How to Get Your Channel Into Telegram's "Similar Channels" Recommendations

There is no form to apply for Telegram's "Similar Channels" recommendations, and nobody can sell you a place in them. Telegram picks similar channels automatically, and its developer documentation says the choice is based on similarities between channels' subscriber bases. So the way in is to build an audience that overlaps with the channels you want to appear next to: a clear niche, readers who also follow related channels, and partnerships that bring those readers to you.

This guide explains how the feature works, what is and is not known about how channels are chosen, how to see where your channel currently stands, and the practical, honest ways to improve your chances. It does not promise a placement, because nobody outside Telegram controls one.

What "Similar Channels" is

When someone joins a channel, Telegram often shows a row of other channels they might like, right below the join point. The same list is available from the channel's info page, usually as a tab or section named Similar Channels. Telegram's guidance for EU users describes the list as appearing on subscription and from the channel's info menu.

For a channel owner, this is one of the few places in Telegram where people discover channels they were not looking for. Most discovery on Telegram is deliberate: someone searches, follows a link or sees a forwarded post. Similar Channels puts your channel in front of someone at the exact moment they have shown interest in your topic by joining a related channel.

Who sees how many

Telegram has shown a limited number of similar channels to most users and more to Telegram Premium subscribers. The number and the presentation change between app versions, so do not plan around a specific count.

Bots have a similar feature

Telegram also recommends similar bots, based on similar signals. If you run a bot or Mini App, the same audience thinking in this guide applies; see how to promote a Telegram Mini App or bot.

How Telegram chooses similar channels

Telegram has said very little publicly. What its developer documentation states is that the method returning recommendations gives a list of similarly themed public channels, selected based on similarities in their subscriber bases. Everything below follows from that one sentence, and it is worth reading carefully.

What "subscriber base similarity" means

Imagine every channel as the set of people subscribed to it. Two channels are similar when their sets overlap: many people who follow one also follow the other. Telegram does not need to read your posts or understand your topic to see this. If readers of a gardening channel also tend to follow a particular composting channel, the two are similar, whatever words their posts use.

That has important consequences:

• Your content does not directly put you on a list. Your readers do. What matters is which other channels your subscribers follow.
• You appear on other channels' lists, not your own. Your channel's Similar Channels tab shows channels similar to you. Your growth comes from appearing on the tabs of other channels, shown to their new subscribers.
• Topic follows audience. Because people tend to follow several channels on the same interest, overlap-based lists usually end up "similarly themed", which is how Telegram describes them. But the theme is an outcome, not the input.

What is not known

Telegram has not published:

• How much overlap is needed, or whether it is measured in absolute numbers or proportions.
• Whether a channel's size, activity, age or posting frequency affects the choice.
• How often the lists are recalculated.
• Whether other signals, such as reports, restrictions or content flags, remove a channel from recommendations.

Be sceptical of anyone who claims to know these details, and especially of anyone who offers to sell placement. The honest position is that overlap matters, and the rest is unknown.

Public and private channels

Telegram's documentation describes the recommended channels as public. A user in Telegram's public bug tracker reported seeing similar channels shown for a channel after making it private, and the behaviour around private channels is not clearly documented. If you want to be recommended to strangers, a public channel with a username is the setup that matches what Telegram describes. Our guide to public vs private Telegram channels covers the wider trade-offs.

Thinking in overlap: an illustration

This example is invented, to show the logic rather than real numbers.

Suppose you run a channel about budget travel in Southeast Asia. Three other channels exist:

• Channel A posts flight deals from European airports.
• Channel B posts street food guides from Bangkok and Hanoi.
• Channel C is a large general news channel.

Many of your readers also follow B, because people who travel cheaply in the region care about street food. Fewer follow A. Lots of people follow C, but they follow it alongside every kind of channel, so it is not specifically similar to you.

When someone new joins B, Telegram looks for channels whose audiences resemble B's. Yours is a strong candidate, because so many of B's readers also read you. So your channel is most likely to appear on B's list, shown to B's new subscribers. To get onto A's list, you would need many more of A's readers to follow you, which is less natural because your topics only partly match.

The lesson: identify the channels whose readers are most like yours. Those are your realistic neighbours.

Before you start

1. Make your channel public with a clear username. See how to make a channel public or private and our username tips.
2. Settle your niche. If your channel jumps between unrelated topics, your audience will be a mix of people with unrelated interests, and your overlap with any one group of channels stays thin. Our guide to Telegram channel niche ideas helps if you are still deciding.
3. Have a few weeks of good posts visible. Recommendations send new people to look at your channel. They decide in seconds, based on your latest posts, name, photo and description.
4. Write a description that confirms the topic at a glance. See how to write a channel description.
5. Make a list of ten to twenty channels in your niche that you would be glad to appear next to. You will use it throughout this guide.

Step by step: see where you stand now

You cannot see a dashboard of recommendations, but you can look at the lists themselves.

Check your own neighbours

1. Open your channel and tap its name to open the info page.
2. Find the Similar Channels tab or section.
3. Note the channels listed. These are the channels Telegram currently considers closest to yours.

If they match your niche, your audience is coherent and you are already in the right neighbourhood. If they look random, your audience is mixed, or your channel may be too small for the overlap to be clear yet.

Check whether you appear on their lists

1. Open each channel from your list of neighbours and from your list of ten to twenty target channels.
2. Open its info page and look at its Similar Channels.
3. Note whether your channel appears.

Do this once a month and keep a simple record. Because the lists change, a pattern over months tells you more than any single check. If you see more channels on Premium, note that your record may differ from what non-Premium users see.

Read the gaps

Compare the two lists. Channels that appear in your Similar Channels but do not list you back are worth attention: Telegram sees a connection, but from their side, other channels are closer. Building more shared readers with those channels is your most direct opportunity.

Choosing the right neighbours

Your list of target channels decides where you spend your effort, so it is worth building carefully rather than listing the biggest names in your topic.

What makes a good neighbour

• Their readers would genuinely want your channel. Ask yourself whether a typical reader of theirs would be glad to find you. If you have to stretch the argument, the overlap you create will not last.
• A related but different angle. Two channels posting identical content compete; two channels covering complementary parts of one interest reinforce each other. A recipe channel and a kitchen-equipment review channel are a better pair than two recipe channels.
• An active, real audience. A channel whose posts get very few views relative to its subscriber count may have many inactive or fake subscribers, and overlap with those helps nobody. Our guide on engagement rate explains how to compare views and subscribers, and checking a channel for fake subscribers lists the warning signs.
• The same language. More on this below.
• A reputation you are happy to sit beside. Recommendations put channels next to each other in front of new readers. A neighbour known for scams or spam reflects on you.

Where to find candidates

1. Your own Similar Channels tab, which shows who Telegram already considers close.
2. The Similar Channels tabs of those channels, one step further out.
3. Telegram search for your topic's main terms.
4. Categories in directories. On TGDirectory, the categories page groups listed channels by topic, and each channel page shows measured figures such as views per post and a growth chart.
5. Channels your own readers mention or forward from.

Language and region

People overwhelmingly follow channels in languages they read. That means overlap, and therefore similarity, tends to cluster by language and often by region, even for the same topic. A Spanish-language football channel and an English-language one may share a subject but few readers.

Three practical consequences:

• Pick neighbours in your language. Cross-promotion across languages rarely creates lasting overlap.
• A channel that mixes languages splits its audience. Readers of each language follow different sets of other channels, so the channel's similarity to either group stays weak. If you serve two language groups seriously, separate channels are usually clearer for readers and for recommendations alike.
• Regional topics have natural neighbours. A local news or events channel will tend to sit next to other channels from the same city or country, which is often exactly the audience you want.

How to build the overlap

Every method below has one thing in common: it brings people who already follow channels in your niche to also follow yours, and keeps them there.

1. Keep your content tightly on topic

This is the foundation. A reader who joined for your topic and keeps getting it stays; a reader who joined for a giveaway or an off-topic viral post probably follows a different set of channels and dilutes your overlap. Off-topic growth does not just fail to help here; it can push your neighbours towards unrelated channels.

That does not mean narrow and boring. A budget-travel channel can post visa news, packing tips and food. It means each post would make sense to someone who joined for your core topic.

2. Cross-promote with your realistic neighbours

A cross-promotion, where two channels recommend each other, directly moves readers between them. Every reader who follows both increases your overlap with that channel.

1. Pick channels from your neighbours list or target list of a similar size, or somewhat larger, with a related but not identical topic.
2. Read their channel for a week to make sure you would genuinely recommend it.
3. Contact the admin with a specific proposal: what you will post, when, and what you ask in return.
4. Write a recommendation that explains why your readers will like their channel, not a generic advert.
5. Track subscriber changes in the days after each exchange.

Our cross-promotion guide covers the whole process, and our cross-promo message templates help with the outreach and the posts.

3. Join or build shared folders

Telegram's folder links let someone add a whole set of channels in one tap. A well-curated folder of channels in one niche creates overlap among all of them at once, because the same people join them together. Building a folder with neighbouring channels, or being included in an established one, is one of the most direct ways to strengthen your audience's similarity to a group of channels. See Telegram folder links for growth.

Keep folders genuinely on topic. A folder mixing unrelated channels creates overlap that ties you to the wrong neighbours.

4. Advertise where your readers already are

Paid posts in related channels, and Telegram's own ad platform, bring in readers from specific audiences. Choosing placements in your niche brings in people who follow similar channels, which supports overlap; a cheap placement in an unrelated mass channel brings in readers who do not.

Read how to buy ads in Telegram channels before spending, and the Telegram Ads platform explained for Telegram's own ads, which let advertisers target by channel topic or specific channels.

5. Be findable through search

People who find you by searching your topic are, by definition, interested in it, and they tend to follow other channels on the same subject. Good discoverability brings in exactly the kind of reader who strengthens your overlap. See how to rank in Telegram search.

6. Bring in your audience from elsewhere

Readers who follow you on other platforms often care about your topic, and once on Telegram, many will follow similar channels too. A link in your website, newsletter or video descriptions brings them across. Our guides on promoting a channel on social media and moving a newsletter audience to Telegram cover the practical steps.

7. Keep the readers you gain

Overlap only exists while people stay subscribed to both channels. If a cross-promotion brings in readers who leave within a week, the overlap disappears with them. Retention depends on regular, useful posts; see how often a Telegram channel should post and, if numbers are falling, why Telegram subscribers drop.

8. Turn one-off exchanges into lasting relationships

A single cross-promotion moves readers once. A neighbour you work with regularly keeps moving them. Some ways channels in the same niche build that:

• Joint content. A shared guide, a co-hosted live stream or a combined series where each channel publishes part and links to the other. Readers who want the whole thing follow both.
• Guest posts. An admin of one channel writes a post for the other, signed, with a link back.
• Shared events. A joint quiz, AMA or challenge run across both channels. Our guide on hosting an AMA on Telegram covers one format.
• Honest mutual mentions. When a neighbour posts something genuinely useful, forwarding it with a line of your own is both good content and a small, natural cross-promotion.

Keep it voluntary and reciprocal, and do not lock yourself into exclusive deals: being connected to several good neighbours is better than depending on one.

What does not work, and what can backfire

Buying subscribers

Bought subscribers usually come from accounts that follow huge numbers of unrelated channels. They inflate your subscriber count while adding overlap with whatever else those accounts follow, which can be anything. If recommendations follow audience overlap, fake subscribers pull your similarity towards random channels and away from your real neighbours. They also make your channel look worse to any real reader who arrives. Our guide on why bought subscribers hurt covers the other damage.

Paying for "recommendation placement"

Anyone offering to put your channel in Similar Channels for a fee is either selling something they do not control or selling fake subscribers dressed up as a service. Telegram has no such product. Treat it as a scam; see how to spot Telegram scams.

Stuffing keywords into your name

Keywords help in Telegram search, but by Telegram's own description, Similar Channels is driven by subscriber bases, not by words in a name. A cluttered name can also make your channel look less trustworthy to the people a recommendation sends you.

Copying a bigger channel's content

Reposting another channel's posts without permission may attract a few readers, but it invites reports and damages your reputation with the very neighbours you want to partner with. See someone copying your Telegram posts for the other side of this.

When your list shows channels you would rather not sit beside

Sometimes your Similar Channels tab shows spam, giveaway or low-quality channels. That tells you something about who your subscribers are, and it is worth reading calmly.

Common causes:

• Past giveaways, ad placements in mass channels, or bought subscribers brought in accounts that follow huge numbers of unrelated channels.
• Your channel is still small, so a handful of such accounts make up a large share of your overlap.
• A cross-promotion with a channel whose audience was not what it seemed.

What to do:

1. Stop whatever brought in the mismatched audience: no more off-topic giveaways or untargeted placements.
2. Do not cross-promote with the unwanted neighbours, which would strengthen the tie.
3. Put your effort into the genuine neighbours on your target list, so new, well-matched readers gradually outweigh the old mix.
4. If a neighbour is breaking Telegram's rules, report it through Telegram; see how to report on Telegram.

You cannot delete your channel from someone else's list, and removing subscribers in bulk is not a tool Telegram offers channel owners in a practical way. Changing who joins from now on is the lever that works.

A ninety-day plan

This is a simple framework rather than a promise. Adjust it to your channel's size and the time you have.

1. Week 1. Check your description, photo, name and pinned post. Write down your target list of neighbours and record which lists you appear on.
2. Weeks 2 to 4. Approach three or four neighbours for cross-promotions. Run one or two. Keep posting on topic at a steady rhythm.
3. Weeks 5 to 8. Propose or join a folder of channels in your niche. If you have a budget, test one small ad placement in a closely related channel and compare the readers it brings with those from cross-promotions.
4. Weeks 9 to 12. Repeat the cross-promotions that worked best. Run your monthly list check again and compare with week 1. Look at your growth and retention around each activity.
5. Day 90. Decide what to keep. Drop activities that brought readers who left quickly; double down on partners whose readers stayed.

Making the most of recommendation traffic

When your channel does start appearing on other lists, new visitors arrive with no context. They saw your name and photo in a row of suggestions and tapped. What they see in the next few seconds decides whether they join.

1. A clear, readable photo that works at small size.
2. A name that says what the channel is, even without the description.
3. A description whose first line states the topic and what readers get.
4. Recent posts that represent the channel at its best. If your latest post is an ad, consider when you schedule ads.
5. A pinned post that welcomes new readers and points to your best content. See pinned message examples.

How to tell whether it is working

Telegram's channel statistics show subscriber growth and may break down where new followers came from. The categories shown change between app versions, so check what your statistics offer; see Telegram channel statistics explained for how to read them.

Without a clear source breakdown, look for indirect signs:

• Steady growth with no promotion running, particularly after a cross-promotion or folder inclusion has strengthened your ties with a neighbour.
• Your channel appearing on more of your target channels' lists in your monthly check.
• New readers whose comments or questions show they came from related channels.

If your channel is listed on TGDirectory, its page shows a growth chart built from one real subscriber count per day, recorded since we started watching it. That gives you a public record to compare with the dates of your cross-promotions and folder launches. See how to read a TGDirectory channel page.

Realistic scenarios

These are illustrative examples, not data about real channels.

Example: a coherent niche channel

A channel about learning Japanese posts daily vocabulary, grammar notes and reading practice. It never posts anything else. After a year, its Similar Channels tab shows other Japanese-learning channels, and a monthly check shows it appearing on the lists of several of them. The owner does two cross-promotions a month with those neighbours and joins a folder of language-learning channels. Growth comes largely from people who join one Japanese channel and see this one recommended.

Example: a channel that drifted

A tech news channel started posting crypto giveaways and celebrity gossip to chase views. Its Similar Channels tab slowly filled with unrelated giveaway channels, and it stopped appearing on other tech channels' lists. The owner returned to tech news only, stopped giveaways, and focused on exchanges with tech channels. Over the following months the neighbours shifted back towards tech.

Example: a small channel just starting

A new channel about birdwatching in one region has a few hundred subscribers, mostly friends. Its Similar Channels tab shows a random mix. The owner contacts three regional nature channels and offers a joint post about a seasonal migration, then joins a folder of regional outdoor channels. The tab starts to show nature channels, the first sign that overlap is forming.

Common mistakes

• Expecting an application process or a setting that turns recommendations on.
• Thinking about your own Similar Channels tab instead of the lists of channels whose readers resemble yours.
• Chasing off-topic growth that dilutes your audience.
• Buying subscribers who tie you to unrelated channels.
• Cross-promoting with any channel that agrees, regardless of audience fit.
• Paying someone who claims to sell placement.
• Ignoring first impressions, so recommended visitors leave without joining.
• Checking once and drawing conclusions, instead of tracking lists over months.

FAQ

Can I apply to be in Similar Channels?

No. Telegram chooses recommended channels automatically. Its documentation says they are selected based on similarities in subscriber bases.

Can I remove a channel from my Similar Channels list?

We are not aware of a setting that lets owners choose or remove the channels shown. The list reflects your audience, so changing your audience over time is the only lever.

Does channel size matter?

Telegram has not said. Overlap needs enough shared readers to be noticeable, so very new channels often see random-looking lists, but there is no published minimum.

Do private channels get recommended?

Telegram describes the recommended channels as public. Behaviour for private channels is not clearly documented, so make your channel public if being recommended to strangers matters to you.

Will boosts or Premium get me into recommendations?

Telegram has not said that boosts or a Premium subscription affect Similar Channels. Boosts unlock other channel features; see channel boosts explained.

How long does it take?

There is no published timeline. Overlap builds as readers who follow your neighbours join and stay, which typically means months of consistent work rather than days.

Summary

Telegram's Similar Channels list is chosen automatically from overlaps between channels' audiences, so you cannot apply for it or buy it. You get onto other channels' lists when many of their readers also follow you. Build that overlap with a consistent niche, cross-promotions and folders with genuinely related channels, ads placed where your readers are, and good retention, and avoid bought subscribers, which tie you to the wrong neighbours. Check the lists monthly, polish your first impression for the visitors recommendations send, and judge progress over months. The whole approach comes down to one idea: help the readers who would enjoy your channel find it sooner, honestly.