Google shows affect rankings?
Google's guides on names and icons describe how they display, not how pages rank, and neither guide mentions a ranking effect, so I would not expect one. That said, the name and icon sit right beside every result, so they shape how a searcher sees your brand. In my view, a wrong name or a default icon can make a trusted brand look unfamiliar. So treat both as trust and recognition work, and fix them for that reason alone, not in the hope of a ranking boost.
Why does Google show my domain instead of my brand?
Google says that when its system is less confident in the name you provided, it may build a name from other sources or show your domain or subdomain. Things its guide warns about include a generic name, markup that disagrees with your home page, and a home page Google cannot crawl. Start with the ladder earlier in this guide and check the markup, align every name signal, fix access, then add alternateName. Give each change time, because Google says crawling can take several weeks.
Do I need WebSite markup on every page?
No, because Google says you only need the markup on the home page, meaning the root of your domain or subdomain. A page like example.com/de/index.html does not count. There is one extra duty, though: if your home page exists in more than one version, such as HTTP and HTTPS or www and non-www, use the same markup on every copy, not just the canonical one. If you already have a WebSite node, nest the name properties inside it rather than adding a second block.
Does og:site_name control what Google shows?
Not on its own, because Google lists og:site_name, the Open Graph property, as one of several home page sources its system considers. The title element, headings and other home page text count too. But Google is clear that WebSite structured data is the most important signal if you want to state a preference. My advice is to set both, with the exact same name, so the two signals back each other up instead of competing. Think of og:site_name as a supporting witness, not the main one.
Is there a length limit for the name Google shows?
Google sets no length limit, but its guide warns that long names may be cut short on some devices. It also asks for a concise, commonly recognized name, and its own example prefers "Google" over "Google, Inc". My advice is to use the shortest version of your brand that people already say out loud. If you also go by a longer legal name or an acronym, list those in alternateName in your order of preference rather than cramming them into the main name.
Can two websites use the same name in Google?
Sometimes not, because Google says its system generally won't use the same name for two different sites that are global in nature. So if another global site already uses your name, yours may not be picked. That is where alternateName helps. For example, a small German software shop whose name matches a global site could list a longer, more distinct form of its name as an alternative. As a final fallback, Google's guide lets you offer your domain, in all lowercase, as a backup name.
Can I use an SVG favicon in Google Search?
Google's favicon guide lists BMP, GIF, ICO, PNG, JPEG, PPM and TIFF as supported formats. SVG is not on that list, and neither is WebP. The guide does not say Google rejects SVG, so I would not claim it fails. But if you want the icon Google reads to follow the written rules, point a link tag at a square PNG or ICO file. If you like SVG for other reasons, keep it, but declare a supported file on the home page as well.
Can Google change the name or icon for you by hand?
No, because Google's guide says it cannot manually change names its system picks, and the favicon guide says display is not guaranteed. What you get instead are feedback routes. For names, Google suggests posting in the Google Search Central Help Community once you have worked through its troubleshooting steps. For icons, it offers a favicon feedback form. Google notes that this form helps improve its systems overall and does not promise action on any single site. Plan on fixing the signals yourself, one by one.
When did Google start showing site names?
Google announced the feature on its Search Central Blog on October 14, 2022, in a post by Koji Kojima. At launch, names appeared only in mobile results and only in English, French, Japanese and German, with more languages due over the next few months. The same post recommended an icon of at least 48px. Today, Google's current guide says the feature works in every language where Google Search is available, on both mobile and desktop. So an older tutorial that says mobile only is out of date.
Do these rules apply to Naver in South Korea?
No, because every rule in this guide comes from Google's own docs, and those docs cover Google Search only. Naver is a separate search engine with its own rules, so do not assume a clean WebSite node carries over. If Korean search matters to your brand, treat Naver as its own project with its own checklist. Our guide to Naver SEO and ranking in Korean search walks through its crawler, site registration and letting it fetch your icon. Start there once your Google signals are clean.