Google lets you report an indexing issue

Google has added a new feature to report an indexing issue directly to their search team. You can access this feature in the footer of URL inspection help document and indexing coverage report document. Google is “currently piloting this in the US only and it should be fully available to all in the US within a week or less,” the company said.

Report an indexing issue. The feature is designed for those who need further support with indexing issues outside of the the Google “community forums and support documentation.”

Where to access this. You can access this button, if you are in the United States, in the footer of the URL inspection help document and indexing coverage report document. This is what it looks like:

What it asks for. “This form collects issues raised by site owners when trying to fix Indexing issues with their site in Google Search. A verified Search Console account is a prerequisite for site owners to report issues. Please visit the Google Search Central Help Community for general queries on How Search Works and to improve your site’s visibility in Google Search.”

Here is a screenshot of the form:

The form takes you through questions step-by-step in order to help you debug the indexing issue on your end before submitting the issue directly to Google.

Why we care. One of the more common issues we have seen SEOs struggle with is indexing issues with Google Search. Most of the time, Google would say those issues are related to technical or quality issues with the website, but sometimes they can be issues with Google Search. In fact, we reported numerous confirmed indexing issues with Google over the years.

This form gives both Google and SEOs a method to escalate these indexing issues with Google Search.

About The Author

Barry Schwartz

Barry Schwartz a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land and a member of the programming team for SMX events. He owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry's personal blog is named Cartoon Barry and he can be followed on Twitter here.