IndexNow vs Google Indexing API — which is faster for HubSpot?
Both protocols let you push URLs to search engines instantly rather than waiting for crawlers. But they cover different search engines and work in different ways. Most serious HubSpot sites should be using both.
Paul Lovell
SEO Consultant
The short answer
| IndexNow | Google Indexing API | |
|---|---|---|
| Search engines | Bing, Yandex, Naver, others | Google only |
| Auth method | API key file on your domain | GCP service account JSON |
| Setup complexity | Low | Medium–High |
| Speed | Minutes to hours | Minutes to hours |
| Daily URL limit | 10,000 (Bing) | 200 |
| Free? | Yes | Yes (up to limit) |
What is IndexNow?
IndexNow is an open protocol backed by Microsoft and Yandex. You host a small key file on your domain, then ping the IndexNow API whenever a URL changes. Participating search engines — Bing, Yandex, Naver — are notified instantly and queue the URL for crawling.
The big advantage: one API call notifies multiple search engines. The limit is generous at 10,000 URLs per day on Bing.
What is the Google Indexing API?
The Google Indexing API is Google's own URL submission endpoint. It requires a GCP service account and is technically designed for “JobPosting” and “BroadcastEvent” structured data — but in practice many sites use it to request indexing for all page types.
The daily limit is 200 URLs, which is restrictive for large sites. But for most HubSpot portals publishing a few pages or posts per day, it's more than enough.
Which should you use?
Use both. They complement each other perfectly:
- IndexNow covers Bing and the wider search ecosystem with minimal setup
- Google Indexing API covers Google — still by far the largest search engine
Running both means every time you publish a HubSpot page, all major search engines are notified within minutes. That's a meaningful advantage over relying on organic crawling alone.
Setting up both on HubSpot
Both can be set up without code using dedicated HubSpot marketplace apps:
- IndexNow for HubSpot — handles key generation and automatic Bing submission
- Google Indexing for HubSpot — handles service account setup and Google API submission
Install both and your HubSpot content is submitted to every major search engine automatically on every publish.