Website not indexed by Google?

If Google is not indexing your website, check the page in Search Console’s URL Inspection tool first. It tells you whether the page is indexed and, if not, the reason, and almost every reason has a specific fix: remove a noindex, unblock robots.txt, fix a server error or canonical, or make the page worth indexing.

Google is clear that it “doesn’t guarantee that all pages everywhere will make it into the Google index” (Google). So the goal is to remove anything that stops a page you care about, then give Google a reason to want it.

Check one URL with the free indexability checker.

In short

• Check one page with URL Inspection, and the whole site with the Page indexing report in Search Console.
• A brand new site can wait: Google says it “can take a week or so” to start crawling and indexing a new page or site (Google).
• Blocked pages (noindex, robots.txt, 404, 5xx, redirects) are fixed in code or server settings.
• Crawled or discovered but not indexed pages are mostly a quality, linking or site load problem, not a setting.
• Canonical statuses often need no fix at all. Google picked one URL out of a set of duplicates.
• JavaScript sites need content in the rendered HTML. AI search tools need their own crawlers allowed.

How to check if Google has indexed your site

Start with the page that matters most, usually the homepage. Paste its URL into the URL Inspection tool in Search Console. It shows whether the URL is on Google and, if not, why. The live test checks whether Google can fetch the page now, though Google notes it cannot detect every status, such as pages that were crawled but not indexed.

For the whole site, open the Page indexing report. It lists indexed and not indexed pages, grouped by reason. Google’s own advice for small sites is to start simpler: “If your site has fewer than 500 pages, you probably don’t need to use this report”, and a site: search will show what is indexed (Google).

On a new site, Google says “the best first step is to request indexing of your homepage” (Google). Don’t add Search Console and expect a full report the same day.

What each Page indexing status means

These are the reasons you are most likely to see on a SaaS site, with what Google says about each in its Page indexing report help.

Search Console writes the last two with a hyphen (“Crawled - currently not indexed”). They are the two that cause the most confusion, so they get their own section below.

Fixes for pages that are blocked

These are the easy ones, because there is a setting or a status code to change.

noindex. A noindex can be a meta tag or an X-Robots-Tag HTTP header (Google). Check both, plus any CMS or framework setting that adds one to every page in staging and then ships to production. Google also notes the page must not be blocked by robots.txt, or the crawler never sees the noindex at all.

robots.txt. Google describes robots.txt as a way to manage crawling, and says it “is not a mechanism for keeping a web page out of Google” (Google). If a rule blocks a page you want indexed, remove it. If you want a page kept out, use noindex instead. Our AI crawler checker reads a live robots.txt and shows which crawlers it lets in, which also catches rules that block Googlebot by accident.

Server errors and firewalls. A 5xx means Google got an error when it asked for the page. Google’s help also points at firewalls and DoS protection, which can block Googlebot without anyone noticing (Google). Check your host or CDN bot settings.

Soft 404. Google gets a 200 status code with a page that looks empty or like an error. Google’s guide to status codes says that if the content “suggests an error”, Search Console will show a soft 404 (Google). Return a real 404 for missing pages and make sure real pages have real content in the HTML.

Canonicals and duplicates. Google lists its canonical signals in order of strength: redirects and rel=”canonical” are strong signals, sitemap inclusion is a weak one (Google). When Google picks a different canonical from yours, the fix is to make all of them point to the same URL, not to add more tags.

Fixes for pages Google found but did not index

Crawled, currently not indexed. Google crawled the page and chose not to index it for now. Google says it “may or may not be indexed in the future” and that you don’t need to resubmit it (Google). The fix is the page itself: is it the best answer to a real question, or a thin variation of another page on your site? Merge thin pages, add what only you can say, and link to the page from the pages that already get traffic.

Discovered, currently not indexed. Google knows the URL but has not crawled it. Google says that typically “Google wanted to crawl the URL but this was expected to overload the site” (Google). Check your server response times and hosting limits, and make sure the page is linked from somewhere Google crawls often.

Crawl budget is rarely the reason. Google’s crawl budget guide is written for very large sites, and says that if your pages “seem to be crawled the same day that they are published, you don’t need to read this guide” (Google). Most startup sites are nowhere near that size.

Sitemaps help discovery, not indexing. Google says a sitemap helps it find URLs but “doesn’t guarantee that all the items in your sitemap will be crawled and indexed” (Google). Submit one, keep it to canonical URLs you want indexed, and still link important pages from your navigation. Our free sitemap checker finds your sitemap and checks it is valid.

When the site is built with JavaScript

Single page apps and some React or Next.js setups send an almost empty HTML file and build the page in the browser. Google renders JavaScript, but it indexes what is in the rendered HTML: “If the content isn’t visible in the rendered HTML, Google won’t be able to index it” (Google). Check the rendered HTML in URL Inspection.

Google also says server side or pre-rendering “is still a great idea” because “not all bots can run JavaScript” (Google). Our Next.js technical SEO guide covers rendering, metadata and sitemaps for that stack.

Being indexed and showing up in AI answers

Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode use the same index. To be eligible as a supporting link, Google says “a page must be indexed and eligible to be shown in Google Search with a snippet”, and there are “no additional technical requirements” (Google). So a page that is not indexed cannot appear there either.

ChatGPT, Perplexity and Claude use their own crawlers, so a page can be indexed by Google and still be blocked for them by robots.txt or a firewall. Our guide to AI crawlers and robots.txt lists the user agents to allow.

How long to wait, and when to ask for a recrawl

Request indexing in URL Inspection for a new or changed page that matters. Google says “Submitting a request does not guarantee that the page will appear in the Google Index”, that there is a daily limit, and that for many URLs you should submit a sitemap instead (Google). Google also says that requesting a recrawl “multiple times for the same URL won’t get it crawled any faster” (Google).

If a page is still not indexed after you fixed the reason, check the status again in URL Inspection before changing anything else. For what sets the pace beyond indexing, see how long SaaS SEO takes.

FAQ

Why is my website not showing up on Google?

Usually one of three things: the site is too new for Google to have crawled it, something blocks it (noindex, robots.txt, server errors, a firewall), or Google crawled it and chose not to index the pages. URL Inspection in Search Console tells you which.

How do I get Google to index my website?

Verify the site in Search Console, request indexing of the homepage, submit a sitemap, and link every important page from your navigation. Then fix whatever URL Inspection reports for the pages that are still missing.

What does “Crawled, currently not indexed” mean?

Google fetched the page and decided not to index it for now. There is nothing to resubmit. Improve the page, merge it with a similar one, or link it from pages Google already values.

Does a sitemap get my pages indexed?

No. A sitemap helps Google discover URLs. Google says it does not guarantee they will be crawled or indexed.

Is robots.txt the right way to hide a page from Google?

No. Google says robots.txt is not a way to keep a page out of Google. Use a noindex tag or header, or put the page behind a password.

If my page is indexed, will it show in AI Overviews?

Indexing is the requirement, not a guarantee. Google says a page must be indexed and eligible for a snippet to appear as a supporting link, with no extra technical requirements.

Want indexing fixed for you?

Ignura automates SEO and GEO, and you approve what goes out. Indexing and crawl fixes are part of our technical SEO work, and the seed-stage SaaS page covers where most early sites start. For a wider plan, read SEO for SaaS startups, and see the pricing page for how we price it.

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