Free tool
Indexability checker
A forgotten noindex, or a canonical pointing somewhere else, keeps a page out of Google while it looks fine to every visitor. Check the six signals that decide it, read the way Googlebot reads them.
Example result
- PassThe page answers with a 2xx
- PassNo long redirect chain
- Passrobots.txt lets Googlebot crawl it
- FailGooglebot may index the page
- CheckThe canonical names this page
Your check shows up here
Each signal that decides whether Google may index the page, with what we found and what to change.
How it works
Three steps, about ten seconds
Enter a URL
Any page, not just the homepage. We start from exactly the address you give.
We fetch it as Googlebot
With Googlebot's smartphone user agent, recording every redirect hop on the way to the page.
We read every signal
robots.txt for the final host, the robots meta tags, the X-Robots-Tag header, the canonical and what the canonical answers.
Reference
The six signals that decide indexing
Where each one is set and what it does to a page. The checker reads all six for the URL you give it.
| Signal | Where it is set | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Status code | Your server | Google can index pages that answer 200. A 404 or 410 drops the page; a 5xx is retried, then dropped. |
| Redirects | Your server or CDN | Google follows them to the final page and indexes that one. |
| robots.txt | /robots.txt | Stops the crawl, not the index. A blocked URL can still be indexed from links, without its content. |
| Robots meta tag | <meta name="robots"> in the HTML | noindex keeps the page out of the index, once Google has crawled the page and read it. |
| X-Robots-Tag | An HTTP response header | The same directives as the meta tag, and it works for PDFs and images too. |
| Canonical | <link rel="canonical"> | Tells Google which of several similar URLs to index. A strong hint, not a rule. |
Fix it on your platform
Fix a page Google will not index
Most pages kept out of Google carry a noindex someone forgot, or a canonical that points somewhere else.
Next.js
A page or layout with robots: { index: false } in its metadata writes noindex, and a layout's setting applies to every page under it. Name each page's own canonical:
export const metadata = {
alternates: { canonical: "/pricing" },
robots: { index: true, follow: true },
};Any server
An X-Robots-Tag header can come from your server or CDN config rather than the page. See what yours sends:
curl -sI https://yourproduct.com/page | grep -i x-robots-tagWordPress
In Settings, then Reading, "Discourage search engines from indexing this site" adds noindex to every page. For one page, Yoast SEO and Rank Math each have an Advanced tab in the editor where search visibility is set.
Google Search Console
Once the page passes here, paste its URL into URL Inspection to see whether Google has indexed it, and press Request indexing if it has not.
Questions, answered
Indexing, in plain terms
01Does this tell me whether my page is indexed?
- No. It checks whether Google is allowed to index the page and what stands in the way.
- Whether it is indexed is in Search Console: paste the URL into URL Inspection.
02Is robots.txt enough to keep a page out of Google?
- No. robots.txt stops the crawl, not the index. Google can still index a blocked URL from links to it, without its content.
- To keep a page out, use noindex and leave the page crawlable so Google can read the tag.
03What is the difference between the robots meta tag and X-Robots-Tag?
- The same directives in two places: the meta tag sits in the page's HTML, X-Robots-Tag in the HTTP response header.
- The header also works for files with no HTML, such as PDFs and images.
04Why does the canonical matter?
- When a page names another URL as its canonical, Google usually indexes that one instead.
- It is a strong hint rather than a rule, so a page should name itself unless it really is a copy.
05Why check as Googlebot?
- Some sites answer crawlers differently from browsers. We send the smartphone Googlebot user agent, the one Google indexes with.
- The request comes from our servers, not Google's, so a firewall that checks addresses can still treat the real Googlebot differently.
06How many redirects are too many?
- Google follows up to 10 redirect hops, and each one is another request. Link straight to the final address.
- This tool stops following after 5.
07Is it free, and do you keep my results?
- It is free and needs no account.
- A result stays in memory for a few minutes so a repeat check does not hit your site again, then it is gone. Nothing is saved to a database or published.
More free tools
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- ChatGPT search checkerWhether OAI-SearchBot and Bingbot can reach your page, and whether the page lets them show it.
- llms.txt validatorChecks your /llms.txt against the llmstxt.org format, or drafts one from your homepage and sitemap.
- Meta tag checkerYour title and meta description as a results page prints them, with the lengths that get cut.
- Open Graph previewYour og: and twitter: tags, the image they point at, and how the link card looks in five apps.