What IndexNow is
IndexNow is a protocol for notifying participating search engines that a URL has been added, updated or removed. It reduces reliance on waiting for a crawler to discover a change during a future crawl cycle. The notification is about a change; it is not a command to rank or index the page.
When to use it
Use IndexNow when a meaningful public URL changes: a new article is published, product availability changes, documentation is revised, a page moves, or a URL is removed. Avoid treating submission volume as a ranking tactic. Sending the same unchanged URLs repeatedly adds no content value to the page itself.
How verification works
A site proves control using a key. The standard key-file approach places a text file on the submitted host. ExciteSubmit generates a key locally in your browser and lets you download the matching file. The file must be publicly reachable at the location shown by the tool before you submit.
How IndexNow fits with XML sitemaps
An XML sitemap is a durable inventory of URLs. IndexNow is a change signal. A well-maintained site can use both: the sitemap shows the set of canonical URLs you want crawlers to know about, while IndexNow can announce important changes quickly.
What happens after an accepted submission
An accepted response means the IndexNow endpoint received the notification. Each participating search engine decides how to use that signal. It may crawl quickly, crawl later, or choose not to crawl. Indexing decisions are separate and can depend on accessibility, duplication, quality, canonicalization and many other signals.
Recommended workflow
- Publish the final public URL.
- Confirm it returns a successful response.
- Check robots.txt and page-level robots directives.
- Confirm the canonical URL.
- Add useful internal links.
- Include the canonical URL in the appropriate XML sitemap.
- Submit the changed URL via IndexNow.
- Use diagnostic tools to investigate problems rather than repeatedly resubmitting unchanged pages.
Common mistakes
Typical mistakes include placing the key file on a different hostname, submitting URLs from multiple hosts in one request, sending URLs that redirect somewhere unexpected, or expecting a successful notification to override a noindex directive. ExciteSubmit is designed to make these steps visible so you can separate a submission problem from a crawl or indexability problem.