How to get backlinks indexed in Google

You cannot send a backlink to Google and ask it to index the link. Google indexes the page that holds the link. Your job is to make sure Google can find that page, read it and decide it is worth keeping. If the page stays out of the index for weeks, the reason usually tells you whether the link is worth saving.

This guide shows how to check a backlink page and how to read the two Search Console statuses behind most unindexed pages. It also covers what you can do as the link buyer, and which popular indexing tricks no longer work.

Google indexes pages, not links

A backlink is a line of code inside someone else's page. Google does not store it as a separate thing. In August 2020, Google's John Mueller put it simply: "We index pages, we don't index links. Links are between pages."

Three separate things happen to the page that holds your link:

1. Crawling. Googlebot downloads the page.
2. Indexing. Google decides to store the page and show it in search results.
3. Counting the link. Google decides whether the link on that page should carry any value.

Each step can fail on its own. A page can be crawled and never indexed. A page can be indexed while Google ignores the link on it.

So does a link on an unindexed page help you? In January 2022 Mueller answered that question on Twitter: "If they're not indexed, I wouldn't assume the links do anything." He added that links on indexed pages can be ignored too. Search Engine Roundtable reported both replies. That is why indexing matters, and also why indexing alone proves nothing.

How to check whether a backlink page is indexed

Start with the page itself, then check Google.

1. Open the page and find your link. Make sure the link is still there and points to the right address.
2. View the page source. Search for your domain. Google can reliably follow a link only when it is an <a> tag with an href address. Links built with scripts or onclick actions may not be followed. This comes from Google's link best practices.
3. Search for the exact address in Google. Paste the full page address into Google. If the page shows, it is indexed. A site: search with the address is a rough check only. It can miss pages that are indexed.
4. Do not trust "indexed" labels in SEO tools. In the same January 2022 thread, Mueller said SEO tools cannot check whether a page is indexed without breaking Google's terms of service. A tool's "indexed" column is often an estimate.
5. Check your own Links report. In Search Console, open Links on your own site. If the linking page shows there, Google has found the link. If it does not show, that proves nothing. Google says the report shows "a sample" of links and may leave out non-indexed pages. See Google's Links report help.

Only the owner of the linking site can see the exact index status of that page. They do this with the URL Inspection tool in their own Search Console. You cannot inspect a page on someone else's site. Google's help page says "the URL must be in the current property." See the URL Inspection tool help.

The two statuses behind most unindexed link pages

When the publisher inspects the page, Search Console gives a reason. Two reasons cover most guest posts and link pages that stay out. They look similar, but they mean opposite things.

Discovered, currently not indexed. Google's definition is "The page was found by Google, but not crawled yet." Google knows the address but has not read the page. This is a discovery and priority problem. The page often has few links pointing to it, or the site has more pages than Google wants to crawl right now.

Crawled, currently not indexed. Google's definition is "The page was crawled by Google but not indexed." Google read the page and decided not to keep it. This is usually a judgment about the page. It may be thin, very similar to other pages, or on a site Google rates low.

Both definitions come from Google's Page indexing report help. The same page says plainly: "Google doesn't guarantee that all pages everywhere will make it into the Google index."

Here is what each status usually means for your link.

The key point is the difference between the first two rows. "Discovered" means Google has not decided yet. "Crawled" means Google has decided. Pushing a "crawled" page again and again rarely changes that decision. Improving the page might.

What you can do as the link buyer

Most guides tell you to request indexing in Search Console. That only works for the site owner. Here is what the buyer can actually do, in order.

1. Give it time first. Google says it "can take a week or so" to start crawling and indexing a new page. Once Google knows an address, it "can take some time (up to a few weeks)" to crawl it. Both lines come from the Page indexing report help. Check again after two to four weeks, not after two days.
2. Run the basic checks yourself. Open the page source. Look for a noindex meta tag. Check that the canonical tag points to the page itself. Make sure the page loads normally and your link is a plain <a href> link.
3. Check that the page is linked from the site. Can you reach the post from the home page, the blog page or a category page in a few clicks? A post that nothing links to is hard for Google to find. This is a common cause of "Discovered, currently not indexed."
4. Ask the publisher for three things. First, a link to your post from a related, live article on their site. Second, a URL Inspection check and an indexing request in their Search Console. Third, a screenshot of the result, so you can see the status yourself.
5. Link to the page from places you control. A mention on your own news page or a social profile gives Google another path to the page. Keep it natural. A handful of real mentions is discovery. Hundreds of automated links is link spam.
6. Decide after about a month. If the status is still "Crawled, currently not indexed," the page has a quality problem. Ask the publisher to improve the post or move your link to a stronger page. Paying an indexing service will not change Google's view of a weak page.

The URL Inspection tool has limits too. Google's help says "Submitting a request does not guarantee that the page will appear in the Google Index." There is also a daily limit on requests. Sending the same request every day does not help.

Check the site before you buy the link

The easiest unindexed link to fix is the one you never buy. Before you pay for a placement, spend ten minutes on these checks.

1. Are the site's recent posts indexed? Pick three posts from the last month. Search for each full address in Google. If most are missing, your post will likely be missing too.
2. Does the site noindex its sponsored posts? Some sites add noindex to guest or sponsored categories. Open an older guest post on the site and search the page source for "noindex."
3. Where will your post live? Ask whether new posts appear on the home page or a category page. A post buried in a deep archive gets crawled less.
4. How many outbound links does the site sell? A site that publishes dozens of posts a day, each with paid links, looks like a link farm. Google said in December 2022 that its SpamBrain system can detect "sites used for the purpose of passing outgoing links." Search Engine Land reported the update.
5. Does the site have real search traffic? Check an estimate in Ahrefs or Semrush. A site with no organic traffic is often a site Google does not value.
6. How long will the post stay? Ask whether posts are removed after a set time. A link that disappears in six months needs a replacement promise.

If you want a deeper look at how to judge sites, our guide to link building techniques covers site quality and risk for each method.

Indexing tricks that no longer work

Many older guides still recommend these methods. Some never worked well. Others stopped working.

Ping services. Ping tools send a page address to search engines. In June 2023, Google announced that its sitemap ping endpoint would stop working by the end of that year. Google said "the vast majority of the submissions lead to spam." See Google's announcement. Pinging someone else's page today does nothing for Google.

Indexing API services. Many indexing services push pages through Google's Indexing API. Google limits that API to pages with JobPosting or livestream BroadcastEvent structured data. Google also says every submission goes through strict spam detection. Abuse, such as using several accounts to get around limits, can get access revoked. Google updated this page on October 16, 2026. See the Indexing API quickstart. A guest post is neither a job listing nor a livestream.

Automated tier 2 links. Some services build hundreds of low-quality links to the page that holds your link. Google's spam policies list "using automated programs or services to create links to your site" as link spam. See Google's spam policies. You would be adding spam on top of a link you wanted to help.

Requesting indexing every day. URL Inspection has a daily quota, and a request is only a request. Repeating it does not move the page up the queue.

Do backlink indexing services work?

An indexing service can sometimes get Google to crawl a page sooner. Crawling is the easy part. No service can make Google index a page it has judged low value, and no service can make Google count a link.

Before you pay for one, ask these questions:

1. How do you submit pages? If the answer is the Indexing API, see the section above.
2. How do you prove a page is indexed? A report from the service's own checker is not Google's answer.
3. What happens if a page is not indexed? Ask about refunds or credits in writing.
4. Do you build links to my pages? If yes, ask what kind and how many.

If a service promises indexing within 24 or 48 hours for any page, treat that as a warning sign. Google's own help says even a direct request from the site owner "does not guarantee" indexing.

Does an indexed backlink improve rankings?

Not by itself. Indexing means Google stores the page. It does not mean Google trusts the link on it.

Google can ignore links. During the December 2022 link spam update, Google said spammy links would be "neutralized" and "any credit passed by these unnatural links" would be lost. That update ran from December 14, 2022 to January 12, 2023, according to Search Engine Land.

Paid links need an honest note here. Google's spam policies list buying or selling links for ranking as link spam. The list also names paid advertorials with links that pass ranking credit, and links with optimized anchor text in guest posts. Google says paid links are fine when they carry rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow". See how to qualify outbound links. We sell link placements, so this applies to what we sell too. You should know the policy before you buy from anyone, including us.

What helps a link count is the same thing that helps a page get indexed. The page should be relevant to your topic, useful to real readers and on a site Google already values.

How we handle indexing at MajestySEO

We do not promise indexing, rankings or traffic. Nobody outside Google can. Here is what we do instead.

1. For guest posts, we check every site before we place a link. We look for real traffic, real content, topic fit and clean links.
2. We send a report with every live link, so you can check each page yourself.
3. If a link is removed, we replace it. The window depends on the service. Guest posts and niche edits have six months. Foundation backlinks have 30 days.

Our guest post service shows the sites we work with and the checks behind them. If many of your own pages are not indexed, the problem may be on your site, not the links. Our technical SEO service finds out why Google skips pages. Our list of common SEO mistakes covers the most frequent indexing problems.

Sources

• Page indexing report, Google Search Console Help
• URL Inspection tool, Google Search Console Help
• Links report, Google Search Console Help
• SEO link best practices for Google, Google Search Central (last updated December 31, 2025)
• Spam policies for Google web search, Google Search Central (last updated August 28, 2026)
• Qualify your outbound links to Google, Google Search Central (last updated December 10, 2025)
• Indexing API quickstart, Google Search Central (last updated October 16, 2026)
• Sitemaps ping endpoint is going away, Google Search Central Blog (June 2023)
• John Mueller on Twitter, August 30, 2020
• Google: links on non-indexed pages, Search Engine Roundtable (January 11, 2022)
• Google December 2022 link spam update done rolling out, Search Engine Land