Instagram’s search has always been hit-or-miss—more chaos than clarity.

You’d type something in, and the app would hand you a mix of outdated posts, random hashtags, and a chiropractor doing Reels for clout.

But that’s changing.

It’s all part of a plan to keep users inside the app longer and turn Instagram into a real discovery engine. TikTok has shown that smart search keeps people scrolling. Now Instagram wants in.

Meta is upgrading Instagram search to act more like TikTok’s—relevant, useful, and driven by engagement.

That means better results based on what people are actually watching, liking, and saving.

You search “back pain stretches”? You’ll see popular, helpful content—not just accounts selling supplements.

The update is live in some regions, with wider rollout coming. No word yet on whether they’ll serve up deep dives or hacks like TikTok, but the direction is clear: less noise, more signal.