IndexNow
Also called: Index Now, IndexNow protocol, IndexNow API
Definition
IndexNow is an open protocol that lets a website notify participating search engines, such as Bing, Naver, Seznam, Yandex and Yep, the moment a URL is added, updated or deleted, instead of waiting for a crawl.
IndexNow is a simple ping, a small technical piece of SEO. When a page on your site changes, you send its URL to a search engine, and that engine knows to recrawl it. Without it, engines find changes on their own schedule.
How it works
The setup has three parts, per the IndexNow documentation:
- Generate a key. 8 to 128 characters (letters, numbers, dashes).
- Host the key file at your site root as
{your-key}.txt, containing the key. This proves you own the site. You can host it elsewhere with akeyLocationparameter, but it can then only validate URLs under that path. - Submit URLs. One URL with a simple GET request to
https://<searchengine>/indexnow?url=...&key=..., or up to 10,000 URLs per POST with a JSON body.
Participating engines agree to share submitted URLs with each other, so one submission reaches all of them. IndexNow.org lists Microsoft Bing, Naver, Seznam.cz, Yandex and Yep as supporters. Google is not listed.
You often do not need to write code. Bing's get-started page lists CMS platforms with IndexNow built in, plugins for WordPress (including Yoast, Rank Math, AIOSEO and SEOPress) and Shopify, and Cloudflare's Crawler Hints.
Why it matters
Faster updates on Bing matter beyond Bing's blue links: Bing Webmaster Tools now reports how often your pages are cited in Microsoft Copilot and Bing's AI summaries. See LLM citation. When you update pricing, fix a wrong fact or publish a new comparison page, IndexNow helps those changes reach Bing quickly instead of an AI answer repeating the old version.
For Google, use sitemaps and internal links, and request recrawls in Search Console for important URLs. See indexing.
How it plays out on Reddit
You cannot use IndexNow for Reddit threads; only the site owner can host the key file, and Reddit's pages are crawled constantly anyway. The practical link is the reverse: when a Reddit discussion sends people to a page on your site (a docs page someone asked about, a changelog that fixes a complaint), make sure that page is fresh in every index. If you update the page in response to a thread, ping it. The next person who asks an AI tool the same question should get the current answer.
Common mistakes
- Pinging unchanged URLs repeatedly. Submit when content actually changes.
- Hosting the key file in the wrong place. A key in a subfolder only validates URLs under that subfolder.
- Expecting Google to pick it up. Google is not a listed IndexNow participant; use Search Console for Google.
Frequently asked questions
Does Google support IndexNow?
Google is not listed as a participating engine on IndexNow.org. Use sitemaps and Search Console for Google.
Does IndexNow guarantee my page gets indexed?
No. The IndexNow FAQ says a submission alerts engines that content changed but does not guarantee indexing; thin or duplicate content, crawl limits and technical blocks can still keep a URL out.
How many URLs can I submit with IndexNow?
Up to 10,000 URLs in a single POST request, according to the IndexNow documentation.