IndexNow and Indexing APIs in Nuxt

Search engines discover content changes by crawling on their own schedule, and Google won't commit to a timeline for how long that takes. URL-change notifications provide another discovery signal. Engines still decide whether and when to crawl or index.

IndexNow Protocol

IndexNow is an open protocol that notifies search engines instantly when URLs change. Instead of waiting for crawlers to discover updates, you push notifications directly to participating engines.

Supported search engines:

• Microsoft Bing, the protocol's primary backer
• Yandex
• Seznam.cz
• Naver
• Yep, Ahrefs' privacy-focused search engine

Google does not support IndexNow. For Google, use Search Console's manual "Request Indexing" or the Indexing API covered below.

IndexNow can notify Bing about changed URLs, since Copilot answers draw on Bing's search index. Bing has said sitemaps and IndexNow both feed how it surfaces content in AI-powered search. Whether Perplexity benefits isn't confirmed by any of its own documentation, so treat that as speculative rather than a reason to adopt IndexNow on its own.

When to Use IndexNow

Use IndexNow when:

• Publishing new time-sensitive content (news, product drops)
• Updating existing pages (price corrections, availability)
• Deleting pages, to notify participating engines of the change

Use notifications for meaningful content changes. Styling-only changes usually need no notification.

Setting Up IndexNow

Generate an API key. The spec requires 8 to 128 characters, using only letters, numbers, and dashes:

openssl rand -hex 32

Create a key file in your public directory:

abc123def456

The key must be accessible at https://yoursite.com/{key}.txt.

Submitting URLs

Submit changed URLs through your controlled publishing workflow. Each URL must belong to the verified host. Replace all example fields with your public host, key, and actual URLs:

{
  "host": "yoursite.com",
  "key": "abc123def456",
  "keyLocation": "https://yoursite.com/abc123def456.txt",
  "urlList": ["https://yoursite.com/page"]
}

Save the replaced JSON as payload.json, then POST it to the IndexNow endpoint:

curl --request POST https://api.indexnow.org/indexnow \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8' \
  --data-binary @payload.json

Do not expose an arbitrary unauthenticated input-to-submission server route. The protocol documentation defines host/key checks and response codes. HTTP 200 means the engine received the notification; 202 means key validation is pending. Neither proves indexing.

You can submit up to 10,000 URLs in one POST. The protocol also supports a single-URL GET request; follow its documented URL-encoding requirements.

Using Nuxt AI Ready

The setup above works in any Nuxt app.

If your site uses Nuxt AI Ready, follow its dedicated IndexNow recipe. The recipe uses your configured production URL and keeps submissions in your app.

Check the configured Nuxt AI Ready version and its indexing setup; a module installation alone does not prove that submissions run.

Google Indexing API

Google's Indexing API is limited to JobPosting, or livestream VideoObject containing BroadcastEvent.

Don't use it for blog posts or general products. Google restricts this API to its supported page types. Do not treat an unsupported submission as a general indexing procedure.

The default quota is 200 publish requests per day per project, resetting at midnight Pacific. Google describes this as an initial onboarding and testing quota. Use the approval form linked from its quota documentation for eligible content; supply your Google Cloud project details.

RequestIndexing Tool

RequestIndexing distinguishes ordinary pages from eligible Indexing API content. Its current public guidance directs ordinary pages to URL Inspection or sitemap discovery.

Google's Indexing API is restricted to JobPosting pages and livestream VideoObject pages containing BroadcastEvent. No third-party tool removes that restriction or guarantees an urgent recrawl.

Choosing the Right Method

Use IndexNow when participating engines and URL-change notifications fit your workflow. For ordinary Google content, use crawlable links, sitemaps, or URL Inspection. Notification does not guarantee indexing.

Checklist