IndexNow
Tell search engines a page changed, now rather than eventually.
Overview
IndexNow is an open protocol. In its own words, "IndexNow lets you submit URLs immediately when content is added, updated, or deleted." A submission sent to one participating endpoint is shared with every IndexNow-enabled search engine; indexnow.org lists Amazon, Bing, Naver, Seznam.cz, Yandex and Yep.
On the IndexNow page in AEO Optima you can:
- save your project's IndexNow key and host
- find which of your tracked pages changed since the last scan
- submit URLs, one at a time or as a batch
- see the last 100 submissions for the project
When to use IndexNow
Submit a URL whenever you publish or meaningfully change a page you want search engines to see quickly. Common triggers:
- You ship a new landing page, blog post, or documentation page
- You update product specs, pricing, or availability
- You fix an error or correct an outdated fact (see Hallucination Corrections)
- You apply a Content Optimization suggestion
Note: A submission tells search engines that a URL changed. It is not proof that the URL was crawled or indexed.
Opening IndexNow
Open Content → IndexNow in the sidebar. It is shown to people who can edit the project, and it needs a plan that includes Advanced AI Insights (Pro Individual and above).
Setting up your key
- On the IndexNow Credentials card, click Generate to create a key, or type your own (8 to 128 letters, digits, dashes or underscores).
- Publish a file named
{key}.txtat your site's root, containing exactly the key — for examplehttps://example.com/{key}.txt. - Enter your site in Host URL (for example
https://example.com) and click Save credentials.
The key and host are stored on the server for this project. Before every submission, AEO Optima fetches your key file and checks that it matches. If it doesn't, the submission stops with a "key verification failed" error instead of being silently rejected.
Submitting URLs
- Paste one URL per line into the URLs box.
- Leave Batch mode off to post each URL separately (up to 100), or turn it on to send the whole list in one request (up to 10,000).
- Click Submit to IndexNow.
If you edited the key or host without saving, they are saved first.
Each submission goes to api.indexnow.org first. If that endpoint doesn't accept the request, AEO Optima tries Bing, then Yandex.
Submissions are made from this page while you are signed in. There is no API token, webhook or connector that submits to IndexNow for you.
Submission history
The Submission History card lists the last 100 submissions for the project:
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| URL | The URL that was submitted |
| Protocol | The protocol used (indexnow) |
| Status | Submitted means an endpoint accepted the request. It does not mean the URL was crawled or indexed. Failed means no endpoint accepted it. |
| Submitted | When the URL was sent |
Change detection
The Change Detection card answers "which pages are worth submitting?":
- Click Scan tracked pages. AEO Optima fetches up to 30 of your tracked pages (the project website and your prompts' primary pages) and fingerprints each page's visible content: its title, headings and body text.
- Each fingerprint is compared with the previous scan, which is stored for this project, and the page is marked new (first scan), changed, unchanged, or unreachable.
- Click Load … into the submission box to move the changed and new pages into the URLs box, then submit them as usual.
If the scan finds no tracked pages, set primary pages on your prompts, or a website URL on the project.
Best practices
- Batch related changes. Batch mode sends the whole list in one request.
- Don't resubmit unchanged pages. indexnow.org says: "A 429 error means you have exceeded your site's submission rate limit by submitting too many URLs to IndexNow in a short time." Run a change-detection scan first and submit only what changed.
- Read the error when a submission fails. A key verification failure means the key file is missing, unreachable, or doesn't match the saved key.