Short answer: you cannot do this any more. The feature people mean by “add me to Google search” was the Google People Card, and it is effectively gone. Google shut it down during 2024, and its own Help Centre no longer documents it at all: searching Google’s help for “people card” returns no matching answers, and the old support pages for it now return 404.
You may still find guides walking you through the steps, and a create prompt reportedly still surfaces for a small number of accounts in India, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. Treat that as residue rather than a feature. Nothing you build on it is safe to rely on.
The goal behind the search is still achievable, though, and that is what most of this page is now about: how to actually appear when somebody Googles your name, using things that are not going away.
What is a Google People Card?
A Google People Card was a virtual visiting card that showed in search results when people looked up your name. It can hold your photo, job title, location, website, social profiles, and contact links. Google launched it to help individuals, freelancers and small business owners get found without building a full website. It was free and mobile first, set up from a phone. It did not survive contact with spam. Reporting on the shutdown consistently points to impersonation as the core problem, with fake cards appearing for celebrities, business owners and officials, which is a hard thing to police on a free, self declared profile.
How to create your Google People Card
These were the steps while the feature worked, kept here so you can recognise what the older guides are describing. For almost everyone the Get started button no longer appears at all, and there is no way to force it.
- Open the Google app or a mobile browser and sign in to your Google account.
- Search for add me to search in the Google search bar.
- Tap the Get started button if it appears for your account.
- Fill in your details: name, location, job title, about section, and a profile photo.
- Add your website and social links so people can reach you.
- Verify your phone number, since Google ties each card to one verified number.
- Review everything and tap Save or Preview, then Submit to publish the card.
If the Get started button does not appear, that is the expected outcome now rather than a fault with your account, and there is nothing to troubleshoot. Skip to the section below.
If you are one of the few who still has a card
A small number of accounts, mostly in the regions where the feature launched, still have a card that exists or can still be edited. If that is you, this is what applies.
Everything below is only relevant if the card is already there. None of it will make the option appear if it does not, and no amount of profile tidying brings back a retired feature.
Keep the name consistent with your other profiles. Google matches identity signals across sources, so a card whose name matches your LinkedIn and your website is easier to associate with you.
Keep it complete and accurate. A card with a real photo, a specific job title and a working link is treated better than a half filled one, and cards that read as promotional get removed.
Link to something you own. A personal site or a strong profile is what proves the card belongs to a real person rather than a name somebody typed in.
But do not build a plan around it. The card can disappear whenever Google finishes retiring the feature, and there is no export and no appeal.
Treat it as a small bonus that already exists rather than an asset, and put your actual effort into the section below, which is the part nobody can switch off.
What to do instead
The underlying goal, owning what appears when someone searches your name, is more achievable than it was when People Cards launched, and none of it depends on a feature Google can retire.
A page you own, on a domain you own. This is the only one nobody can switch off. A simple personal site with your name in the title, a real bio, your photo and links to your profiles will usually outrank scattered social mentions for your own name, because nothing else on the web is that specifically about you. A domain costs around $11 a year.
Your LinkedIn profile. For most professional names this is what already ranks first, and it is the single highest leverage thing to tidy up. Complete it properly and set a custom public URL rather than the default string of numbers.
Consistency across profiles. Use the same name spelling, same photo and same job description everywhere. Google is matching an identity across sources, and inconsistency is what makes it uncertain which results belong to the same person.
Person schema on your own site. If you have a personal page, adding Person structured data tells Google explicitly who the page is about, including your job title, employer and social profiles. It is the closest current equivalent to what a People Card was trying to do, with the difference that you host it.
A Google Business Profile, if you serve customers locally. Different tool, different purpose, but for freelancers and small business owners it is often the result that actually gets seen, and unlike People Cards it is a supported product Google is investing in.
The honest summary: People Cards were a shortcut around not having a website. The shortcut closed. The website did not.
Summary
Adding yourself to Google search through a People Card is free and quick where it is offered, mainly India and a few other countries, on mobile. In 2026, new card creation has become restricted, so treat it as a bonus rather than a guarantee. If it is not available to you, a small personal website, a complete LinkedIn profile, and Person schema achieve the same goal with more staying power.
Frequently asked questions
Is add me to search free?
It was free, but that is no longer the useful answer: you cannot create one. Google retired the People Card feature during 2024 and no longer documents it. The reason this question matters at all now is that some services still charge to “set up your People Card”. There is nothing for them to set up, so do not pay anyone for it.
Why is my people card not showing?
Most likely because the feature is retired rather than anything wrong with your card. Google shut People Cards down during 2024 and removed the help documentation, so existing cards have progressively stopped appearing. There is no setting to fix and no review to wait for. Put your effort into a page you own and your LinkedIn profile instead.
Is people card available in the US?
It never was, and now it is not available anywhere in any reliable sense. The feature was limited to a handful of countries, mainly India, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, and Google retired it during 2024. Wherever you are, the answer to appearing for your own name is a page on your own domain plus a complete LinkedIn profile.
How do I edit my people card?
In practice you cannot depend on editing one any more. Google retired the feature during 2024 and its Help Centre no longer documents it, so the edit flow has gone for most accounts along with the card itself. If your old card still shows outdated details, the durable fix is to publish a page you control that ranks for your name.
Is Add Me to Search still working?
Effectively no. Google shut the People Card feature down during 2024, and its Help Centre no longer documents it: a search of Google’s own help for “people card” returns no matching answers and the old support pages 404. A create prompt reportedly still appears for a few accounts in India, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, but it is not something to build on.
Why was Google People Card discontinued?
Reporting on the shutdown points consistently at spam and impersonation. Because anyone could publish a self declared profile for free, fake cards appeared for celebrities, business owners and public officials, which is difficult to police at scale. Low usage and its limited country availability did not help the case for keeping it.
How do I appear on Google when someone searches my name?
Build a page you own on your own domain with your name in the title, a real bio and links to your profiles, and add Person structured data to it. Complete your LinkedIn profile and set a custom public URL. Keep your name spelling, photo and job description identical everywhere so Google can match the identity. If you serve local customers, a Google Business Profile often outranks everything else.
Can I still create a Google People Card?
For almost everyone, no. Google discontinued the feature, and the Get started option no longer appears for the vast majority of accounts, with no way to force it. A small number of accounts, mostly in the regions where it originally launched, still see a card that exists or can be edited, which is why some guides still describe it as available. If yours is not there, nothing you do to your profiles will bring it back.