Article Summary:
- Can search engines crawl and index collapsible content? Yes, if it’s in the HTML DOM on load.
- Does it rank equally? Often yes, but sometimes visible content performs better in practice.
- Can AI search engines crawl and index collapsible content? Only if it’s rendered in the HTML that the AI has access to.
Collapsible content such as accordions, tabs, expandable FAQs, and toggles is extremely common in modern web design. It improves usability by organizing large amounts of information without cluttering the interface, especially on mobile devices.
But a big question remains: Can search engines and AI tools crawl and index this content as effectively as visible text?
Short answer:
- Yes. search engines like Google can crawl and index content hidden in accordions/tabs as long as it’s technically present on the page.
- But how much SEO value that content carries, especially in ranking, can vary depending on implementation and context.
What Counts as Collapsible or Hidden Content?
Collapsible content (aka hidden or expandable content) is any text or media that isn’t visible by default and requires users to click to appear. The most common formats include:
- Accordions, where content expands vertically beneath a heading
- Tabbed content, where different content panels occupy the same on-page space
- Dropdowns, cards, and toggles which reveal information only after clicking
These design elements are user experience (UX) features that hide less critical information until needed.
Do Traditional Search Engines Crawl Accordion Content?
Google’s Official Stance
Google has said repeatedly that:
- Content present in the HTML is crawlable and indexable, even if hidden in tabs/accordions.
- If the text exists in the HTML DOM on page load, even if set to display:none or hidden via CSS/JavaScript, Googlebot can see and index it.
- Earlier concerns about hidden content being de-prioritized mostly stem from old interpretations. Modern Google treats collapsible content as normal content when it’s accessible.
In other words: Hidden content is indexed as long as it isn’t only dynamically injected after the page loads (e.g., AJAX after a click) and is present in the initial DOM.
Does This Content Rank as Well as Visible Text?
This is where nuance matters.
Official statements suggest that collapsible content should not be penalized simply for being hidden. Google representatives have said that properly structured hidden content shouldn’t be devalued for SEO.
However, industry observations and tests show mixed outcomes:
- Some SEO agencies have reported ranking gains after making previously hidden content visible by default.
- Others note that while Google can crawl the hidden content, it may be given slightly less importance than immediately visible text, especially for main keyword targets.
- UX influences search perception. If users can’t immediately see what they expect and bounce, that behavior can indirectly affect rankings.
Bottom line: Content in accordions and tabs is generally indexed and may rank well. But for top priority keywords, it can help to make that content visible by default when possible.
Best Practices for SEO with Collapsible Content
To make sure collapsible content works well for both users and search engines:
- Ensure the content is in the HTML: Avoid loading key content only after user actions (like AJAX-only after click)
- Prioritize important content: Place your most essential keywords and descriptions in visible areas when possible.
- Use UX-friendly markup: Properly coded HTML/CSS and accessible ARIA attributes help both search engines and screen readers.
- Use structured data when relevant: For FAQs, using schema markup can help showcase answers directly in search results.
- Balance UX and SEO: Collapsible content can improve readability, but critically important text should be visible without interaction.
How AI Tools Like ChatGPT Treat Collapsible Content
Unlike traditional search engines, many AI tools do not crawl web pages in real time. Instead, they rely on a mix of pre-training data and retrieval systems that only use content if it is accessible in the HTML they receive.
OpenAI explains that ChatGPT’s models are trained on a mixture of licensed data, data created by human trainers, and publicly available text, not by live crawling of websites at the moment a user asks a question. This means content must already exist in accessible text to be seen by the model.
For AI search and answer experiences that use retrieval (such as Google AI Overviews or other generative search tools), content must be crawlable, indexable, and available in the rendered HTML.
What this means:
If collapsible content is only injected after user interaction (for example, loaded via JavaScript after a click), AI tools may never access it. For AEO and GEO, key answers, summaries, and definitions should be visible or immediately rendered, with collapsible content used for secondary or supporting information.
Maximize Your Organic Visibility Across Search and AI
Collapsible content is just one piece of how your site performs across search engines and AI-driven discovery. To truly maximize visibility, your content, structure, and technical signals need to work together across SEO, AEO, and generative search.
Arc Intermedia’s Organic Visibility Program helps brands build sustainable organic visibility across traditional search, AI Overviews, and answer engines.
If you’re focused specifically on how your content appears in AI-powered search and answer experiences, explore our AI Search Optimization (AEO) services.
For foundational visibility and performance in traditional search results, learn more about our Search Engine Optimization (SEO) approach.
Have questions about how this applies to your site or content strategy? Contact us to talk through your goals and get clarity on where to focus next.
