Index checker: find out what Google has and has not indexed
Paste your URLs and get an answer in seconds. We run a live site: query on each one, then retry the trailing-slash variant before calling anything unindexed, which is where most checkers get it wrong.
Example of a five-URL index check: three indexed, two not indexed, one saved by the trailing-slash retry.
What is an index checker?
An index checker tells you whether Google has a given page stored in its index, which is the precondition for that page appearing in search at all. It works by running a site: query for the exact URL and reading how many results come back. One or more means indexed. Zero means Google does not have it.
You can do this by hand in Google for a single URL. A checker is for when you have fifty of them, on domains you do not own, and you need the answer as a list rather than fifty tabs.
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Why most index checkers report false negatives
There is one bug in this category and almost everybody has it. It is worth two minutes because it is probably telling you links are dead when they are not.
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Our per-query timeout is 8 seconds, not 10, specifically so a retry still fits inside the same budget. A bulk run of a thousand URLs takes the same wall-clock time whether the retries fire or not.
A zero-result query is not proof. It is a reason to ask again.
Any URL can be written with or without a trailing slash, and Google picks one form as canonical. Query the other form and the count comes back zero, because that exact string genuinely has no results. The page is fine. The question was wrong.
This is not an edge case. It is the single most common inaccuracy in this category, and it runs in one direction: it reports healthy links as dead. So you email a publisher about a link nobody removed, or you pay to reindex a page that was never out.
What a site: query can and cannot tell you
Every third-party index checker on the internet, ours included, is running the same operator. Here is exactly what that buys you and where it stops.
Whether the page is in the index
A result means Google has the page. This is the question that decides whether a backlink counts, and it works on any URL on the internet whether you own the site or not. That is the whole reason this category exists.
The exact day it changed
Only if something is storing the answers. One check is a status. A hundred checks across three months is a record of when a page left and when it came back, which is the part you can act on.
Why a page is not indexed
Zero results gives you the outcome and never the cause. Noindex, a robots block, a canonical elsewhere, thin content and plain crawl backlog all look identical from outside.
Every page Google has
A domain-level site: count is illustrative, not a full index dump, and Google has said so repeatedly. Checking one exact URL is precise. Counting a whole domain is not.
Whether the page ranks
Indexed means eligible to appear, nothing more. A page can sit in the index for years and rank for nothing. Indexing is the floor you clear before the other work counts, not evidence the work paid off.
Anything about Bing
Every check on this page is Google only. We would rather list what exists than what is planned, and Bing coverage does not exist here today.
Knowing it is indexed today is the easy half
Pages fall out of the index quietly. Nothing about your link changes, no email arrives, and the first sign is usually a ranking drop you cannot explain.
True, useful, and completely silent about the fact that this page spent eleven days out of the index last month and came back on its own.
Dropped out of the index for 11 days. The link was live the whole time, still dofollow, still on a real page. It simply stopped counting, and it came back on its own. Without a history you would never know this happened, and you would spend the drop looking at the wrong thing.
How do you check a thousand URLs?
The free box above is for a handful. Once you are signed in the same check runs on a schedule against every link you track.
Set it once
Choose daily, weekly or monthly per URL. Anything already in your monitors is available immediately, so there is usually nothing to import at all.
- Per-URL frequency, not one global setting
- Group by project or client
- Pause any URL without losing its history
Deduplicated before billing
A source page is either indexed or it is not, so two links on the same page need one query, not two. On a typical list that is a third of the bill gone before anything runs.
- One query per unique source URL
- Twenty run in parallel
- Result shared across every link on that page
You hear about changes only
No email on the days nothing moved. When a page leaves the index, or comes back, that is an alert with the date attached and a link straight to submitting it for reindexing.
- Alerts on change, never on status
- Full dated history per URL
- One click through to reindexing
How much does an index checker cost?
Nothing for 10 URLs in the box at the top of this page, and $0.0025 a check once you are signed in and want them watched on a schedule. There is no plan and no credit pack.
Checking 500 pages every week for a month costs about $4.35 before deduplication, and usually a good deal less after it, because links sharing a source page are one query.
| What you are watching | Checks a month | Your cost |
|---|---|---|
| 10 URLs, onceThe box at the top of this page | 10 | Free |
| 100 pages, weeklyOne site under watch | 433 | $1.08 |
| 500 pages, weeklyAn agency client load | 2,166 | $5.42 |
| 500 pages, weekly, deduplicatedTypical after shared source pages collapse | 1,430 | $3.58 |
| 1,000 pages, dailySerious volume | 30,000 | $75.00 |
Deduplication is not a discount we apply, it is a query we never run. Two links on one publisher page are one question, so you are charged once. On a real backlink list that removes roughly a third of the checks.
The whole rate card
PRWiz, a free bulk checker, and Search Console
These are three different tools that happen to answer one similar question. Picking wrongly is the most common mistake in this category, so here is the boundary between them.
| Checking whether Google has a page | PRWiz | Free bulk checkers | Search Console |
|---|---|---|---|
| Getting an answer | |||
| Works on URLs you do not own | Yes | Yes | No, verified properties only |
| Bulk in one go | 10 free, 1,000 signed in | 27 to 1,000, varies | One URL at a time |
| Trailing-slash retry on a zero result | Yes, before deciding | Not that we have found | N/A, exact match |
| Tells you why a page is not indexed | No | No | Yes, and only it can |
| Knowing when it changes | |||
| Dated history per URL | Every check stored | No, snapshot only | Partial, property level |
| Scheduled rechecks | Daily, weekly or monthly | No | No |
| Alert when a page leaves the index | Yes | No | Coverage report, not per URL |
| Fix it from the same screen | Submit for reindexing | No | Request indexing, own pages |
| Cost | |||
| Price | Free for 10, then $0.0025 | Free | Free |
| Account required | Not for the free check | Usually not | Yes, plus verification |
Index checking, answered
Sixteen answers, including the limits most of this category leaves out.
How do I check if a URL is indexed by Google?
Search Google for site: followed by the exact URL. If a result comes back, the page is indexed. If nothing comes back, it is not, or the URL you typed is not the form Google has.
The box at the top of this page does that for up to 10 URLs at once, and retries the trailing-slash variant on any that come back empty, which is the part doing it by hand usually misses.
Is there a free index checker?
Yes, including ours. Paste up to 10 URLs at the top of this page, with no account and no card. Several other free bulk checkers exist and handle larger pastes.
What none of the free ones do, ours included in its free form, is remember the answer. If you need to know the day a page dropped out rather than its status today, that needs an account and a stored history.
What does it mean if a page is not indexed?
Google does not currently have that page stored, so it cannot appear in search results for anything. For a backlink this matters a great deal: a link on an unindexed page passes nothing, however good the site or the anchor.
It does not tell you why. A noindex tag, a robots.txt block, a canonical pointing elsewhere, thin content or simple crawl backlog all produce the same empty result.
Does indexed mean my page will rank?
No. Indexed means eligible to appear, and nothing more than that. A page can sit in the index for years and rank for nothing at all. Think of indexing as the floor you have to clear before relevance, authority and everything else can start counting.
Why do different index checkers give different answers?
Almost always because of the exact string being queried. A URL written with a trailing slash and the same URL without one are two different queries, and Google indexes one form as canonical. Query the other and you get zero results for a page that is perfectly well indexed.
We retry the slash variant on any zero result before deciding. Most checkers do not, which is why they report links as dead that are not.
Is a site: query reliable?
For a single exact URL, yes. Asking whether Google has one specific page is precisely what the operator is good at.
For counting a whole domain, no. Google has said repeatedly that domain-level site: counts are illustrative rather than a complete index dump, so never use one as a page count. Check URLs, not totals.
How is this different from Search Console?
Search Console reads Google’s own index and will tell you why a page is excluded, which no third-party tool can do. For pages on a site you own it is better than this and it is free. Use it.
It only works on properties you have verified, one URL at a time. That covers none of your backlinks, because those live on other people’s domains. This tool exists for that gap.
How fresh is the result?
It is live. Every check runs a real query at the moment you ask rather than reading a cached table, which is why a batch takes a second or two rather than being instant. What you see is what Google returns right then.
Can I check URLs in bulk?
10 at a time free on this page. Signed in, you can import a CSV, paste in bulk, or pull straight from links you already monitor, and put up to 1,000 on a recurring schedule.
Am I charged twice for two links on the same page?
No. A source page is either indexed or it is not, and the link sitting on it makes no difference to that, so URLs are deduplicated before anything is billed and the result is shared across every link on that page. On a normal backlink list this removes roughly a third of the checks.
How often should I re-check?
Weekly is right for most backlink portfolios. Pages do not usually enter and leave the index inside a day, and weekly catches a drop while it still matters.
Daily is worth it for a small set you genuinely care about, like a launch or a page you have just had reindexed. Monthly is fine for archive links you are keeping an eye on rather than actively working.
Will I get an email every time it runs?
No. Alerts fire on change only: a page that was indexed and now is not, or the reverse. A run where every page came back the same produces nothing at all, which is the only way an alert keeps meaning something.
My page dropped out of the index. What now?
First check the four things no tool can fix: a noindex tag, a robots.txt block, a redirect away from the URL, and a canonical pointing at a different page. Any of those and the page will stay out until it is corrected.
If none apply, submit it for reindexing. You can do that from the same row here, and if it still does not index you are refunded.
Can you get a page indexed as well as check it?
Yes, that is a separate tool on the same screen. A page that comes back not indexed can be submitted for indexing at $0.0675, refunded in full if it does not work. Checking tells you the problem, submitting is the fix.
Do you check Bing too?
Not today. Every check on this page is Google only. If Bing coverage matters to you it is worth saying so, because it is a small addition rather than a rebuild, but we would rather list what exists than what is planned.
What does the result count mean?
It is the number of organic results Google returned for that site: query. Zero means not indexed. One or more means indexed. We store the count alongside every check rather than just the verdict, so the raw evidence stays in your history instead of a single word.
Find out which of your links never counted
Check ten URLs free right now. If you want to know the day one of them drops out, that part needs an account and costs a quarter of a cent a check.