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Indexing Inspection

Check the indexing status of any URL and see how search engines view your pages. Identify pages blocked from crawling or absent from Google's index.

Written by Mike

Find and Fix URL Indexing Issues With Indexing Inspection

The Indexing Inspection tool connects to your Google Search Console account via the URL Inspection API and checks the indexing status of up to 100 URLs at a time. Use it to identify pages that are not indexed, have indexing errors, or were blocked by robots.txt — directly inside Serpstat, without switching to Google Search Console for each URL.

What you can achieve:

  • Audit URL indexing in bulk: Check up to 100 URLs at once and get a structured report showing the indexing status of each — faster than checking them one by one in Google Search Console.

  • Identify indexing errors before they affect rankings: Spot pages blocked by noindex, robots.txt, or crawl errors early — so you can fix them before they disappear from search results.

  • Verify fixes quickly after technical changes: After deploying a technical fix (removing noindex, updating robots.txt), use Indexing Inspection to confirm that Google has recognized the change.

Getting Started

  1. In Serpstat, go to Tools → Indexing Inspection.

  2. Connect your Google Search Console account — click the GSC authorization button and grant the required access. This is a one-time setup.

  3. Select the property (domain or URL prefix) you want to inspect from the dropdown.

  4. Add a list of URLs (up to 100 at a time) in the input field — one URL per line.

  5. Click Inspect URLs. Serpstat will query the Google URL Inspection API for each URL and return the results.

  6. Review the results table — each URL shows its indexing status. Click any row to see the full inspection detail for that URL.

  7. To disconnect your Google Search Console account, click the disconnect button in the tool settings.

Key Metrics Explained

  1. Indexing status: Whether Google has indexed the URL. Common statuses: Indexed (in Google's index), Not indexed (excluded for a specific reason), Submitted and indexed, or Discovered but not indexed.

  2. Coverage state: The reason a page is or isn't indexed — for example, Crawled but not indexed, Blocked by robots.txt, Redirect error, or Soft 404.

  3. Crawl details: When Googlebot last crawled the page and what it found — user agent, referrer, and crawl date.

  4. Canonical URL: The URL Google treats as canonical for the inspected page — if this differs from the inspected URL, it may explain why the page isn't indexed as expected.

Pro Tip: Use Indexing Inspection After a Site Migration or Redirect Update

Indexing Inspection is fastest way to confirm that your most important pages survived a migration with their indexing intact.

  1. Export your top 100 URLs by traffic from Google Analytics or Search Console before the migration.

  2. After the migration is complete, paste the new URLs into Indexing Inspection and run the check.

  3. Filter results for any status other than 'Indexed' — these are the pages that need immediate attention.

  4. The goal: Catch indexing regressions within hours of a migration, not weeks later when traffic has already dropped.

⚠️ Important: Indexing Inspection uses the Google URL Inspection API, which requires a connected Google Search Console account. The tool is available for all Serpstat registered users at no additional credit cost. API rate limits apply — large URL lists may take a few minutes to process.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Do I need a paid Serpstat plan to use this tool?
​A: Indexing Inspection is available to all registered Serpstat users at no credit cost. You do need a Google Search Console account connected to use the tool.
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Q: How many URLs can I check at once?
​A: You can inspect up to 100 URLs per batch. For larger lists, split them into batches of 100 and run multiple checks.
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Q: Why does a URL show as 'Not indexed' when I can find it in Google?
​A: The URL Inspection API returns data based on Google's indexed version of the page, which may lag behind recent changes. If you recently published or updated the page, allow a few days for Google to crawl and index it before checking again.
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Next Steps

  • Site Audit — Summary — Run a full technical audit to find crawlability and indexation issues across your entire site.

  • Browser Extension — Use the Serpstat browser extension to inspect individual pages during manual SEO reviews.

  • Site Analysis — Overview — Check which of your pages are ranking after confirming their indexing status.

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