Spotify Is Linking Your Podcast Guests (Sometimes Wrong)

Let’s Talk About What That Means.

If you’ve opened Spotify lately and thought, “Wait… why is my guest’s name linking to someone they’ve never met?” — you’re not losing your mind.

This has been occurring more frequently, especially in interview-based podcasts. A guest’s name suddenly turns into a clickable link, and when you click it… It goes somewhere strange. Sometimes it’s a musician. Sometimes it’s another podcaster with the same name. Sometimes it’s just plain confusing.

Naturally, the questions start rolling in:

Did I do something wrong?
Is this hurting my show?
Do I need to fix this?

Short answer: no, no, and also no.
Longer answer? Let’s unpack what’s actually happening — and more importantly, what you should and shouldn’t do about it.

First, a deep breath

Before we get technical, let me say this clearly:

You did not break anything.
You are not behind.
And this is not a sign that you suddenly need to overhaul your podcast strategy.

What you’re seeing is a platform shift — one that’s a little clunky right now — but not dangerous, and definitely not worth losing sleep over.

What Spotify is actually trying to do

Spotify isn’t just a podcast app anymore. It’s trying to become a discovery engine — the place where listeners move seamlessly between podcasts, music, audiobooks, and creators.

To do that, Spotify has started identifying people, not just shows.

So when Spotify sees a name in your episode title or description, it asks a very simple (and very imperfect) question: “Is this someone we already know?”

If it thinks the answer might be yes, it tries to link that name to a profile already in its system. Sometimes it gets it right. Sometimes, it very confidently does not.

And here’s the important part: this is automatic. There’s no switch you turned on, and there’s no button to turn it off.

Can you remove or fix an incorrect Spotify link?

I wish the answer were yes. It would make all our lives easier.

But right now, there’s no way to manually remove or override Spotify’s guest linking. Not through Spotify for Podcasters. Not through your podcast host. Not by editing your RSS feed.

This is one of those “platform decides” situations.

The good news? An incorrect guest link does not hurt your podcast. It doesn’t affect downloads. It doesn’t penalize your show. It doesn’t make you look unprofessional to the algorithm.

At worst, it causes a moment of confusion — which is why strategy here is about clarity, not control.

What does help on Spotify?

While you can’t control Spotify’s decisions, you can make your metadata more straightforward, which gives the algorithm better information to work with over time.

That means using full guest names consistently, adding a simple descriptor when appropriate (author, host, speaker), and ensuring your show notes link to the correct place for your guest.

Then — and this is important — you let it go.

Spotify’s experimenting. You don’t need to clean up after it.

Why Apple Podcasts feels quieter

If you’re wondering whether Apple Podcasts is doing the same thing, the answer is… sort of, but not in the same way.

Apple is far more conservative. It treats podcasts like long-term catalog entries, not living social profiles. While Apple absolutely understands who hosts shows and what belongs together, it’s much less aggressive about surfacing guest connections publicly.

With recent Apple Podcasts updates, Apple has:

Improved creator attribution behind the scenes
Strengthened how it understands shows, networks, and hosts
Cleaned up catalog consistency across devices

But Apple is not actively auto-linking guest names in episode titles or descriptions the way Spotify is.

That’s why Apple Podcasts often feels more stable and less chaotic. And that’s also why you don’t need to overthink guest linking there. Apple rewards consistency and clarity, not clever optimization.

If Spotify is where discovery experiments happen, Apple is where trust is built.

And then there’s YouTube

YouTube plays by entirely different rules.

YouTube doesn’t care that you have a podcast. It cares about people, topics, and watch time.

If your guest is already recognizable — has a channel, a Google presence, or frequent video appearances — YouTube is actually very good at connecting the dots. If they don’t, YouTube largely shrugs and moves on.

This is why YouTube can feel so rewarding for some shows and so frustrating for others. It’s not personal. It’s identity-based.

And to say it out loud: you are not required to be on YouTube to have a successful podcast. If video drains you or doesn’t fit your season of life, that’s not a failure. That’s discernment.

So… what should you actually do?

Especially if you’re a podcaster juggling a lot already, here’s the simplest version of the strategy:

Pick one primary platform.
Make your titles and descriptions clear.
Link to the right people in places you control
And stop chasing perfection.

You do not need to optimize for everything everywhere. You need consistency, clarity, and a sustainable rhythm.

A note for interview-based shows

If your podcast relies heavily on guests, you may feel this more than others — especially when guests notice the weird links.

A simple, calm explanation goes a long way:

“Streaming platforms sometimes auto-link names, but our official show notes always point directly to you.”

That’s it. No apology. No scrambling. Just confidence.

What you can safely ignore

I want to be very clear here, because this is where we, as women, tend to overwork:

You can ignore incorrect Spotify links.
You can ignore every new feature rollout.
You can ignore the pressure to be everywhere.

What matters far more is showing up consistently, serving your audience well, and choosing strategies that fit your actual life — not an imaginary one where you have infinite time and energy.

The bottom line

Podcasting platforms are evolving fast, and the middle of change is always messy.

But strong podcasts aren’t built on chasing every update. They’re built on clarity, trust, and sustainability.

You’re allowed to choose what gets your attention.
You’re allowed to let platforms experiment without following them down every rabbit hole.
And you’re allowed to build something steady instead of something frantic.

That’s not just good strategy.

That’s how you stay in the game.