IndexNow Submitter
Tell Bing, Yandex, Naver, Seznam and Yep about new or changed pages. The tool verifies your key file first, then sends up to 500 URLs in one request.
IndexNow response codes
- 200OK. URLs submitted.
- 202Accepted. URLs received. The key validation is still pending.
- 400Bad request. Invalid format.
- 403Forbidden. Key not valid: the key file was not found or does not match.
- 422Unprocessable entity. URLs do not belong to the host, or the key does not match the schema.
- 429Too many requests. Seen as potential spam. Slow down.
What IndexNow is
IndexNow is an open protocol for notifying search engines that a URL was added, updated or deleted. Instead of waiting for the next crawl, you ping one endpoint and every participating engine receives the list. Google is not part of it.
Setup in three steps
1. Create a key
Pick 8 to 128 characters using letters, digits and dashes. A random hexadecimal string of 32 characters is a common choice.
2. Host the key file
Create a text file named your-key.txt that contains only the key and upload it to the root folder of the host, so that https://www.yoursite.com/your-key.txt opens in a browser. This proves you control the site.
3. Submit URLs
Enter the host, the key and your URLs above. Before anything is sent, the tool fetches the key file and compares its content to the key. If the file is missing or different you get a clear error, which saves you from a 403 later. Then it posts the list to api.indexnow.org.
Rules to keep in mind
- All URLs in one submission must be on the same host.
www.yoursite.comandyoursite.comare different hosts. - The protocol allows up to 10,000 URLs per request. This tool sends 500 per run to keep the form fast.
- Submit only URLs that changed. Deleted pages and redirects count as changes and are worth sending.
- Blocked pages stay blocked. Check doubtful URLs with the indexability checker first.
Where to get the URL list
The sitemap URL extractor turns any sitemap into a plain list that you can filter and paste here. If you are not sure where your sitemap lives, the sitemap finder locates it.
Automating it
Pasting URLs by hand is fine for a launch or a one-off fix. For ongoing publishing, TurboIndex watches your sitemap, sends new and changed URLs through IndexNow and handles the Google side as well.
Questions and answers
Does IndexNow work for Google?
No. Google does not take part in IndexNow. For Google you rely on sitemaps, internal links and Search Console. IndexNow reaches Bing, Yandex, Naver, Seznam and Yep, and a URL sent to one of them is shared with the others.
How do I get an IndexNow key?
You make it up. Any string of 8 to 128 characters from a-z, A-Z, 0-9 and dashes works. Save it in a UTF-8 text file named after the key, for example 3f9c0a7e5b1d4c2e.txt, upload the file to the root of your site and check that it opens in a browser.
Does a 200 response mean my URLs are indexed?
No. 200 means the submission was received. Every search engine then applies its own crawl scheduling and quality rules. Submitting tells them the URL changed. It does not force indexing.
When do I need the key location field?
Only when the key file is not at https://your-host/your-key.txt. If you host it elsewhere, for example /files/indexnow-key.txt, enter that URL. Note the rule in the protocol: a key file in a subfolder is valid only for URLs inside that folder.
How often may I submit?
Submit a URL when it is new, updated or deleted. Do not resend the same unchanged URLs again and again. Search engines can answer with 429 when the volume looks like spam.