Request Indexing in Google Search Console, explained
Request Indexing is the button in Search Console's URL Inspection tool that asks Google to crawl one page soon. It is free, it works for any page on a site you own, and Google allows about 10 requests per property per day.
IndexMachine presses it for you in your own Search Console: every day on autopilot for new pages, and on demand for any page you choose, including a re-index of a page that is already on Google.
How to request indexing in Google Search Console
Open the right property
Sign in to Search Console and pick the property the page belongs to. Only an owner or a full user can request indexing; restricted users can only look.
Inspect the URL
Paste the full address, with https://, into the inspection bar at the top of the screen. Google shows what it knows: "URL is on Google", "URL is not on Google", or the reason it was left out.
Run Test live URL
The live test fetches the page right now. Under Page indexing, Crawl allowed? and Indexing allowed? should both say Yes. If either is No, fix that first: Google won't accept a request for a page that fails the live test.
Press Request indexing
Google runs a quick check that takes up to a minute or two, then answers in a dialog. "Indexing requested" means the URL is in the crawl queue. Close the dialog and move on: there is nothing else to press.
Submitting a whole new site rather than one page? Start with the sitemap: the guide to submit your website to Google covers verification and sitemaps step by step.
The four answers Google gives, and what to do
Every request ends in one of four answers. Here is what each one means, and what IndexMachine handles for you:
| Google's answer | What it means | With IndexMachine |
|---|---|---|
| Indexing requested | The page passed the live test and joined Google's crawl queue. | Tracked until Google confirms the page is indexed. |
| Indexing request rejected | The live test found an indexing problem (noindex, robots.txt block, 404, redirect, canonical elsewhere). | Flagged in your dashboard with the reason, so you know exactly what to fix. |
| Quota exceeded | This property has used its requests for the day. | Handled for you: requests pick up again when the quota resets. |
| Something went wrong | A temporary error on Google's side. | Handled for you, nothing to do. |
Got a rejection and can't see why? Paste the URL into our free why is my page not indexed checker for the likely cause and the fix, or see the page the way Google does with the Googlebot simulator.
Request Indexing quota: how many URLs per day?
About 10 per property per day. Google confirms there is a daily limit for index requests but doesn't publish the number; in practice the "Quota exceeded" dialog appears after about 10 requests, and the count resets at midnight Pacific time. Live tests have a separate daily limit of their own.
The quota is per property, so each site you own gets its own 10. Over a month that is roughly 300 requests per site: plenty for new posts and real updates, not enough to waste on pages that are already indexed or can't be indexed. Three rules get the most out of it:
- Request new pages and pages you have meaningfully changed. Let the sitemap carry everything else.
- Skip pages that are already on Google, unless you updated them.
- Fix rejected pages before you ask again; a second request for the same broken page only burns quota.
IndexMachine follows all three automatically and uses the full daily quota of every site you connect, every day.
Does requesting indexing again help?
Only when the page changed. Google states that requesting a recrawl of the same URL several times won't get it crawled any faster, and a second "Indexing requested" doesn't move the page up the queue.
A re-index is different: you rewrote a post, fixed a price or added a section, and you want Google to see the new version. That is a good use of a request, even for a page that is already on Google. In IndexMachine it is one button, Request indexing now, on any page in your dashboard.
Request Indexing on autopilot with IndexMachine
Pressing one button is easy. Pressing it for every new page, on every site, every day, is the part people stop doing. IndexMachine does it for you:
- Google's own button, in your own Search Console. The IndexMachine Chrome extension presses Request indexing for you, exactly as you would, in your own account. See what the extension does.
- Every day, the full quota. New pages from your sitemap and any URL you add by hand are requested daily, up to Google's limit for each site.
- On demand. Request indexing now sends any page within minutes, including a re-index of a page that is already on Google.
- No wasted requests. Pages already on Google and pages that can't be indexed never cost you a request.
- Proof, not hope. Every requested page is tracked until it is on Google, so the dashboard shows what actually made it. Of 1,841 pages IndexMachine requested, 1,418 (77%) were on Google, typically by our first check about 3 days after the request.
Bing, Yandex and the other IndexNow engines get every URL through unlimited IndexNow submissions in the same dashboard. See how IndexMachine works.
Request Indexing vs the Google Indexing API
They are different tools. Google documents the Indexing API only for pages with JobPosting markup or livestream BroadcastEvent markup (see Google's Indexing API quickstart). Request Indexing in Search Console works for any page of a site you own: blog posts, product pages, landing pages, docs.
IndexMachine uses Request Indexing in your own Search Console for Google and IndexNow for the other engines. No link farms, no service account to add to your property.
What it costs
Request Indexing is free in Search Console. IndexMachine is free to sign up for: it imports your Search Console sites and shows which pages Google hasn't indexed. Daily requests start at $12.50 once for one site with code BETA50 at checkout. All plans are on the pricing page.
FAQ
What does Request Indexing do in Google Search Console?
It asks Google to crawl one URL soon. Google first runs a quick live test of the page; if it finds no indexing errors, the URL joins Google's crawl queue. Google still decides whether and when the page is indexed.
How many times can I request indexing per day?
About 10 URLs per Search Console property per day. Google confirms there is a daily limit but doesn't publish the number; once you hit it, Search Console shows Quota exceeded until the next day, which starts at midnight Pacific time.
How long after Request Indexing will my page be indexed?
Google says crawling can take from a few days to a few weeks. Of 1,841 pages IndexMachine requested, 1,418 (77%) were on Google, typically by our first check about 3 days after the request.
Does requesting indexing again help?
Not for the same unchanged page. Google says that requesting a recrawl of the same URL several times won't get it crawled any faster. Request again after you change the page, which is what a re-index is for.
Why was my indexing request rejected?
The live test found something that stops indexing: usually a noindex tag, a robots.txt block, a 404 or soft 404, a redirect, or a canonical tag that points to another URL. Fix the page, run Test live URL again, then request indexing.
Is Request Indexing free?
Yes. It is part of Google Search Console, free for any owner or full user of a property. IndexMachine is free to sign up for, and its paid plans press the button for you every day, starting at $12.50 once with code BETA50.
Can I request indexing for many URLs at once?
Search Console has no bulk button: Request Indexing takes one URL at a time. For many URLs, submit a sitemap, then let a tool such as IndexMachine work through the new pages every day within Google's quota.
Is Request Indexing the same as the Google Indexing API?
No. Google documents the Indexing API only for pages with JobPosting or livestream BroadcastEvent markup. Request Indexing works for any page of a property you own, and it is what IndexMachine uses.
Stop pressing Request Indexing by hand
Connect Search Console free, see which pages Google skipped, and let IndexMachine request them every day.
Free account. Import may take a while for big sites, Google rate-limits Search Console.