In short. IndexNow reports URL changes to participating search engines, which independently decide whether to crawl and index each page.
Definition: No. As of October 2026, IndexNow is a protocol for notifying participating search engines about added, updated, or deleted URLs. Each engine decides whether to fetch the page and include it in its search index, the collection of content processed for search.
Key facts
- IndexNow's official FAQ says crawl quota, scheduling, and quality signals influence whether a submitted URL is crawled.
- The protocol documentation defines an HTTP 200 response as confirmation that the search engine receives the URL.
- Bing's URL Inspection announcement describes separate information about crawling and index status.
What does a successful notification confirm?
The IndexNow documentation gives this request pattern for a changed URL:
https://<searchengine>/indexnow?url=url-changed&key=your-key
The url-changed value represents the added, updated, or deleted page and requires URL encoding. The your-key value corresponds to the site's hosted verification key. Search engines fetch the key file to verify ownership of the host submitting URLs.
The same documentation distinguishes HTTP 200, a successfully submitted URL, from HTTP 202, a received URL with key validation pending. These responses describe the notification request. Checking the response code therefore establishes whether submission succeeds; checking the page's index status requires a separate inspection.
What happens between notification and indexing?
Crawling means fetching the page's content. The official FAQ explains that an engine evaluates a submitted URL before fetching its latest content. Crawl quota is the site's allowance for crawling; scheduling determines when a fetch occurs.
The FAQ lists duplicate or thin content and crawl blocks among reasons a submitted page can remain outside an index. Each participating engine applies its own indexing criteria, so the same URL can have different index status across engines.
How can the outcome be checked?
Microsoft's Bing URL Inspection description identifies an Index details card showing the URL's index status, crawl information, and HTTP response details. Entering the page URL in that tool provides evidence about Bing's handling of the page beyond the IndexNow submission response.
The same description distinguishes Live Check, which tests whether Bing can crawl a page without requesting indexing. A successful live fetch answers an accessibility question. The index status card answers whether the URL is in Bing's index. The tool also exposes HTML and HTTP response details for investigating how Bing processes the page.
Related terms
FAQ
Does HTTP 200 mean my page is indexed?
No. The protocol documentation assigns HTTP 200 to successful URL submission. You can check index status separately through the receiving engine's inspection tools.
Should I repeatedly submit an unchanged URL?
The official FAQ advises you to submit meaningful changes and avoid repeated submissions of unchanged URLs. It also states that submissions count toward the site's crawl quota.
Sources
- IndexNow, "FAQ", undated
- IndexNow, "Documentation", undated
- Microsoft Bing, "Introducing the Bing Webmaster Tools URL Inspection Tool", 10 September 2020
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