Do launch and directory listings get indexed? How to check yours
Many directory listings never reach Google's index. Check yours with a site: search and URL Inspection, and see why thin or noindexed pages drop out.
LLaunchScaler·Published ·8 min read
Some launch and directory listings get indexed by Google, and many never do. Google says plainly that it "doesn't guarantee that it will crawl, index, or serve your page," and a listing page is often thin, copied from your own site or marked noindex by the directory, so check each listing rather than assuming the submission put you in search.
The check takes a few minutes per listing: search the exact URL, run a site: query, then read the page's robots rules. When you own the Search Console property, URL Inspection gives you Google's own answer.
Do directory listings get indexed by Google?
Not automatically. Each listing is a separate page that Google judges on its own, and Google's guide to how Search works says that "not every page that Google processes will be indexed." It lists low-quality content and robots meta rules that disallow indexing among the common reasons, and both turn up on directory pages.
A directory can be well known and still have many of its listing pages missing from Google. Its homepage and category pages can rank while individual product pages, each one template with a few lines of text, sit unindexed. That's why the question to ask is not "is this directory indexed?" but "is my listing page indexed?"
Google also clusters near-duplicate pages. During indexing it "determines if a page is a duplicate of another page on the internet or canonical," and only the canonical "may be shown in search results." If your listing's description is the same paragraph you pasted into twenty other directories, Google can pick one of those copies and leave the others out.
How do you check if a directory listing is indexed?
Search Google for the listing's exact URL, then run site: with that URL. If either returns the page, it is indexed. If neither does, read the page's robots rules before concluding anything, because a noindex means waiting won't help, while a clean page may simply not have been crawled yet.
Work through these steps for each listing:
Questions, answered
What people ask about this
01
Are directory listings indexed by Google?
Some are and many are not. Google says it doesn't guarantee that it will crawl, index or serve any page, and listing pages are often thin, copied from the product's own site, or marked noindex by the directory.
02
How do I check if my directory listing is indexed?
Copy the listing URL exactly as the directory shows it, including https:// and www if present.
Search Google for site:https://directory.example/products/your-product. Google's documentation notes that site:https://www.example.com doesn't return the same results as site:https://example.com/, so use the exact host.
Search your product name plus the directory's name. An indexed listing often appears for that pair.
View the page source and search for <meta name="robots". A noindex value means the directory has told search engines to leave the page out.
Run curl -sI https://directory.example/products/your-product and look for an X-Robots-Tag header. A noindex here works the same way and doesn't show in the source.
Find <link rel="canonical" in the source. If it points at a different URL, such as the directory's homepage or a category page, Google is being told your listing isn't the main version.
Open https://directory.example/robots.txt and check whether a Disallow line covers the listings path.
What you find
What it means
What to do
The page appears for its URL and for site:
Indexed
Nothing; keep the listing's details current
No result, and a noindex in the meta tag or header
The directory keeps the page out of search
Ask whether the listing becomes indexable later (after approval, votes or payment); otherwise count it as a referral link only
No result, a canonical pointing elsewhere
Google is told another URL is the main one
Ask the directory to self-canonicalize listing pages
No result, a robots.txt Disallow on the path
Google can't read the page
Nothing you can fix; Google says a blocked URL can still appear in results, but without a description
No result, and the page is clean
Not crawled or not chosen yet
Link to the listing from your own site and check again in a few weeks
A site: query has limits, and Google lists them: it "doesn't necessarily return all the URLs that are indexed," and the results are not ranked. It is good for a yes on one URL, and weak for counting how many listings a directory has indexed.
Can you use URL Inspection on a listing you don't own?
No. Search Console's URL Inspection tool only inspects URLs inside a property you have verified, and Google's help says "the URL must be in the current property." Google's recrawl guide adds: "You can't request indexing for URLs that you don't manage." For a listing on someone else's directory, only the directory's owner can inspect it, so your tools are the public checks above.
When you do control a property, URL Inspection is the most direct answer Google gives. It reports "URL is on Google" or "URL is not on Google," and the Page indexing section says why. Two cautions from Google's help apply: the default view is the last indexed version, not the live page, and "URL is on Google" doesn't guarantee the page appears in results. For a live check, click Test live URL.
This is useful for listings hosted on a domain you own, such as a press or "as featured on" page on your site, and for comparing: if your own product page is indexed and the listing isn't, the problem is on the directory's side. The guide to checking whether a page is indexed covers every method, including Bing.
Why do directory listings fail to get indexed?
Listings drop out for four common reasons: the page is thin, the text is duplicated elsewhere, the directory marks new or unapproved listings noindex, or nothing links to the page. Google's page indexing report names the resulting states, such as "Crawled - currently not indexed," which Google says "may or may not be indexed in the future."
Cause
How it looks
What helps
Thin page
A name, a one-line tagline, a logo and a button
Fill every field: a full description, screenshots, pricing, use cases
Duplicate copy
The same paragraph on your homepage and other directories
Write a distinct description for each listing
noindex on new listings
Meta robots or X-Robots-Tag says noindex
Only the directory can change it; ask what makes a listing indexable
Orphan page
The listing isn't linked from any category page or sitemap
Link to it from your own site; ask to be placed in a category
Crawl rescheduled
"Discovered - currently not indexed" on the directory's side
Nothing on your side beyond links; the directory's server and quality decide it
Duplicate copy is the cause you control. Google groups similar pages and serves one of them, and the page indexing report says a page marked "Duplicate without user-selected canonical" is "not an error, but is working as intended, because Google does not serve duplicate pages." The guide on how to write a directory listing shows how to vary the text without changing the facts.
Some directories use noindex on purpose, for example on listings that haven't been reviewed, haven't reached a vote threshold or failed a quality bar. That's a fair policy, but it changes what the listing is worth to you. Before submitting, open two or three existing listings on the directory and run the checks above on them.
What does an indexed listing do for you?
An indexed listing can appear in Google results for your product's name, which is what people search after they hear about you. It gives search engines and AI answer engines a page about you that you didn't write on your own site. A listing that isn't indexed only works for people browsing that directory.
If the listing also carries a followed link to your site, the link sits on a page Google keeps in its index. Whether a directory is worth the time comes down mostly to that pairing. The guide to whether directory submissions are still worth it weighs it against Google's link spam policies, and the list of startup directories notes each one's link terms.
To give a new listing the best chance:
Write a description for that listing, not a copy of your homepage.
Fill every field the form offers, including pricing, category and screenshots.
Link to the listing from your own site, for example from a "Find us on" section, so crawlers can reach it.
Keep the details current, since a listing with a dead link or an old price gives a directory a reason to drop it.
Recheck with site: a few weeks after it goes live. Google says crawling "can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks."
How does LaunchScaler decide whether a listing is indexed?
LaunchScaler ties indexing to the site itself. A free listing's page is indexed once the site passes its readiness scan, which runs 156 checks across 6 of its 7 categories before anything is listed, and once the listing has content of its own to show. Until then the page stays out of search, so a failing site doesn't get an indexed page by submitting.
The link works on the same bar: each listing can earn 1 dofollow link to your site, and passing the scan is the only way to earn it. The Premium launch, at $29 one-time, keeps the listing in LaunchScaler's permanent curated index after its standing decays. It also books any open day, today included, writes the listing for you from your own scan, and skips the badge on your site. The pricing page states the limit plainly: "The followed link still needs a pass." To launch on the day you pick with a listing that stays indexed, get Premium, or choose the free launch on the same page and let the queue reach you.
Search Google for the exact listing URL, or run site: followed by the listing URL. If nothing comes back, view the page source for a noindex meta tag and check the response headers for X-Robots-Tag before deciding the page just hasn't been crawled yet.
03
Can I use Search Console's URL Inspection on my listing?
Only if you own a Search Console property that contains the URL, which for a third-party directory means the directory's owner. Google's help says the inspected URL must be in the currently opened property.
04
Why is my directory listing not indexed?
The usual causes are a thin page with little more than a name and a tagline, a description copied word for word from your homepage or other directories, a noindex the directory adds to new or unapproved listings, and a page nothing links to.
05
Does a listing that isn't indexed still help?
It can still send the visitors who browse that directory, but it can't appear in Google results for your product's name, and a search engine that never indexed the page has nothing to show from it.
Your first 100 users come from outreach to people with the problem, communities where they ask, a launch spike and content. Each channel, ranked by effort.
