We recently investigated several websites whose logos weren’t appearing alongside their listings in Google search results, despite showing correctly elsewhere.
The fix was the same every time: replacing a JPEG favicon with a PNG version.
The Misdirection
When a favicon doesn’t appear in Google, the usual advice points to indexing issues, crawlability, theme conflicts, robots.txt settings or incorrect implementation.
All sensible suggestions. None were the cause here.
The sites were configured correctly, Google could access the icon files, and the favicons were properly implemented. However the logos still weren’t appearing.
The Solution
Across every affected website, the site icon had been uploaded as a JPEG.
Once replaced with a PNG, the logo began appearing in Google search results.
It’s a simple change that’s easy to overlook because it’s rarely presented as the primary cause.
Why PNG Works Better
Google doesn’t state that JPEG favicons are unsupported, but PNG remains the most reliable format. It handles transparency, preserves sharp edges and generally performs better at favicon sizes.
In our experience, that difference mattered.
Before You Spend Hours Troubleshooting
Check these basics:
- Is your site icon a PNG?
- Can Google access the file?
- Is the favicon configured correctly in your CMS?
- Have you allowed time for Google to recrawl the site?
We’d now start with the first question.
Takeaway
Sometimes the answer isn’t buried in complex technical settings. In this case, the solution wasn’t indexing, crawling or configuration.
It was simply changing a JPEG favicon to a PNG.