SurveyMonkey and Qualtrics Share Preview — Check What Respondents See Before Clicking

You send out a SurveyMonkey or Qualtrics survey link and wonder why the response rate is lower than expected. One overlooked factor: the link preview. When your survey link is shared in email, Slack, LinkedIn, or a social post, the preview card is the first thing respondents see before they decide whether to click.

A survey link that shows a generic platform logo, a confusing truncated title, or no image at all looks less trustworthy and less engaging than one with a professional preview. Here is how to check and improve your survey link preview.

How Survey Link Previews Work

When someone shares a survey URL in Slack, emails it through Gmail, or posts it on LinkedIn, the platform fetches the survey page and reads Open Graph (OG) meta tags from the HTML. Those tags determine:

• og:title — the headline in the preview card
• og:description — the text below the headline
• og:image — the thumbnail image

SurveyMonkey and Qualtrics both generate OG tags automatically for their survey pages. The quality of these auto-generated previews varies — and you often have limited ability to customize them beyond the survey title and welcome text.

The good news: you can check exactly what these tags contain before distribution starts, and adjust the survey title or introductory text to produce a better preview.

SurveyMonkey Share Preview — How to Check It

SurveyMonkey generates a shareable link when you publish a survey. To see how that link looks when shared:

Using the Open Graph Checker

1. Open your published SurveyMonkey survey link in a browser (the same link you send to respondents)
2. Press Ctrl+U (Windows) or Cmd+U (Mac) to view the page source
3. Press Ctrl+A then Ctrl+C to copy the HTML
4. Paste it in the Open Graph Checker and click Check Tags

The checker will show you what SurveyMonkey is serving as the og:title, og:description, and og:image for your survey, plus rendered preview cards for Facebook/LinkedIn and Twitter.

What you will typically see

SurveyMonkey typically uses your survey name as the og:title, the survey introduction or a generic phrase as the og:description, and the SurveyMonkey logo or a generic branded image as the og:image. You cannot upload a custom og:image on most SurveyMonkey plans, but you can improve the title and introduction text to produce a more compelling preview.

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Qualtrics Share Preview — How to Check It

Qualtrics survey links can be distributed as anonymous links, personal links, or email distribution links. The Open Graph preview is based on the survey landing page HTML.

Check your Qualtrics survey link preview

1. In Qualtrics, go to Distributions and copy your Anonymous Link
2. Open that link in a browser and press Ctrl+U to view source
3. Copy the full HTML
4. Paste into the Open Graph Checker

Qualtrics Enterprise users with custom survey branding enabled may see better OG tags than those using default Qualtrics branding. The header logo and survey name typically populate the og:image and og:title respectively.

Qualtrics survey link preview on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is one of the most common platforms for distributing B2B research surveys. LinkedIn's crawler is strict about image dimensions — verify your Qualtrics survey generates an og:image at 1200x627 or larger to get a full-width card instead of a small thumbnail.

How to Improve Your Survey Link Preview

Your control over survey link previews is limited compared to a website you fully control. But you have these options:

Optimize your survey title

The og:title typically comes from your survey name. Write a survey name that is specific and intriguing: "2026 Remote Work Productivity Survey" beats "Survey." Keep it under 60 characters to avoid truncation in preview cards.

Write a compelling introduction

The og:description often pulls from the survey introduction text. Write a one-sentence intro that explains who the survey is for and why it matters: "Help us understand how teams collaborate remotely — 5 minutes, results shared with all participants."

Use a custom survey domain

Enterprise plans on both platforms allow custom domains (like survey.yourcompany.com). Custom domains can have custom OG tags configured at the hosting level, giving you full control over the preview image and text.

Use a link shortener with preview customization

Tools like Bitly allow you to customize the title, description, and image for any link they shorten. If your platform does not support custom OG tags, create a custom Bitly short link for your survey and configure the preview there.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I preview what my SurveyMonkey link looks like before sharing?

Open your published survey link in a browser, view the page source (Ctrl+U), copy all the HTML, and paste it into the Open Graph Checker. The tool renders preview cards showing exactly what Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter will display when someone shares the link.

Can I set a custom image for my Qualtrics survey link preview?

Standard Qualtrics plans use automatically generated OG images based on the Qualtrics brand or your survey header. Qualtrics Enterprise accounts with custom branding enabled can set a custom header logo and look-and-feel. Alternatively, you can use a custom domain with your own OG tags or a link-shortening service that supports custom social previews.

Does the survey link preview affect response rates?

Yes, indirectly. A professional-looking preview that clearly communicates the survey topic and sponsor builds trust and increases the likelihood of a click. A blank card or generic platform logo may look like spam or phishing to recipients, especially in professional contexts like LinkedIn or corporate Slack channels.