Indexing · Google indexing
Indexing is the recording of a page in a search engine’s index after crawling and rendering. A crawled page is not necessarily indexed: the engine may judge the content duplicate, low value or blocked by a directive.
Standalone definition · 37 words
How does indexing work?
After crawling, the engine renders the page, analyzes its content, picks a canonical URL among duplicates, then decides whether to record it. Search Console shows each URL’s status in the Page indexing report.
Why is a page not indexed?
Common causes: noindex, canonical pointing to another URL, duplicate or weak content, redirect, server error, a page blocked by robots.txt (which prevents crawling but not always indexing of the URL), or the status “Discovered, currently not indexed”. Each status has its own diagnosis.
Indexing and AI visibility
Google says a page must be indexed and eligible for a snippet to appear as a supporting link in its AI features. For other engines, access goes through their own bots and indexes. A non-indexed page therefore has little chance of being cited.
Frequently asked questions
How do I request indexing?
URL Inspection in Search Console, then request indexing, alongside solid internal linking and a sitemap.
Does blocking in robots.txt deindex a page?
No, it blocks crawling. To deindex, use noindex on a crawlable page.
How long does it take?
From a few hours to several weeks depending on the site and the page.
Related terms
Further reading
- Search Central Live Deep Dive Barcelona 2026: what Google said over the 3 days
- Is Chunking a technique to optimize SEO and GEO ?
- Microsoft Clarity, Bing Webmaster Tools: the Only GEO Stack That Actually Measures LLM Visibility
- ← Back to the GEO glossary (114 terms)