What is IndexNow? Instant Index Guide for Google and Bing (2026)
What is IndexNow Protocol? Why Was It Released?
IndexNow is a revolutionary PUSH-based ping protocol that completely changes the way search engines crawl websites. In traditional SEO, you would create a Sitemap and wait for search engine bots to come and crawl (PULL) your site. However, thanks to IndexNow, you can directly notify search engines within seconds when you publish, delete or update a content.
Which Search Engines Support IndexNow?
As of now, the pioneers of the protocol are Bing and Yandex. Search engines such as Yahoo and Ecosia, which use Yandex and Bing Webmaster infrastructure, are directly affected by IndexNow signals. Although Google has not yet fully integrated IndexNow directly (it has its own Indexing API), the IndexNow dataset is known to positively trigger the overall internet crawling speed (Crawl Efficiency).
Google Indexing API or IndexNow?
The way to get indexed at the same speed on Google's side is to use the 'Indexing API' connected to Google Search Console. Their setups are quite similar, but the advantage of IndexNow is that it can disseminate data to all search engines that support the protocol with a single API call.
How to Install and Use IndexNow?
- 1. Creating an API Key:Generate a random 8-128 character text string (This is your verification key).
- 2. Uploading the Key to the Root Directory:Upload the key you created as a .txt file (Ex: `d3b07384d113.txt`) to the root directory of your site.
- 3. Send a Ping Request:When you publish a new page, send an HTTP GET request in the format
https://www.bing.com/indexnow?url=https://site.com/yeni-sayfa&key=d3b07384d113
Automated Solutions for WordPress Sites
If you have installed a WordPress SEO Plugin (such as Rank Math, AIOSEO or the official Bing IndexNow plugin), the system runs the entire protocol in the background as soon as you press the "Publish Post" button. New content is served directly to bots without wasting Crawl Budget.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Can I delete Broken (404) Links with IndexNow?
Absolutely. One of the basic features of the system is to instantly notify bots of the new Status Code of the pages you have changed with 404, 410 or 301 Redirect.
Is there a limit? I update a lot of content on my site.
Daily submission limit is limited to 10,000 URLs per API key. If you have a very large news site, you can ping the URLs to the servers in JSON format by creating a batch list with the POST method.
Can I see this in the Bing Webmaster panel?
Yes, you can review the success (200 OK) or failure status of IndexNow pings made in the last 30 days in a clear log via the Bing Webmaster Panel tool.