# Favicons in Google Search

> Google shows one favicon per hostname, read from a link element on the home page, so subdirectory home pages can't have their own. The file must be square, at least 8×8px, in BMP, GIF, ICO, PNG, JPEG, PPM or TIFF, stable and crawlable. Even then, display isn't guaranteed.

- URL: https://geo.casa/content-structured-data/favicon/
- Reference · Officially documented
- Reviewed: 2026-10-26

## How Google finds it

> **Officially documented:**
> Add a `<link>` tag to the header of your home page, for example `<link rel="icon" href="/path/to/favicon.ico">`. Google supports the `rel` values `icon`, `shortcut icon`, `apple-touch-icon` and `apple-touch-icon-precomposed`. The file "doesn't need to be hosted on your site", so a CDN is fine.
>
> Sources: [Google Search Central: Define a favicon to show in search results](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/favicon-in-search)

## One per hostname

> **Officially documented:**
> "Google Search only supports one favicon per site, where a site is defined by the hostname." `https://news.example.com` can have its own favicon. `https://example.com/news` can't, because Google treats it as a subdirectory-level home page.
>
> Sources: [Google Search Central: Define a favicon to show in search results](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/favicon-in-search)

A section published in a subdirectory of another site always shows that site's favicon.

## File requirements

> **Officially documented:**
> The favicon must be square (1:1 aspect ratio) and at least 8x8px. Google recommends one larger than 48x48px. "Google Search supports the following favicon file formats: BMP, GIF, ICO, PNG, JPEG, PPM, and TIFF." The favicon URL must be stable.
>
> Sources: [Google Search Central: Define a favicon to show in search results](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/favicon-in-search)

> **Officially documented:**
> The favicon file must be crawlable by Googlebot-Image, and the home page by Googlebot. And: "A favicon isn't guaranteed to appear in Google Search results, even if all guidelines are met."
>
> Sources: [Google Search Central: Define a favicon to show in search results](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/favicon-in-search)

> **Officially documented:**
> On August 28, 2026, Google added the list of supported formats to the documentation: "Google Search's supported file formats haven't changed; this update explicitly lists them in the documentation."
>
> Sources: [Google Search Central: Latest Google Search documentation updates](https://developers.google.com/search/updates)

SVG is not on the list. A site that only offers an SVG favicon should add one of the listed formats. Browsers can keep using the SVG.

## This site

This wiki links a 96×96 PNG alongside its SVG favicon. Its build fails if a page has no favicon in a supported format.

## Sources

- [Google Search Central: Define a favicon to show in search results](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/favicon-in-search)
- [Google Search Central: Latest Google Search documentation updates](https://developers.google.com/search/updates)