TikTok as a search engine: how to get found in Morocco

“Brunch Rabat”, “riad Marrakech piscine”, “takchita”. These searches aren't typed only into Google anymore. Many people type them into TikTok's search bar, to see the place, the product or the service on video before making up their minds. This guide sums up what TikTok has actually announced, how to make your videos findable, and how to measure the results.

Do people really search on TikTok?

The public figures come from the platforms themselves, and mostly from the United States. We found no equivalent published data for Morocco.

• Google acknowledged it as early as 2022. One of its executives, Prabhakar Raghavan, said that nearly 40% of young people looking for a place to have lunch go to TikTok or Instagram rather than Google Maps or Google Search. Google told TechCrunch this came from an internal study of 18-to-24-year-olds in the United States.
• TikTok confirms it for its own users. Based on its internal data on US users from June 2024, 57% use search and 23% search for something within 30 seconds of opening the app, according to the TikTok for Business blog.
• TikTok is building its tools around search. Ads on results pages (Search Ads Campaign), available in the United States and being tested in other markets, according to TikTok. And, since March 2024, Creator Search Insights, a tool that shows creators which topics people search for, available in some regions according to TikTok's newsroom.

We found no confirmation that these two tools are open in Morocco. Check in your account before building a plan around them. Organic search, on the other hand, works everywhere.

How does TikTok understand what your video is about?

In 2020, TikTok detailed the signals that shape its recommendations (TikTok's newsroom):

• user interactions: videos liked and shared, accounts followed, comments;
• video information, such as captions, sounds and hashtags;
• device and account settings, such as language and country, with a lower weight.

TikTok doesn't publicly explain how it reads speech or text overlaid on the image. So the safe rule is simple: put your keyword everywhere it can be read or heard. On-screen text helps people who watch with the sound off anyway.

What TikTok can't guess is your topic. A wordless “vibe” video has no reason to show up for “brunch Rabat”. A video that says, writes and captions “brunch in Rabat: the menu and opening hours” stands a chance.

Where should you put keywords in a TikTok video?

1. Out loud, in the first three seconds. “The best msemen in Fez? We tried it.” The line works as both the hook and the keyword.
2. As on-screen text, like a title, from the very first frame.
3. In the caption. A natural sentence that repeats the query and the city, not a list of words.
4. In a few specific hashtags — the place, the activity, the product — rather than generic hashtags.
5. In your account name and bio: your business and your city, spelled out.
6. In your subtitles. Add your own. We found no official confirmation that TikTok's auto-captions support Darija: don't count on them.

For shooting and editing, follow our guide to Reels and short videos in Morocco.

Darija, French or Arabizi: which words do your customers type?

In Morocco, the same search can be written several ways: in French (“restaurant Tanger”), in Darija in Latin letters — Arabizi (“mat3am tanja”) — or in Arabic script (“مطعم طنجة”). Your customers don't all type the same thing. Three habits to build:

• Look at the suggestions. Type the start of your query into TikTok's search bar: the suggestions show how people actually write it.
• Cover two ways of writing per video, for example Darija spoken and on screen, French in the caption.
• Stay consistent. The voice, the on-screen text and the caption should speak to the same person. A Darija video captioned only in English speaks to no one in particular.

Choosing a language for your audience is covered in our Darija or French guide.

Which queries should you target in your industry?

Start from the questions your customers already ask you on WhatsApp or at the counter. A few ideas:

These queries are examples to check in the search bar, not measured volumes. For a local business, TikTok complements your Google listing and your organic SEO; it doesn't replace them.

How do you know if people find you on TikTok?

• Search for yourself every week. Type your five main queries on a phone, and note whether your videos show up, and in what position.
• Read each video's analytics. With a business account, TikTok shows where views come from. If a search-related source appears, track its share video by video: it's your most direct indicator.
• Ask. On WhatsApp or at the register: “How did you find us?” Log every “on TikTok.”
• Track clicks. Put a link with UTM parameters in your bio to count, in your web analytics, the visits coming from TikTok.
• Compare month over month, not day by day. A video posted weeks ago can still be found through search.

And if you want to add ads on top of this organic presence, our TikTok Ads agency manages the budget in an account in your name, with no commission.

Sources

• TechCrunch, July 12, 2022: statement by Prabhakar Raghavan (Google), internal study of 18-to-24-year-olds in the United States.
• TikTok for Business — New Search Ads Campaign tools and features: TikTok internal data, US users, June 2024.
• TikTok Newsroom — Creator Search Insights, March 13, 2024.
• TikTok Newsroom — How TikTok recommends videos #ForYou, June 18, 2020.