A few days ago, I searched for my own name on Google—this is an exercise I do constantly to observe if and how indexation changes.
One detail caught my attention.
A LinkedIn post appeared in the list of results, and the hashtags from the post were visible in the snippet generated by Google: #branding #brandstrategy #B2B #marketing #howto. More specifically, the hashtags I constantly use on my personal profile.
This wasn’t an artificial distribution tactic, but publicly indexed content. Google extracted those tags and displayed them as part of the result description.
Hashtags no longer have the power they once had in the LinkedIn algorithm; they are no longer a distribution engine. I continue to use them as positioning tools—Branding, Brand Strategy, B2B, Marketing, and How To are the labels I intentionally associate with the content I create.
Google indexed them and associated them with my name, extending this positioning beyond LinkedIn. Well done, Roxana! 😎
Google builds an identity about you, even if you don’t consciously build one
For Google, hashtags are semantic signals. If a name constantly appears in association with certain concepts, the search engine begins to link those concepts to that person or company.
I wrote here about how repetition creates association, and association creates positioning.
The question is: what do you want to be associated with?
Hashtags: what they were, what they have become, and why they still matter
Between 2016 and 2020 on LinkedIn, hashtags functioned as a distribution tool. If you used #logistics or #transport, the post could reach the feed of those who followed that hashtag.
Naturally, “recipes for success” also appeared: 3-5 hashtags, 10 hashtags, placed at the beginning or the end, combined with popular hashtags, etc.
Over time, the LinkedIn algorithm changed. Distribution is now influenced much more by: relevance to the network, early engagement, time spent on the post, and the relationship between the author and the audience.
Hashtags haven’t disappeared, but they are no longer the main reach accelerator. Today, they function differently: as a thematic label, an instrument of coherence, positioning, and, as we see, as a semantic signal for search engines.
For Google, a hashtag is simply a visible keyword, clearly marked in the page’s structure. If you constantly repeat it in association with your name or your company’s name, it becomes part of your digital identity.
The problem is not that hashtags “no longer work,” but that most companies use them without intention.
“And how does that help me, young lady?”
Few companies search for their own name on Google from a strategic perspective. Most look for prices, tenders, competition, legislation, and less often “What does Google say about me?” But for a new client, a potential partner, or an investor, Google is often the first filter of credibility—before the call, the offer, or the meeting.
Google doesn’t just display turnover or official data—it also displays semantic association. And if your company’s name constantly appears in the context of crises, lawsuits, complaints, or conflicts,
Google learns that. And if it constantly appears in the context of expertise, technology, efficiency, strategic clarity, and leadership, Google learns that too.
Search engines do not express opinions; they reflect consistency (or the lack thereof!)
Positioning is no longer just in the market. It is also in the index.
Your brand is no longer just what you say in commercial presentations, on your website, or on social media, but also what Google understands about you. And Google learns from interviews, media appearances, public social media posts, press releases, articles, and, yes, hashtags.
Many companies communicate fragmented: today about a new truck, tomorrow about recruitment, the day after about a won contract. There is no clear territory. And when there is no clear territory, Google cannot build a clear association.
What have you repeated often enough for Google to learn about you?
In conclusion, hashtags are no longer a distribution channel, but a positioning channel in the index. And the index does not forget, and it does not forgive.
Mini-framework: How to choose 5 strategic hashtags for your brand
Well, if I said that hashtags are no longer about reach but about semantic association, it means they must be chosen strategically, not intuitively. This means you don’t choose what’s popular, you don’t choose what others use, you don’t choose what sounds good. You choose what you want the market and the Google index to remember.
Here’s how to do that, practically:
1️⃣ Start from brand positioning, not social media
What do you want your brand to be known for? Write down 3-5 concepts that define your strategic direction. Not services, not products, but direction. For example:
• digitalization
• operational efficiency
• leadership
• strategy
• optimization
• safety
• innovation
These become the core.
2️⃣ Avoid overly generic formulations
#business or #success do not build positioning. They are too generic, too diffuse, too commonly used.
A strategic hashtag is:
• clear enough
• specific enough
• repeatable enough
3️⃣ Build coherence through repetition
In positioning, power lies in consistency, not variety. If today you use #strategy, tomorrow #consulting, the day after tomorrow #growth, and then #innovation, without a common thread, you don’t build association.
Choose 3, maximum 5, and use them constantly. Google will learn.
4️⃣ Align hashtags with real content
You cannot occupy a direction merely declaratively. In other words, positioning is a promise you must honor with actions.
If you use #leadership, but only post operational announcements, dissonance appears.
5️⃣ Think long-term
The question is not: “What hashtags help me today?”, but “What concepts do I want to be associated with my name two years from now?”
How we apply this at DRIVION
At DRIVION, we constantly use #transport #logistica #B2B #marketing because they define the intersection in which we operate.
#transport and #logistica mark the industry where we have direct experience and where we build positioning for our clients. #B2B defines the type of business we understand and for which we strategize. #marketing clarifies the nature of our intervention.
Together, these hashtags are strategic coordinates. Repeated consistently, they clearly state where we play and what we do—for the market and for the index.