The name above your café's Google result: what Google's site names page says

Google says its generation of site names is "completely automated" and takes into account content from a site's home page and references to it on the web. Google also says "we can't manually change automatically selected site names". What you can do is add WebSite structured data to your home page, which Google says "is most important, if you want to specify a preference". Google also warns that a generic name is unlikely to be selected unless it is an extremely well-recognized brand name. I set out the page below in its own words, with a café example of our own.

What is the site name in Google Search, and how is it different from the title?

The site name is the name of the whole site that Google shows with a result, and the title link belongs to the single page. Google's page says: "When Google lists a page in search results, it shows the name of the site the page comes from. This is called the site name." It adds: "Note that the site name is different from the per-page title links (title links are specific to each web page, whereas the site name is for the entire site)." So your café has one site name and as many title links as it has pages. If you want to work on the title link, see our article on titles and descriptions. Google also says site names are available "in all languages where Google Search is available, on both mobile and desktop", and "can appear for domain-level and subdomain-level sites".

How does Google pick the name?

It picks the name by an automated system, and Google says it does not change automatically selected names by hand. The page says: "Google's generation of site names on the Google Search results page is completely automated and takes into account content from a site's home page and references to it that appear on the web. The goal of the site name in Google Search is to best represent and describe the source of each result."

On the sources it reads, the page says: "To indicate your site name preference, add WebSite structured data to your home page. Our site name system will also consider content in og:site_name, <title>, heading elements, and other text on a home page. However, WebSite structured data is most important, if you want to specify a preference." Then the limit: "While we can't manually change automatically selected site names, you can indicate alternatives for our automated system to consider if your primary preference isn't selected."

What name should a café choose?

Google's page asks for a unique, concise, commonly-recognized name. It gives five guidelines for choosing:

• "Choose a unique name that accurately reflects the identity of your site and isn't misleading for users. The name you choose must follow Search content policies."
• "Use a concise, commonly-recognized name for your site (for example, "Google" instead of "Google, Inc"). While there's no limit to how long a site name can be, long site names may be truncated on some devices."
• "Avoid using a generic name. A generic name like "Best Dentists In Iowa" is unlikely to be selected by our system as a site name, unless that's an extremely well-recognized brand name."
• "Use your site name consistently across your home page. Make sure whatever you use as the site name in structured data is consistent with how you refer to your site in other sources on your home page that our system considers."
• "Provide an alternative name." Google explains that "sometimes the name isn't available for use", for example because "our system generally won't use the same site name for two different sites that are global in nature", or because it "might determine that a site is more commonly recognized by an acronym than by a full name".

Our reading, not Google's: a name like "Best Coffee in Dublin" is the same kind of thing as the dentists example, so your own trading name is the safer choice.

How do you tell Google your preferred name?

You add WebSite structured data to your home page, with a name and a url. Google's page lists these as required properties: "name", "The name of the website", and "url", "The URL of the home page of the site. Set this to the canonical home page of your site's domain or subdomain." The markup can be JSON-LD, RDFa or microdata, and Google says "you only need to add this markup to the home page of your site". Google's first JSON-LD example, with the required fields:

{ "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "WebSite", "name" : "Example", "url" : "https://example.com/" }

The recommended property is alternateName, which the page calls optional: "You can list more than one alternative name. Specify them in order of your preference, with the most important one listed first." Here is a café version in the same shape. This is our example, not Google's. It uses a made-up café at example.com and only the properties name, alternateName and url:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "WebSite",
  "name": "Example Café",
  "alternateName": ["Example Cafe"],
  "url": "https://www.example.com/"
}

The technical guidelines on the page are these:

• "Only one name per site: Currently, Google Search only supports one site name per site, where a site is defined by the domain or subdomain. Google Search does not support site names at the subdirectory level." Google adds that "subdomain names starting with www or m are generally considered as being equivalent".
• "Structured data must be on the home page of a site: The WebSite structured data must be on the home page of the site. By home page, we mean the domain or subdomain level root URI."
• "The home page must be crawlable by Google: If we don't have access to the content on your home page because it is blocked, we may not be able to generate a site name."
• "For sites with duplicate home pages: If you have duplicate home pages for the same content (for example, HTTP and HTTPS versions of your home page, or www and non-www), make sure that you're using the same structured data on all page duplicates, not just on the canonical page."
• "If you already have WebSite structured data on your site, make sure that you nest the site name properties in the same node. In other words, avoid creating an additional WebSite structured data block on your home page if you can help it."

To test, Google says: "Validate your markup with a schema testing tool (for example, Schema Markup Validator) to make sure there are no syntax errors. Site names aren't supported in the Rich Results Test." It also says: "Use the URL Inspection tool to test how Google sees the page." And: "If the page looks okay, you can ask Google to recrawl your URL."

What if Google shows the wrong name?

Check the basics first, wait for a recrawl, then add fallbacks in the order Google gives. The page says: "Our system generally tries to use a preferred site name from WebSite structured data, when indicated. However, if our system is less confident in a name you provided, it may sometimes generate site names using other sources or show a domain or subdomain name."

Its first steps are to verify that the name in your WebSite structured data is your preferred name, that it has no structured data errors, that it follows the guidelines, and that "other sources on your home page also use the preferred name". It says to confirm you are "not trying to set up a site name for a subdirectory", to make sure redirects work and Googlebot can reach the target, and to use the same site name across versions such as HTTP and HTTPS. On timing: "If you've updated your site name structured data, allow time for Google to recrawl and process the new information. Remember that crawling can take anywhere from several days to several weeks, depending on how often our systems determine content needs to be refreshed."

If that does not work, the page offers three options, in this order:

1. "First, try providing an alternative name using the alternateName property. If our site name system isn't confident enough to use your preferred name, it strongly considers this option."
2. "Provide your domain or subdomain name as a backup option." Google says to add it as an alternative name, in all lowercase, and says it will "strongly consider using it if your preferred name isn't selected". Its example lists "Burnt Toast" first, then "BT", and ends with "example.com".
3. "If that's still not working, then try providing your domain or subdomain name (in all lowercase) as your preferred name, as a last-resort workaround option." Google says "our system will generally select that (but we recommend only doing this as a last resort)".

If you have tried all of it, Google says to post in the Google Search Central Help Community.

Can our check help?

Not with this one. Our free check does not check site name markup. For the Google search result it has one item, in its own words: "Ready to show up in Google search. Your home page has a title, a description and the setting that makes it fit a phone screen." That covers the title and description, not the site name. For the site name, use the Schema Markup Validator and the URL Inspection tool that Google's page names.

Sources

• Google Search Central, Provide a site name to Google Search, last updated 2025-12-10 UTC, read 4 November 2026.
• Cupán Studio, Is my café website AI ready? (cupanstudio.com/check), the item "Ready to show up in Google search", read 4 November 2026.

This is a summary of Google Search Central documentation read on 4 November 2026. The café example is ours and is not from Google. Cupán Studio builds websites for cafés in Ireland.