IndexNow is an open protocol that lets you ping search engines the moment a page is added, updated or deleted, instead of waiting for their crawlers to notice. You host a small key file on your site, then send the changed URL (or up to 10,000 URLs at once) to an IndexNow endpoint. Bing, Yandex, Naver, Seznam, Yep, Amazonbot and the Internet Archive all receive those notifications. Google does not.
On WordPress, the fastest route is Microsoft’s free IndexNow plugin or the IndexNow option in your SEO plugin. On any other stack, it’s one HTTP request. Last checked: October 29, 2026.
What IndexNow Actually Does
Search engines normally find changes by recrawling. That can take days or weeks for pages that don’t get crawled often, which is a problem when you’ve just fixed a price, published a launch page or deleted something that shouldn’t be live.
IndexNow flips that around. Your site sends a notice that says “this URL changed,” and the receiving search engine decides whether and when to crawl it. The IndexNow FAQ is clear that a submission “does not guarantee immediate indexing.” It raises the odds that a change is picked up quickly. It doesn’t force anything into the index.
Two details make the protocol more useful than it first looks:
- One ping reaches every participant. Search engines that adopt IndexNow agree to share submitted URLs with the other participating engines, according to the protocol documentation. You don’t need to submit separately to Bing and Yandex.
- Deletions count too. You can notify engines about removed URLs, which helps stale pages drop out faster.
Which Search Engines Support IndexNow?
The protocol site publishes the official participant list at indexnow.org/searchengines.json. As of this check, it lists:
| Participant | Endpoint |
|---|---|
| Bing | https://www.bing.com/indexnow |
| Yandex | https://yandex.com/indexnow |
| Seznam.cz | https://search.seznam.cz/indexnow |
| Naver | https://searchadvisor.naver.com/indexnow |
| Yep | https://indexnow.yep.com/indexnow |
| Amazonbot | https://indexnow.amazonbot.amazon/indexnow |
| Internet Archive | listed in searchengines.json |
There’s also a shared endpoint, https://api.indexnow.org/indexnow, which forwards to the participants. Use that one unless you have a reason to pick a specific engine.
Google isn’t on the list. For Google, you still rely on XML sitemaps, internal links and the URL Inspection tool in Search Console.
Why IndexNow matters for AI search
Bing’s index doesn’t only power Bing. Microsoft Copilot draws on Bing search to find sources, and OpenAI says ChatGPT search sometimes sends queries to third-party search providers (OpenAI Help Center). Getting a corrected page into Bing faster means AI answers that rely on Bing have a better chance of quoting the current version rather than the old one. Amazonbot’s presence on the participant list is another sign that the protocol now reaches beyond classic search.
None of this replaces crawler access. If your robots.txt blocks Bingbot or OAI-SearchBot, a ping won’t help. Our AI crawler list and robots.txt examples cover which user agents to allow.
How to Set Up IndexNow on WordPress
You have three common options. Pick one, not several, so the same URLs aren’t sent twice.
Option 1: Microsoft’s IndexNow plugin
The IndexNow Plugin is built by the Bing Webmaster team. Per its plugin page, it generates and hosts your API key automatically, detects when pages are created, updated or deleted, and submits those URLs to api.indexnow.org in the background. It also skips pages marked noindex.
- In WordPress, go to Plugins > Add New and search for “IndexNow Plugin.”
- Install and activate it.
- Open the IndexNow admin page and click Let’s Get Started!
The dashboard shows your 20 most recent successful and 20 most recent failed submissions, and you can manually submit a URL or retry a failed one. For the full history, check the IndexNow report in Bing Webmaster Tools.
Option 2: Your SEO plugin
If you already run Rank Math, its Instant Indexing module submits URLs to IndexNow-enabled engines. All in One SEO also lists IndexNow among its features. Turn the option on in the plugin you already use instead of adding Microsoft’s plugin on top.
Option 3: Cloudflare Crawler Hints
If your site sits behind Cloudflare, Crawler Hints can send IndexNow notifications for you. Cloudflare uses cache misses to infer when content has changed and doesn’t report responses with 4xx or higher status codes. It’s a toggle in the dashboard, so it’s useful for sites where you can’t install plugins. Leave it off if a WordPress plugin is already submitting.
How to Set Up IndexNow Manually (Any Site)
For a custom CMS, a headless build or a script that publishes pages, the protocol is simple.
Step 1: Create a key
Your key must be 8 to 128 characters long and may contain only letters (a–z, A–Z), numbers and dashes, according to the IndexNow documentation. A random hexadecimal string works well, for example fa8c0a469da44e9b8f6a769f291829f5.
Step 2: Host the key file
Save a UTF-8 text file named after the key, containing only the key, at the root of your site:
https://www.example.com/fa8c0a469da44e9b8f6a769f291829f5.txtYou can host the file elsewhere and pass its location with a keyLocation parameter, but then the key only covers URLs under that folder. The documentation strongly recommends the root.
Step 3: Submit a single URL
Send a GET request with the URL-encoded page address and your key:
https://api.indexnow.org/indexnow?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.example.com%2Fpricing%2F&key=fa8c0a469da44e9b8f6a769f291829f5A browser, curl or any HTTP client works.
Step 4: Submit URLs in bulk
For several URLs, send a JSON POST. The documentation allows up to 10,000 URLs per request:
POST /indexnow HTTP/1.1
Host: api.indexnow.org
Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8
{
"host": "www.example.com",
"key": "fa8c0a469da44e9b8f6a769f291829f5",
"urlList": [
"https://www.example.com/pricing/",
"https://www.example.com/blog/new-post/"
]
}Step 5: Read the response code
| Code | Meaning | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 200 OK | URL submitted successfully | Nothing. This only means the URL was received. |
| 202 Accepted | Received, key validation pending | Wait. Later submissions should return 200 once the key is verified. |
| 400 Bad Request | Invalid format | Check the JSON, the URL encoding and that the key is present. |
| 403 Forbidden | Key not valid | Make sure the key file exists, is reachable and contains the exact key. |
| 422 Unprocessable Entity | URLs don’t belong to the host, or the key doesn’t match the protocol format | Submit only URLs on the host in your request. |
| 429 Too Many Requests | Possible spam | Slow down and resubmit only changed URLs. |
IndexNow Best Practices
The protocol’s own FAQ is fairly specific about what good usage looks like:
- Submit only real changes. The FAQ says not to resubmit unchanged URLs, and to wait at least 5 minutes between resubmissions of a frequently updated page. Every submitted URL counts toward your site’s crawl quota.
- Keep your sitemap. IndexNow is for high-priority and frequently changing pages. A sitemap is still how search engines get a complete inventory of your URLs. The FAQ recommends using both.
- Bulk-submit after a migration. If you redesign or move the whole site, submitting every URL is acceptable, per the FAQ.
- Don’t change the key often. Microsoft’s plugin notes that the key is unique to a site and shouldn’t be rotated frequently.
- Watch the results in Bing Webmaster Tools. Its IndexNow report shows what was received. Our Bing Webmaster Tools setup guide walks through connecting your site.
Bing IndexNow vs Sitemaps vs Search Console
| Method | What it does | Engines | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| IndexNow | Pushes a notice that specific URLs changed | Bing, Yandex, Naver, Seznam, Yep, Amazonbot and other participants | New, updated or deleted pages you want recrawled soon |
| XML sitemap | Lists every URL you want crawled | All major engines, including Google | Full inventory and long-term discovery |
| Google Search Console URL Inspection | Requests indexing of one URL in Google | Google only | Important individual pages on Google |
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Google support IndexNow?
No. Google isn’t on the official participant list at indexnow.org. For Google, keep your XML sitemap current and use the URL Inspection tool in Search Console for important pages.
Is IndexNow free?
Yes. The protocol is open, and you don’t need to register with each search engine to use it. Microsoft’s WordPress plugin is free as well.
Does IndexNow guarantee my page gets indexed?
No. A 200 response only means the engine received the URL. Each engine still decides whether to crawl and index it based on its own rules and quality signals.
How many URLs can I submit with IndexNow?
Up to 10,000 URLs per POST request. Larger batches may fail or return a 422 error, so split them.
Do I need IndexNow if I already have a sitemap?
They do different jobs, so use both. A sitemap is your full URL inventory. IndexNow is an instant notice for the specific pages that just changed.
Does Shopify support IndexNow?
IndexNow.org lists Shopify, Wix, GoDaddy, Duda, Drupal, Joomla and several other platforms as supporting IndexNow natively or through plugins. Check your platform’s documentation to confirm whether it’s on by default.
Can I use more than one IndexNow plugin?
Avoid it. Two plugins, or a plugin plus Cloudflare Crawler Hints, will send the same URLs twice, which wastes crawl quota and can trigger 429 errors.
Can AI engines read your site?
Check any page for free: crawler access for ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Overviews, plus the fixes that matter most.
