Does IndexNow make Google index our content faster?

No. Google does not participate in IndexNow. It speeds up discovery on Bing, Yandex, and partner engines, while Google discovery continues through your sitemap and Search Console.

What do we have to host, exactly?

One small text file containing your key, at a URL on your domain. It proves you authorized the notifications. We generate the file and, on most connected platforms, can place it for you.

Is there any risk in pinging too often?

The protocol is free and fast, but engines weigh the quality of a sender's pings. We notify only on publishes and real updates so your domain stays a high-signal sender.

IndexNow integration

IndexNow sends change signals, and records acceptance.

We ping IndexNow the moment content publishes or updates, so participating engines hear about it in seconds.

Connect it All integrations

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How it works

IndexNow is a simple, open protocol: a key file hosted on your domain proves you control it, and a POST to api.indexnow.org announces new and updated URLs. During setup we generate your key and help you host the key file at your domain, and from then on every publish and update in your pipeline fires a notification automatically. Bing, Yandex, and partner engines consume these pings, and Bing itself recommends IndexNow over its legacy URL Submission API.

In the loop, IndexNow shortens the gap between publish and discovery. Instead of waiting for crawlers to find a new page, participating engines are told the moment it exists. The honest caveat is that Google does not consume IndexNow, so discovery on Google still rides your sitemap and Search Console, which is exactly what our Search Console connection handles.

Best forSites that want new and updated pages discovered by Bing, Yandex, and partner engines as fast as the protocol allows.

Setup, step by step

Let SearchHandled generate your IndexNow key during setup.
Host the key file at your domain, either by uploading the file we give you or by letting a connected CMS integration place it.
Run the verification check, which confirms the key file is reachable at its keyLocation.
Turn on publish and update notifications, which is the default once verification passes.
Watch the submission log in your dashboard to see pings firing as content goes live.

Best practices

Keep the key file in place

The hosted key file is the whole trust model: it proves the domain owner authorized the pings. Site migrations and cleanup scripts sometimes remove it, and our verification check will tell you if it disappears.

Ping on real changes only

We notify on publishes and meaningful updates, not on every minor save. Engines score senders on signal quality, and a noisy sender teaches them to trust your pings less.

Pair it with sitemaps, not instead of them

IndexNow accelerates discovery for participating engines, but your sitemap remains the canonical inventory of your site for every engine, including Google. Both stay in place.

Do not expect Google to react

Google does not consume IndexNow, so a ping never influences Google discovery. For Google, the pipeline relies on sitemaps and Search Console, which our GSC connection verifies after each publish.

Known issues

What practitioners actually report, from official docs, issue trackers, and community forums.

Google does not consume IndexNow

Pings reach Bing, Yandex, and partner engines, but Google ignores the protocol entirely, so Google discovery speed is unchanged.

How we handle itWe say this plainly rather than implying universal coverage. Google discovery rides your sitemap, and our Search Console connection confirms indexing there after every publish.

indexnow.org

The key file must stay reachable

If the key file at your keyLocation is removed or blocked, submissions stop being accepted, and nothing on your site looks visibly broken.

How we handle itOur verification check runs on a schedule as well as at setup, so a missing or unreachable key file is flagged in your dashboard instead of failing silently.

indexnow.org

The legacy Bing URL Submission API is superseded

Older pipelines built on Bing's URL Submission API are on a surface Bing now steers away from in favor of IndexNow.

How we handle itWe built on IndexNow from the start, which is the direction Bing recommends, so there is no legacy submission path in our pipeline to migrate later.

bing.com

Questions teams ask

Does IndexNow make Google index our content faster?: No. Google does not participate in IndexNow. It speeds up discovery on Bing, Yandex, and partner engines, while Google discovery continues through your sitemap and Search Console.
What do we have to host, exactly?: One small text file containing your key, at a URL on your domain. It proves you authorized the notifications. We generate the file and, on most connected platforms, can place it for you.
Is there any risk in pinging too often?: The protocol is free and fast, but engines weigh the quality of a sender's pings. We notify only on publishes and real updates so your domain stays a high-signal sender.

Connect IndexNow

Tell participating engines what changed.

Verify the key file on your domain, then IndexNow submits changed URLs and records whether the protocol accepted each batch. It does not measure rankings or guarantee indexing.

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