01Create a key
A key is any string of 8–128 letters, numbers or dashes. It isn't secret: its job is to prove you control the site. Generate one below or use the one your CMS plugin created.
02Host the key file
Upload a text file named after the key to your site root. It must contain only the key, and load without a redirect at https://yoursite.com/<key>.txt.
4f9a1c2e7b3d4e5f8a9b0c1d2e3f4a5b03Submit changed URLs
Send new, updated or deleted URLs. Submit only URLs that changed; resubmitting the same unchanged pages repeatedly can get a site rate-limited.
IndexNow Submitter
Generate a key, download the key file, then verify it and submit up to 100 URLs. Responses are explained in plain words.
1Create a key
2Upload the key file to your site root
Create a key first.
3Add changed URLs, then verify and submit
One URL per line, all on the same host, up to 100.
Automate it: the request your CMS should send
POST this JSON to https://api.indexnow.org/indexnow whenever a page is published, updated or deleted.
{
"host": "yourwebsite.com",
"key": "YOUR-KEY",
"keyLocation": "https://yourwebsite.com/YOUR-KEY.txt",
"urlList": []
}04Automate it
Most CMSs have an IndexNow plugin or a built-in setting. For a custom site, POST the changed URLs whenever content is published.
{
"host": "example.com",
"key": "4f9a1c2e7b3d4e5f8a9b0c1d2e3f4a5b",
"keyLocation": "https://example.com/4f9a1c2e7b3d4e5f8a9b0c1d2e3f4a5b.txt",
"urlList": ["https://example.com/pricing", "https://example.com/blog/new-post"]
}05Keep sitemaps accurate for Google
Google doesn't use IndexNow. Keep your XML sitemap listing only canonical, indexable pages with real lastmod dates, and reference it in robots.txt.
Checklist
- Key generated and key file live at the root
- Key file loads without redirects
- Changed URLs submitted on publish
- Deleted URLs submitted too
- Sitemap accurate for Google
Questions
Which search engines use IndexNow?+
Bing, Yandex, Seznam, Naver and others. Submitting to api.indexnow.org shares the URLs with all of them.
What does a 202 response mean?+
The submission was received and the key is still being validated. It isn't an error.