INDEX_NOW

As of 2025, Google does not officially support the IndexNow protocol. IndexNow submissions will reach Bing, Yandex, and other participating search engines, but not Google. For Google indexing, use Google Search Console's URL Inspection tool, submit an XML sitemap, or use the Search Console API. Unlimited Sheets provides separate Google Search Console functions for this purpose. Microsoft has stated that all IndexNow submissions are shared with participating search engines, so submitting once reaches all of them.

IndexNow notifies search engines that your content has changed, but it does not guarantee immediate indexing. Bing typically crawls submitted URLs within minutes to hours, though the actual indexing (appearing in search results) may take longer depending on the page quality, crawl priority, and search engine processing queues. High-authority domains with a track record of quality content generally see faster indexing. Think of IndexNow as moving your URLs to the front of the crawl queue, not as an instant indexing service.

The IndexNow protocol allows batch submissions of up to 10,000 URLs per request. You can make multiple requests, but avoid excessive submissions as search engines may rate-limit or flag accounts that submit too aggressively. Only submit URLs that have genuinely changed (new, updated, or deleted content). Submitting unchanged URLs repeatedly provides no benefit and wastes your quota. The function processes all URLs in a single API call for efficiency.

You should submit URLs when you make meaningful content changes that you want search engines to re-crawl: new pages, significant content updates, price changes, deleted pages, or structural changes. You do not need to submit URLs for minor changes like fixing typos, adjusting CSS, or updating timestamps. Search engines also discover changes through normal crawling, so IndexNow is for accelerating discovery of important changes, not replacing regular crawling entirely.

No. Each IndexNow API key is verified against a specific domain by the key verification file hosted on that domain. You need a separate API key (and verification file) for each domain you want to submit URLs for. The submitted URLs must match the domain where the key file is hosted. Attempting to submit URLs from a different domain will result in a verification failure.

Submitting a URL that returns a 404 status is actually a valid use case. It tells search engines that the page no longer exists, prompting them to remove it from their index more quickly than waiting for the next scheduled crawl. This is useful when you delete pages, discontinue products, or remove outdated content. The search engine will crawl the URL, discover the 404 status, and process the removal from its index accordingly.

The function returns a status message showing the result for each search engine (e.g., "Submitted 5 URLs. Bing: OK, Yandex: OK"). An "OK" status means the search engine accepted the submission. A "Failed" status may indicate an invalid API key, verification file issues, or a temporary service problem. After submission, you can check Bing Webmaster Tools to see crawl activity on the submitted URLs. Note that "OK" means the submission was accepted for processing, not that the URLs have been indexed.