The short answer
- Say "UGC" in their bio
- 35.8%11,856 creators
- Email written in the bio
- 51.6%17,088 creators
- Link a portfolio
- 34.0%11,247 creators
- Use a personal inbox
- 74.3%Gmail, Outlook and similar
- Search bios for the word "UGC". 54.7% of TikTok UGC creators and 31.6% on Instagram use it, so a niche word plus "UGC" finds over half of the TikTok group and about a third on Instagram.
- The email is usually on the profile. 51.6% write it in the bio and 26.4% more put it behind the platform's contact button; only 7.9% needed a web search.
- Portfolios sit on link-in-bio pages. Of creators with a portfolio, 63.0% use Linktree and 25.5% use Canva.
- Bigger creators stop calling themselves UGC creators. 39.1% of creators under 5,000 followers say "UGC" in their bio, against 3.5% above 100,000.
What UGC creators write in their bios
| Bio says | Creators | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Uses the word "UGC" | 11,856 | 35.8% |
| Mentions collabs or collaborations | 5,479 | 16.6% |
| Invites DMs | 2,107 | 6.4% |
| Mentions being a parent (mom, mum, mama, dad) | 3,062 | 9.3% |
Search Instagram and TikTok for your niche plus "UGC" ("skincare UGC", "UGC creator fitness") and check the bio. Words like "collab" and "DM" catch the rest. Parents are a large group too, which matters for baby, family and home brands.
Where the email is
| Where | Creators | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Written in the profile bio | 17,088 | 51.6% |
| Platform contact button | 8,741 | 26.4% |
| Portfolio or link-in-bio page | 3,438 | 10.4% |
| Found by web search | 2,620 | 7.9% |
| Address | Creators | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Personal inbox (Gmail, Outlook and similar) | 24,576 | 74.3% |
| The creator's own domain | 4,366 | 13.2% |
| Agency or management address | 420 | 1.3% |
| Not classified | 3,732 | 11.3% |
On Instagram, check the contact button when the bio has no email. Only 1.3% route through an agency or manager, so most outreach reaches the creator directly.
Where portfolios live
| Host | Creators | Share of portfolios |
|---|---|---|
| Linktree | 7,085 | 63.0% |
| Canva (site or link) | 2,873 | 25.5% |
| Beacons | 1,042 | 9.3% |
| Stan Store | 386 | 3.4% |
| bio.site | 216 | 1.9% |
| Carrd | 35 | 0.3% |
| Other link-in-bio hosts | 72 | 0.6% |
A portfolio link is the quickest quality check: it shows past brand work and often a rate card. Creators with one have a median of 2,192 followers, against 1,694 without.
By creator size
| Followers | Say "UGC" | Link a portfolio |
|---|---|---|
| Under 5,000 | 39.1% | 33.2% |
| 5,000 to 25,000 | 31.7% | 39.4% |
| 25,000 to 100,000 | 20.2% | 34.6% |
| 100,000 and over | 3.5% | 17.9% |
Creators between 5,000 and 25,000 followers link a portfolio most often. Above 100,000, few call themselves UGC creators, so search by niche and check their past brand posts instead.
Four ways to find them
- Search the platforms yourself. Free, using the bio terms above. Slowest, and you have to log every creator by hand.
- Browse a directory. The UGC creator directory lists creators by niche and country with no signup.
- Post a brief on a marketplace. Creators who joined that platform apply, and it takes a fee on top; see UGC platforms compared.
- Search a database. UGC Agent (our product) searches all 33,029 creators by niche, country and size with their public email, or finds new ones from a brief. See how to hire UGC creators.
Method
Creators: 33,029 Instagram and TikTok accounts in the UGC Agent creator index qualified as UGC creators (31 October 2026 snapshot). Bio terms are matched on the profile bio text. Email source is where the app first found a public email for the creator; every creator in the index has one, which is a condition of being in it. Portfolio hosts are read from the link in the bio.
Download the numbers on this page as a CSV file. Free to reuse with a link to this page under CC BY 4.0.
Cite this answer: UGC Agent, "Where do brands find UGC creators to work with?", UGC Agent answers, published 9 November 2026, https://ugcagent.app/answers/where-to-find-ugc-creators/
Limitations
- Every creator in the index has a public email, so the email shares describe where it sits, not how many creators publish one.
- The index holds creators the app found while running searches for its users, so it over-represents the niches and countries brands search for.
- Bio matching is literal: a creator who writes "user generated content" in full is not counted under "UGC".