GEO courseModule 3 of 10: Can AI Reach You?Lesson 3.2
Indexed in Google and Bing: Sitemaps, IndexNow and Internal Links
Being indexed means a search engine has found your page and stored it, so it can be shown. AI answers from Google and Microsoft draw on those normal indexes. There's no separate AI index to submit to.
Why it matters
A fees or valuation page Google and Bing haven't indexed can't support an AI answer about fees or valuations.
The evidence
Evidence: Official guidance
Google's and Microsoft's own guidance. Being indexed doesn't guarantee a page is used in an AI answer; not being indexed all but rules it out.
Do this first
Run your ten most important pages through Search Console's URL Inspection, and the same in Bing Webmaster Tools.
01What it is
The librarian can only recommend books that are on the shelves. If your book was never shelved, it can’t be recommended, however good it is.
02Why it matters
To the people searching
AI answers pull from several of your pages at once. A landlord asking "should I use a letting agent?" can be answered from your fees page, landlord guide, area pages and reviews. Each one has to be indexed to count.
buyers
Area and process questions are answered from indexed guides.
tenants
Rent and renting questions need your lettings pages indexed.
sellers
Your valuation and fees pages must be indexed for "what does an agent charge?" to reach you.
landlords
Landlord guides and fees pages carry the most valuable answers. Check them first.
To Google, Bing and AI
Evidence: Official guidanceGoogle says a page must be indexed and allowed to show a snippet to appear in AI Overviews and AI Mode, with no extra requirements and no guarantee. Microsoft's Copilot and Bing's AI answers work from Bing's index, which is why Bing Webmaster Tools and IndexNow (Bing's way to be told about new or changed pages straight away) matter more than they used to. OpenAI doesn't say which search provider ChatGPT uses, so don't assume being in Bing covers ChatGPT: let OAI-SearchBot in as well (lesson 3.1).
An agent example
An agency set its fees page to noindex while rewriting it, and the tag was never removed. Google never indexed the page, and AI answers about local fees quoted other agencies. The agency removes the tag, requests indexing and adds the page to its sitemap.
03Your turn
Check yours, then fix it
- 1List your ten most important pages: valuation, fees, lettings, landlord guide, tenant guide, three area pages, about and contact.
- 2Paste each into the "Inspect any URL" bar in Search Console.
- 3"URL is on Google" is good. "Not on Google" tells you why.
- 4Use Test live URL to see whether Google can access it now.
- 1In Search Console, open Indexing, then Pages.
- 2Click each reason under "Why pages aren't indexed".
- 3Red flags on key pages: "Excluded by 'noindex' tag", "Blocked by robots.txt", "Server error (5xx)", "Alternate page with proper canonical tag".
- 1Use URL Inspection on the same ten pages.
- 2Check Sitemaps shows Success.
- 3Open AI Performance (if your account has it) to see which pages Copilot already cites.
- 1From your homepage, count the clicks to your fees page, valuation form, landlord guide and an area page.
- 2Anything more than three clicks needs a shortcut.
- 3Check the links use words like "our lettings fees", not "click here".
- 1WordPress: Settings, Reading, and untick "Discourage search engines". Then check each key page's setting in Yoast or Rank Math.
- 2Make sure each key page's canonical tag points to itself (SEO lesson 2.4).
- 3Then use Request indexing on the affected pages.
- 1Your SEO plugin or provider generates it, usually at /sitemap.xml or /sitemap_index.xml.
- 2Keep it to live, indexable pages: no redirects, noindex pages or sold listings.
- 3Submit it in Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
- 1Check whether your SEO plugin or CMS supports it (several WordPress SEO plugins do).
- 2If not, ask your web provider whether they can add it.
- 3Google isn't stated to use IndexNow, so keep your sitemap too.
- 1Link to fees, valuation, landlord and area pages from the homepage, menus and related guides.
- 2Use descriptive link words: "our landlord fees", "book a valuation in Hallowford".
Then: After fixing, request indexing and check the same pages again in a week or two. Google says recrawling can take from several days to several months.
04Keep it up
Check your ten key pages monthly, and always after a relaunch, a new provider or a developer touching the site.
That's lesson 3.2
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← Back to 3.1 Let the Right AI Crawlers In: robots.txt, CDN and Firewalls