Short answer: IndexNow is a protocol that lets a site tell search engines right away when a page is added, updated or deleted, instead of waiting for a crawler to notice. One submission reaches every participating search engine: Amazon, Bing, Naver, Seznam.cz, Yandex and Yep. Google isn’t on the list.
How IndexNow works
First you prove the submissions come from you. You host a text file named after your key, with the key inside, at the root of your site, and search engines read it to verify ownership. The file can also live elsewhere on the same host if each submission says where, with a keyLocation value.
Then you send the address of each changed page, with your key, to one participating endpoint, or up to 10,000 addresses at once in a POST request. The search engines in the protocol agree to share what they receive with the others.
Without it, IndexNow notes, search engines rely on crawlers to discover changes, which can take days or even weeks. Its FAQ adds that IndexNow helps keep your content current in AI-powered search results.
What each answer means
Every submission gets an HTTP answer. A 200 means the address was received; on your first submission, a 202 is normal while the search engine checks your key.
| Answer | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 200 OK | The address was submitted | Nothing |
| 202 Accepted | The address arrived, but the key check is still pending | Make sure your key file answers |
| 400 Bad request | The request has an invalid format | Check how you build the request |
| 403 Forbidden | The key isn’t valid: no key file, or the file doesn’t hold the key | Fix the key file |
| 422 Unprocessable Entity | An address isn’t on your host, or the key doesn’t match the format | Send only your own addresses |
| 429 Too Many Requests | Too many requests, a possible sign of spam | Send less often |
From IndexNow.org, “Documentation”, read November 3, 2026.
How to set up IndexNow
- Check whether your platform, SEO plugin or host already supports IndexNow, so you don’t set it up twice.
- Create a key of 8 to 128 characters, using letters, numbers and dashes.
- Host it at the root of your site as a UTF-8 text file named after the key, ending in .txt.
- Send each added, updated or deleted page to one participating endpoint, such as IndexNow’s own at api.indexnow.org.
- Read the answer: a 200 means received, and a 202 means your key is still being checked.
- Don’t resend a page that changes often within 5 minutes, and send only substantial changes.
- Keep your XML sitemap current for search engines outside IndexNow, such as Google.
Our guides to the XML sitemap and to Google Search Console cover step 7.
How IndexNow runs on our site
Our site runs on WordPress with the Rank Math plugin, whose Instant Indexing module sends every page we publish or update to IndexNow. On November 3 its log held 100 submissions between 6:57 AM and 11:52 AM, for 82 different addresses, and every one was answered with a 200. Pages we edited more than once went out again at least 7 minutes apart.
We had also been sending each new guide with our own script, about a minute after it went live. That was a second submission inside the 5-minute window IndexNow asks for, so we dropped our step and let the plugin do the job.
Our key file answers at the root of the site and holds the key, so search engines can verify that the submissions are ours.
Before you call your IndexNow setup done
- Your platform sends IndexNow on its own, or you set it up once.
- The key file answers at the root of your site.
- Each change goes to one endpoint, not to several.
- Your submissions get a 200, or a 202 while the key is checked.
- The same page isn’t resent within 5 minutes.
- Your sitemap stays current for Google.
RememberIndexNow tells search engines a page changed; it doesn’t make them index it. Set it up once, let it run on every change, and keep your sitemap for Google.
If you want us to check how your site tells search engines about new pages, see our technical SEO service.
Quick answers about IndexNow
Does Google use IndexNow?
Google isn’t among the participating search engines IndexNow lists: Amazon, Bing, Naver, Seznam.cz, Yandex and Yep. For Google, keep your XML sitemap current and use Search Console.
Does a 200 answer mean my page is indexed?
No. IndexNow says a 200 only means the search engine received your address. Submitting doesn’t guarantee immediate indexing, but it makes it more likely that important changes are found and crawled faster.
Do I need to send each page to every search engine?
No. You send it to one participating endpoint, and the search engines in the protocol agree to share the addresses they receive with the others.
How often can I submit the same page?
For pages that change often, IndexNow suggests waiting at least 5 minutes before resubmitting and sending only substantial changes. Unneeded submissions can waste crawl quota without improving visibility.
Should I submit pages I delete?
Yes. IndexNow is meant for pages that are added, updated or removed, so search engines can reflect the latest version of your site in their index.
Sources
Read on November 3, 2026. IndexNow.org: Documentation, FAQ and Documentation for search engines. Our own case: the IndexNow log on our site and our key file, November 3, 2026.