How to check if a page is indexed by Google (4 reliable methods)
The most reliable way to check if a page is indexed by Google is the URL Inspection tool in Search Console, which reports the page's real index status straight from Google. A site: search is faster but often wrong, so trust URL Inspection — or the Inspection API for bulk checks — whenever the two disagree.
"Is my page indexed?" sounds like a yes/no question, but Google gives you at least four different ways to ask it — and they don't always agree. Knowing which method is authoritative saves you from chasing phantom problems (or missing real ones).
Method 1: the site: search operator (quick, but unreliable)
Type site:example.com/your-page into Google. If the page shows up, it's probably indexed. If it doesn't, it might still be indexed — the site: operator samples the index and frequently omits pages that are genuinely in it. Treat a hit as "yes" and a miss as "maybe." Never conclude a page is deindexed from a single empty site: search.
Method 2: a brand + unique-phrase search
Copy a distinctive sentence from the page, wrap it in quotes, and search it. If your page is the top result, it's indexed and you've also confirmed it's not being out-ranked for its own exact content (a duplicate-content warning sign). This is a good sanity check but still not authoritative.
Method 3: the URL Inspection tool in Search Console (authoritative)
This is the one that counts. URL Inspection queries Google's index directly and returns the real coverage state: "URL is on Google," "Crawled — currently not indexed," "Discovered — currently not indexed," "Excluded by noindex," and so on. If you only check one source, check this one. The catch: in the Search Console UI it's one URL at a time.
Method 4: bulk URL Inspection for a whole list
When you need to check 50 or 500 URLs, clicking through the UI is hopeless. IndexerNow's Status tool calls the same official URL Inspection API in bulk: paste a list (or pull it from your sitemap), submit, and export every verdict to CSV. It's the fastest way to answer "what percentage of my site is actually indexed?"
Run a bulk Google index check on your own Search Console — verdict, coverage state, and last-crawl date for every URL.
Open the Google index checkerIf site: shows nothing but URL Inspection says "URL is on Google," your page is indexed — the site: operator just didn't surface it. The URL Inspection API reads Google's actual index; the public search operators are approximations.
If the verdict is "not indexed," what next?
- Read the exact status. "Discovered" means it's queued — push it through the Indexing API. "Crawled — not indexed" means a quality verdict — improve the page first.
- Run an indexability audit to rule out noindex, canonical conflicts, robots.txt blocks, and 404/redirect issues.
- Fix the blocker, then push the URL through the Indexing API and re-check status in 24 hours.
Sign in with Google, paste your URLs, ship them through Google's Indexing API. Free daily quota, $2.99 for a 50-URL pack.
Try IndexerNow freeFrequently asked
How can I tell if my page is indexed by Google?
Run the page through URL Inspection in Search Console and read the verdict — 'URL is on Google' means it's indexed. That's the authoritative source. A site: search or a quoted unique-phrase search is a fast sanity check, but only URL Inspection (or the Inspection API for bulk checks) is definitive.
Why does a site: search say my page isn't indexed when it is?
The site: operator only samples Google's index and routinely omits pages that are genuinely indexed, so a miss isn't proof of anything. Confirm with URL Inspection before concluding a page is deindexed.
How do I check if Google has crawled my site?
URL Inspection shows the last crawl date for any URL on a verified property, so you can see whether and when Googlebot last fetched it. Crawled isn't the same as indexed, though — a page can be crawled and still sit in 'Crawled – currently not indexed'.
Can I check index status for many URLs at once?
Yes. The URL Inspection API returns the same data as the Search Console UI but for many URLs in bulk. The Google index checker runs it across your whole list on your own connected account and quota.