Q: Hashtags or keywords for getting found now?

Q: Hashtags or keywords for getting found now?

Great question. Short answer: keywords are winning, hashtags are mostly dead weight.

Here's why. Both TikTok and Instagram pivoted to search — they read your spoken words, on-screen text, and caption phrasing to understand and rank content. Stuffing 20 hashtags does almost nothing now; the algo doesn't need them to categorize you anymore.
— say your topic out loud in the video
— put the keyword in on-screen text and the first caption line
— 2-3 specific hashtags max, niche not broad

Verdict: write captions like search queries, speak your keywords, and drop the hashtag walls. Treat short-form like SEO, not like 2019 Instagram.