The ‘SWIFT’ SEO effect: how does dating Taylor Swift impact your media coverage?
Statistics show dating a mega pop star has its benefits…
Looking to elevate your brand image? Gain traction through Google? Always be the top hitter after an internet search? There’s a new trick to achieve just that, but there’s a catch…You have to woo and be romantically involved with Taylor Swift.
Data has shown Swifts incredible ability to maximise all of her previous and current partners’ SEO and internet popularity. Not only is Swift a source of clickbait and juicy headlines, she is also a female musician who writes intimately about her love life. She is constantly under speculation as to who her lyrics are about, in turn generating more news stories and celebrity gossip. The general public's parasocial interest in her love life could be dissected as nosiness, or the feeling that because they have a view into her private life through her songs, they have a right (or a need) to know who they’re about. This obsession leads the press to put incredible amounts of pressure on Swift to be followed everywhere, and for her partners to also be put under the microscope.
The ‘Swift SEO’ effect on current partners and ex-boyfriends has yet to be discussed in full, but by using data from Google Trends, a reoccurring trope continues to appear: Swifts current and ex partners career trajectory and increased media presence are directly linked to their relationships with her, either during their relationship or sometimes long after it has finished.
Let’s break down the top 8 exes and current partners Taylor Swift has helped trend the most.
1. Jake Gyllehaal
Gyllenhaal has been an accomplished actor since his cult debut in Donnie Darko (2001). Even though his 2010 relationship with Swift was mostly private, many decoded references to it appeared in her country/pop album RED in 2012. However, since Swift has been rerecording and releasing her old music to gain ownership of her work, she has also been giving fans musical exclusives that hark back to the album era. The release of Red (Taylor's Version) on November 12, 2021, included a 10-minute recording of her acclaimed track ‘All Too Well’, which also featured a music video and film directed by Swift. ‘All Too Well’ was linked directly to Gyllenhaal, and thus fans have directed a higher amount of criticism towards him. This infamous spotlight increased his Google searches to 100 on Google Trends during the period of November 14–20, coinciding with RED (Taylor’s Version) rerelease proving that Swift is the catalyst for internet notoriety.
2. Connor Kennedy
A brief summer romance between the son of current US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr and Swift occurred in 2012, with the two being spotted gatecrashing a Kennedy wedding, and a press facing uproar from the family. Kennedys’ popularity with the general public only hit relevance in relation to his romance with Swift, with Kennedy hitting the maximum 100 on Google trends during their relationship era, and ever since has drifted away completely from celebrity popularity and has kept a low profile.
3. Harry Styles
With his own mega stardom to contend with, Styles and Swifts relationship was a goldmine for any member of the paparazzi during 2012-2013. Although he was equally trending in the public eye with boy band One Direction at the time, Swifts relationship with him also had a statistical impact on his internet popularity. During their relationship era Styles internet searches steadily peaked 100 on Google Trends.
4. Calvin Harris
Scottish DJ Calvin Harris dated Swift between 2015-2016. During this time their relationship was publicised across social media, from 4th of July Parties, to romantic trips away. During their relationship era, data shows Harris was able to reach and maintain internet popularity with scores of 97 during their relationship. Harris even extended his fame after speaking out against Swift during the height of their breakup after Swift was unearthed as a writer (under pseudonym Nils Sjöberg) for Harris’s popular track “This is what you came for”. Harris took to Twitter to shame Swift for somehow releasing this information, later apologising for his actions, and all the while reaping in the statistical benefits of the Swift effect with scores of 75 and 67 on Google Trends. Harris’ trending has since plateaued since his relationship with Swift and has moved to the background of celebrity gossip.
5. Tom Hiddleston
After Swifts public split from Harris, she debuted a new partner in the public sphere. British actor Tom Hiddleston of Marvel fame over the summer of 2016. Hiddleston is thought to be the muse of several tracks from her 2017 album ‘Reputation’ and famously donned an ‘I❤️TS’ t shirt during a 4th of July birthday party. Hiddleston’s popularity, and public image benefitted exponentially from his short-lived romance with Swift, gaining his highest internet trending statistics of 100 during their relationship era, which has since dropped drastically after their split.
6. Joe Alwyn
Joe Alwyn began dating Taylor Swift on the cusp of 2016, and at that point in time, his acting career was relatively fresh, with three small credits to his name. However, after the media explosion of his relationship with Swift, we began to see not only his internet presence increase but also his career beginning to gain traction. In 2022, he starred as Nick Conway, a leading role in the television show ‘Conversations with Friends’. He also took key roles in ‘The Favourite’, ‘Mary Queen of Scots’, ‘Catherine Called Birdy’, and ‘The Last Letter to Your Lover’. Alwyn and Swift were together for 6 years and attempted to stay under the radar during their relationship. However, this did not cease the media speculation. When they allegedly split in 2023, his media coverage increased to 100 on Google Trends. The top 5 searches all had a relation to Taylor Swift, nothing related to his career. This begs the question: did the media impact of Swift lead production companies to cast Alwyn due to the press they expected to receive, because of their known relationship? Swift even promoted Alwyn’s roles on social media, and since their split his career continues at a steady mellow pace with ensemble performances in his second Yorgos Lanthimos feature: Kinds of Kindness (2024) as well as a role in The Brutalist (2024). Alwyn was trending once again after Swifts release of 'The Tortured Poets Department’, a breakup album semi devoted to Alwyn reaching 100 searches on Google. The British actor also gained significant rise of internet interest in early January 2025, after he first commented on their split in an interview with The Observer.
7. Matty Healy
Indie rock 1975 frontman Matty Healy and Taylor Swift could be perceived as a surprising pairing, with what seemed to be a post-breakup fling in 2023. Healy’s public interest shot up during their relationship era, garnering huge attention and speculation from fans with a score of 100 on Google Trends. After their split Swift gave Healy an infamous legacy in her 11th studio album ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ with him being the muse behind some of her most popular breakup songs like ‘The smallest man that’s ever lived’, ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ , and ‘I can fix him (no really I can)’. Healy is yet to publicly comment on his feature, even though the album continues to be a catalyst for public interest online, as seen in his Google trend data, with his highest surge in 2024 being April, coinciding with the release of ‘The Tortured Poets’ Department’.
8. Travis Kelce
Travis Kelce is maybe the first of Swift's boyfriends to actively compete with her career and media coverage. A tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs and a three-time Super Bowl winner, Kelce’s global interest became colossal after he and Swift's relationship became known in September 2023 with his NFL jersey sales increasing to a staggering 400%. The Taylor Swift SEO effect is also apparent, not only for Kelce but the NFL as a whole. On the 2024 Super Bowl Sunday, $9,601,650 in media value was gained, along with the publishing of 711,826 Taylor Swift posts). Kelce and Swift's relationship has also caused a 53% spike in viewership among teenage girls. This data shows that their relationship has had a huge impact on the NFL as a brand and on those who watch the sport. Swifts now almost two-year relationship with the tight end has not slowed Kelce’s cultural notoriety, with the Top 25 ‘Travis Kelce’ queries on Google Analytics all relating back to his relationship with Swift. Swifts own personal career movements even impact Kelce’s lookups. For example, on the 13th of June Kelce's lookups hit 100, or the highest magnitude on Google Trends, a quick search tells you that nothing happened to Kelce that day, although his girlfriend, Taylor Swift, was seen visiting a children’s hospital in Miami on that date. This isn’t just a coincidence, you can even test it yourself. Kelce trended every time a major event, date night, or dinner occurred with Swift. In the last 30 days, Kelce’s peak dates were May 31 (Taylor Swift reveals she now owns all her music masters), June 8th (Taylor attended a wedding with him) and June 25th, when Taylor Swift appeared for a surprise concert at a Tight End University Event in Nashville. Now it’s not to say that Kelce isn’t successful in his own right, he has three Super Bowl Wins and is the highest paid tight end in the NFL, but his a career has evidently been impacted by the Swift SEO effect.
It’s clear that Swifts partners can’t help but garner attention because of dating her, be it negative or positive. The most obvious indications of increased success, or financial gain have been with her most recent two relationships with Joe Alwyn and Travis Kelce. The Swift SEO effect is not just a coincidence, but a clear consequence of being in a relationship with the pop star . In the age of social media, and parasocial fan communities being internet trending just comes with the boyfriend badge, and it’s up to her partners on how they utilise it.