What isIndexNow?
A shortcut to Bing and several other search engines, just not to Google.
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Check your website visibility or call: +49 151 1576 5566IndexNow is an open protocol that lets a website report new or changed URLs to participating search engines immediately. You no longer wait for a crawler to notice the change by itself. Google is not one of the participants, though, so there the route still runs through Search Console and your sitemap.
- Participants include Bing, Yandex, Seznam, Naver and Yep.
- A submission to one participant is shared with all the others.
- Many shop systems and plugins already support IndexNow.
- Bing Webmaster Tools shows whether submissions arrive, and indexing is not guaranteed.
What IndexNow does for your website on Bing and other search engines
Whenever a page is added or changed, your website sends a short notification. Because the participants share it with each other, a single submission is enough to reach Bing, Yandex, Seznam, Naver and Yep.
You usually do not need to build anything, since many shop systems and plugins support IndexNow already. Look in your system's settings first before you have anything added. Bing Webmaster Tools shows whether your submissions arrive. A page is still not guaranteed to be indexed, because that decision stays with the search engine.
Why IndexNow does not help with Google indexing
Google does not take part in IndexNow. For Google you stay with URL Inspection in Search Console for individual pages and a sitemap for many URLs. The Indexing API is no shortcut either, because Google only permits it for job postings and livestream videos.
The old sitemap ping is no substitute for IndexNow. Google deprecated that endpoint in June 2023 because most of what came through it was spam, and it now returns a 404 error. Some older plugins keep pinging anyway, which does no harm, it simply goes nowhere.
Frequently asked questions
Does IndexNow help with Google indexing?
No, because Google does not take part in IndexNow. For Google, use Search Console and your sitemap.
Which search engines use IndexNow?
Among others Bing, Yandex, Seznam, Naver and Yep. A submission to one of them reaches the others as well.
Do I have to build IndexNow myself?
Often not. Many shop systems and plugins already support the protocol, so check your settings first.
Terms you should know in the same context
Google indexing · AI crawler · Structured data · Back to the AI glossary A to Z
IndexNow speeds up the notification, while the search engine still decides what gets indexed.