Indexability checker: can Google index this page?

What stops Google indexing a page

Four things on your side block it outright. The page doesn’t return 200 (a 404, a server error or a login). A noindex sits in a robots meta tag or the X-Robots-Tag header. robots.txt disallows the path for Googlebot. Or the canonical tag points to another URL, so Google will most likely index that one instead.

Other things don’t block indexing but slow it down or blur the signal: long redirect chains, a page missing from your sitemap, or a sitemap that lists a page you also tell Google not to index. The sitemap checker checks the whole sitemap. Google’s docs on HTTP status codes explain how each code is treated.

Even with nothing blocking it, Google decides for itself what to index. To see what Google actually did with a page, use URL Inspection in Search Console. Our guide to a website not indexed by Google covers every status it can show.

noindex vs robots.txt disallow

They do different jobs. noindex lets Google read the page and asks it to leave the page out of results. A robots.txt Disallow stops Google reading the page at all, so a noindex on that page is never seen. Google may still list a disallowed URL without a snippet if other sites link to it.

To keep a page out of Google, use noindex and let Google crawl it. Google’s noindex docs and robots.txt docs say the same. To see which AI crawlers your robots.txt lets in, use the AI crawler checker.

What the canonical tag does

A canonical tag names the URL you want Google to treat as the main copy of a page. If it points to the page itself, you’re telling Google this is the one. If it points somewhere else, Google will most likely index that URL instead and fold this one into it.

Google treats the canonical as a strong hint, not a rule, and its docs on duplicate URLs explain how it picks. Use one canonical per page, as a full URL. To check the title, description and robots tag on the same page, use the meta tag checker, and for its structured data, the schema markup checker.

FAQ

Does this tell me if my page is indexed?

No. It checks what your site tells Google: the status code, robots rules, canonical and sitemap. Whether Google has actually indexed the page is something only Google knows. URL Inspection in Search Console tells you which.

What is the difference between noindex and a robots.txt disallow?

A noindex in a robots meta tag or the X-Robots-Tag header asks Google to keep the page out of its results. A robots.txt disallow stops Google reading the page, so it can never see a noindex on it. To hide a page from Google, use noindex and leave it crawlable.

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.

Why does the check say my site blocked it?

Some firewalls and bot protection block checkers like this one. Google may still be let through, so we mark the result unknown rather than not indexable. Check the page in URL Inspection to be sure.

Is anything I check stored?

No. The page, robots.txt and sitemaps are fetched once to read them, the checks run in your browser, and the URL is not saved.

Read next

• Website not indexed by Google? How to find the reason and fix it
• Sitemap checker, for whether your XML sitemap is valid
• Meta tag checker, for the title, description and robots tag
• Schema markup checker, for the JSON-LD on the same page
• AI crawler checker, for what your robots.txt lets AI crawlers do