IndexNow is a free protocol for notifying search engines the moment a URL is published or updated. Bing, Yandex, Naver and Seznam support it; Google does not.
Its relevance to AI visibility runs through Bing: because ChatGPT search leans on the Bing index, getting a page into Bing quickly shortens the time before it can appear in answers.
Usage is simple: generate a key for your domain, make it verifiable at https://your-domain/{key}.txt, and notify the API on every publish. The Google-side equivalent is a sitemap with an honest lastmod.
What IndexNow does and does not do
IndexNow is an open protocol for telling search engines the moment a page changes. Instead of waiting for a crawler to come back, you notify it. Supporting engines: Bing, Yandex, Seznam and Naver.
Google does not support IndexNow. This is the most frequently misreported part of the protocol. On Google's side there is no equivalent; the tools there are the sitemap and Search Console's URL Inspection.
Why it matters for GEO
ChatGPT's search side runs on the Bing index. How quickly Bing sees your page therefore directly affects how quickly you can appear in ChatGPT answers. For newly published or updated content that difference can be hours or days.
Setup is free and one-time: generate a key, publish it as a text file at your site root, then send a request to the protocol on each publish or update. Over-notifying gains nothing — submit only URLs that genuinely changed.
Frequently asked
Does IndexNow help with Google?
No. Google does not support the protocol. On Google's side you use sitemaps and Search Console. Treat sources claiming otherwise with scepticism.
Should I submit on every page change?
Only when content genuinely changed. Repeatedly submitting the same URL gains no advantage and produces needless requests.
What is the key file?
A text file that proves ownership: the key you generate is published at the site root as both the filename and the contents. The engine checks it when a submission arrives.
