Protocol guide
IndexNow, done for you
IndexNow is an open protocol that lets you tell search engines a URL changed the moment it changes, instead of waiting to be crawled. It is free, it takes one key file, and it covers four engines — though not the one everybody asks about.
Which search engines actually use IndexNow
This is the table most IndexNow pages will not show you, because the honest version is less exciting. IndexNow is genuinely valuable for Bing and friends. It does nothing for Google.
| Engine | Uses IndexNow | What that means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Bing | Yes | The original backer. Submissions are typically reflected within minutes. |
| Yandex | Yes | Co-authored the protocol with Microsoft. |
| Seznam | Yes | The dominant engine in the Czech market. |
| Naver | Yes | Relevant if you have any Korean-language footprint. |
| No | Evaluated it in 2021, never adopted it. Use sitemaps and the Indexing API instead — see indexing on Google. |
How the key file works
Three steps to be live, and a fourth that most tools skip.
1
Generate a key
A hex string, 8 to 128 characters. We generate one per site so a leaked key never affects more than one domain.
2
Host it on your domain
One plain-text file at
/<key>.txt whose entire contents are the key. That file is the proof of ownership — no DNS records, no meta tags.
3
Submit on every change
Each changed URL is POSTed to the shared endpoint. Participating engines pass submissions between themselves, so one call covers all four.
4
Verify what happened
This is the part IndexNow does not do. We re-check each URL on a decaying schedule and record when it actually appears in the index.
Straight answers about IndexNow
Does Google use IndexNow?
No. Google said in 2021 that it would evaluate the protocol and has never adopted it. Anyone telling you IndexNow gets you into Google is wrong. For Google you need sitemaps, internal links, and — for eligible page types — the Indexing API.
Is IndexNow free?
Yes. It is an open protocol with no cost and no per-URL quota from the engines. What you pay us for is running it reliably across every channel and then measuring whether the pages actually got indexed.
What is an IndexNow key?
A hex string of 8–128 characters that proves you control the domain. You host it as a plain-text file at
https://yourdomain.com/<key>.txt containing only the key. Engines fetch that file to verify a submission is legitimate.Do I need to submit to each engine separately?
No. Participating engines share submissions with each other, so one POST reaches all of them. We submit to the shared endpoint and record the response per URL.
Does IndexNow guarantee indexing?
No, and nothing does. IndexNow guarantees the engine is told about your URL immediately instead of waiting for a crawl. Whether it indexes the page is still the engine's decision — which is why we verify afterwards rather than declaring victory on submission.
Submit to every IndexNow engine automatically.
IndexRanger hosts the key file, fans every URL out to IndexNow and Google, and then measures what actually got indexed. 25 URLs free, no card. See pricing.
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