what does this work actually look like
Blog.
Notes from real jobs, written as they happen. The guides explain how indexing works; these are dispatches from actually doing it. Dated, specific, and linked to the ledgers they came from.
Block AI training without blocking Google: Cloudflare's new settingCloudflare's Disallow AI Training setting writes Google-Extended into robots.txt while Googlebot keeps crawling. What changed and what to check.
CrUX ad metrics: what Google's four new ad measurements actually trackCrUX ad metrics explained: ad count, ad density and two ad weight measures, where the data shows up, and whether Google says they affect ranking.
Internal linking for SEO: how links get deep pages crawled and indexedInternal linking decides which pages Google finds, crawls and indexes. How to read the Links report and fix the patterns that starve deep pages.
Largest Contentful Paint in WordPress: find the slow part, then fix itLargest Contentful Paint in WordPress: what a good LCP is, why Search Console and PageSpeed disagree, and the three culprits I keep finding in audits.
Does HTTP/2 help SEO? What Googlebot actually does with itHTTP/2 gives no ranking boost and Googlebot still defaults to HTTP/1.1. What the protocol actually changes for crawling, and how to check yours.
Is Google paying publishers for AI Overviews? The AI contribution pilotGoogle is testing payments for content used in AI answers, managed inside Search Console. What is confirmed, what is not, and what to check now.
Matt Mullenweg is back as Automattic CEO: what changed for your siteThe board vote, the 33-hour ouster and the on-record reversal, separated from rumor. Plus the plugin security change that shipped the same week.
Google Search Console vs Bing Webmaster Tools: what each shows firstBing now keeps 24 months of data to Google's 16, takes 10,000 URLs a day, and shows exact queries. Where each console wins, from running both.
Google is not indexing all my products: crawl budget for large catalogsWhy Google indexes only part of a big product catalog, when crawl budget is the real cause, and the removal order that got 8,500 URLs to 91% indexed.
How long does it take Google to index a new page?Google says a few days to a few weeks. What that range hides: the two separate waits inside indexing, and the day I stop waiting and start auditing.
How to make Google recrawl your siteWhat actually makes Google recrawl a site: the two routes that work, the API that does not, and what a recrawl can and cannot fix.
WordPress MCP server: connecting AI to your site safelyWhat a WordPress MCP server is, which official option to use after Automattic archived wordpress-mcp, and the safety rules I enforce in my own.
Do indexing services work? I ran 727 indexing jobs without oneWhat SpeedyIndex-style tools actually do, why they look like they work for two weeks, and what 727 real indexing jobs taught me to do instead.
Google's Web Search Service API: full web results, but only for partnersGoogle quietly documented a partner-only Web Search Service API returning full web results. What the docs actually say, and who is locked out.
Programmatic SEO in WordPress: the gates I run before generating a single pageEvery WordPress programmatic SEO guide teaches generation. None teach the indexing gates. Here is what I check before, during and after a rollout.
Shopify store not indexed in one country: how I keep seven markets in syncOne Shopify brand, seven country stores, and one index always lagging. The reports I compare across properties and the drift signs I watch for.
WooCommerce products not indexed: why catalogues drop out of Google over timeWooCommerce products indexed at launch quietly drop out months later. The checks I run in order, and the store settings that usually cause it.
Googlebot's 15MB limit is now 2MB: what actually changedGoogle's Googlebot page says 2MB. Its 2022 blog post still says 15MB. Which one applies, what the cap counts, and how to measure your own HTML.
Query fan-out in AI Mode: what Google actually documentsQuery fan-out is how AI Mode answers: it splits a question into subtopics and searches each. What that changes for your pages, and what it does not.
The Search Console 16 month data limit, report by reportSearch Console keeps 16 months of performance data, but crawl stats keep 90 days and page indexing has no published figure. Here is the full table.
Page indexing report missing data? Google will not back-fillDays with no data in Search Console's page indexing report are not a bug you can wait out. Google confirmed it never back-fills indexing data. How to tell a permanent gap from a normal delay.
WordPress author archive pages in Google: keep or kill?Author archive pages in Google are usually thin duplicates. What Yoast and Rank Math actually do when you disable them, and why it is not a 404.
Do AI crawlers render JavaScript? What is documented, and what is notGooglebot renders JavaScript and says so. GPTBot, ClaudeBot and PerplexityBot say nothing at all. Where the evidence actually stops.
Why do Google search results differ by country? Google just documented itGoogle published a regional differences page on 8 September 2026. Aggregator units, supplier units, and why a UK site sees none of them.
Index bloat: how to find it, and what Google actually says about itMost index bloat advice is from 2016 and tells you to noindex everything. Google's own crawl budget guide says not to. The inventory method instead.
Pages not indexed after a WordPress migration: the recovery auditEvery migration checklist is written for the day before launch. This is the one for three weeks after, when the pages are already gone.
Google confirmed the Crawled - currently not indexed blip in Search ConsoleOn 8 September, Search Console briefly reported indexed pages, even homepages, as not indexed. Google says it was a reporting bug. How to check yours.
Search Console links report not updating: how to date it yourselfThe links report carries no last updated date and no API endpoint. How to tell a frozen report from real link loss, and what is safe to ignore.
Are location pages doorway pages? Where the line actually isGoogle renamed the policy to doorway abuse in August 2026. What separates a real town page from a doorway, and what Search Console shows.
What is crawl budget, and which pages actually waste it?Google moved its crawl budget guide and now says do not use noindex to save crawling. The fetch cost of every Search Console status, row by row.
Is programmatic SEO bad? What John Mueller actually saidMueller called programmatic SEO a play that often leads to spam on 7 September 2026. The qualifiers the headlines dropped, and the GSC read.
Why ChatGPT cannot see my website, and how I check each stepOpenAI runs four crawlers and only one decides whether you appear in ChatGPT search. The check order, and the CDN trap nobody writes about.
Why WooCommerce cart and checkout pages show up in GoogleWooCommerce has noindexed cart, checkout and my account since version 3.2. If yours are in Google, the guard missed them. Why, and the fix order.
Default robots.txt for WordPress: what core actually servesThe three lines WordPress core outputs, where the Sitemap line comes from, and why a physical robots.txt file silently switches all of it off.
Does schema markup help with AI search? What the docs sayNo primary source from Google, OpenAI or Perplexity says schema improves AI citation. What is documented, and what schema does still earn you.
No information is available for this page: what Google meansGoogle shows this instead of a snippet when it indexed a URL it was never allowed to crawl. The cause, what URL Inspection says, and the two fixes.
Robots noarchive: Google ignores it, Bing uses it for AIGoogle retired the noarchive rule with the cached link. Bing turned it into a generative AI opt-out. What the tag does on your site in 2026.
How to track AI Overview traffic in GA4 (and why you cannot)GA4 cannot separate AI Overview visits from ordinary Google clicks, and Google says so in its own docs. What the text fragment trick really does.
Google AI Overviews now auto-expand: what it changes in Search ConsoleGoogle now auto-expands AI Overviews on some queries, pushing blue links down. What it does to your Search Console impressions, and what it does not.
Core Web Vitals 'not enough data' in Search ConsoleCore Web Vitals showing no data available in Search Console? What CrUX actually requires, and why an empty report on a small site is not a fault.
How many URLs can you request indexing per day?The real daily limits on Request Indexing, URL Inspection and the two APIs, which numbers Google actually publishes, and how to work a big queue.
WordPress search result pages in Google: why ?s= URLs show upWordPress noindexes ?s= search pages by default since 5.7. Here is why they still fill your Page indexing report, and when it is worth acting.
How to keep your content out of AI Overviews and AI ModeA Search Console setting now removes your site from AI Overviews and AI Mode without touching your rankings. Google-Extended never did that job.
Out of stock products and SEO: delete, redirect, or leave it liveOut of stock products and SEO: when to delete, redirect or keep the page, and which Search Console indexing status each choice actually produces.
Sitemap submitted but not indexed: what Success actually meansSitemap submitted but not indexed? Success in the Sitemaps report is a parser verdict, not an index one. Here is the report that answers it.
Should WordPress /page/2/ be indexed? What Google does with archivesShould WordPress /page/2/ be indexed? Yoast and Rank Math both leave paginated archives indexable by default, and the plugin advice online is stale.
Discovered vs crawled, currently not indexed: the difference and the fixDiscovered vs crawled, currently not indexed: what each means, the Search Console field that separates them, and why each needs a different fix.
Does robots.txt block Claude? ClaudeBot, Claude-User and Claude-SearchBotAnthropic runs three crawlers with three jobs. Blocking ClaudeBot alone leaves two open, and one robots.txt mistake quietly cancels the block.
Shopify duplicate content: the /collections/ product URL problemEvery Shopify product has two live URLs. What the canonical does about it, where it still breaks, and which Search Console status is safe to ignore.
WordPress redirect loop: how to fix it, and what it costs you in GoogleA WordPress redirect loop is usually two rules disagreeing about www or https. How to find which one, and what Google does to the URL meanwhile.
Faceted navigation SEO: stop filter URLs flooding Google (WooCommerce and Shopify)Faceted navigation SEO for WooCommerce and Shopify: which filter URLs to block, why canonical alone does not stop crawling, and what the report shows.
Hreflang errors: why your country versions are not indexed (and how to fix them)Hreflang errors that make Google ignore your country versions, where Search Console reports them now International Targeting is gone, and the fix.
URL Inspection tool vs Page indexing report: why they disagree and which to trustURL Inspection tool vs Page indexing report: why the two disagree, which one Google says to trust for a single page, and what I do when they conflict.
Blocked by robots.txt in Search Console: fix it or leave it alone?Blocked by robots.txt in Search Console is often your own rule working correctly. How I decide which blocked URLs matter and which to leave.
Blocked due to unauthorized request (401): what Search Console meansBlocked due to unauthorized request (401) means Googlebot hit a login wall. When that is correct, when it is a leak, and how I check which.
Redirect error in Search Console: the four causes and how I find themRedirect error in Search Console means Google gave up mid-redirect: a loop, a chain past 10 hops, or a bad target URL. How I find which one.
WordPress Core Security Initiative: what it is and why it matters for SEOWordPress announced a Core Security Initiative on 28 August: three pillars, driven by AI-assisted reports. Why hacked sites are an SEO problem.
Blocked due to access forbidden (403) in Search ConsoleBlocked due to access forbidden (403) means your server refused Googlebot outright. Why Google calls it a misconfiguration, and where the block hides.
Excluded by 'noindex' tag in Search Console: where the tag is hidingExcluded by noindex tag, now shown as URL marked noindex, means Google obeyed a directive you may not know you set. The four places it hides.
Server error (5xx) in Search Console: what it does to your indexingServer error (5xx) in Search Console means Googlebot got a 500-level response. What that does to crawling and indexing, and how I trace the cause.
Does robots.txt block Perplexity? PerplexityBot vs Perplexity-UserPerplexity runs two fetchers with different rules. What blocking PerplexityBot actually does, and why Perplexity-User mostly ignores robots.txt.
Duplicate, Google chose different canonical than user: what it means and when to actWhat the Search Console status Duplicate, Google chose different canonical than user means, why your tag was overruled, and when to fix it.
Rank Math's support agent creates an admin application password: I read the codeRank Math 1.0.277 provisions an application password for its new support agent. I read the plugin code; here is what it does and how to revoke it.
X-Robots-Tag noindex: how to keep PDFs and images out of GoogleHow the X-Robots-Tag HTTP header applies noindex to PDFs, images and other non-HTML files, why robots.txt cannot, and how to test it.
301 vs 308 redirect: does the difference matter for SEO?Google treats 301 and 308 redirects identically: both are permanent, strong canonical signals. Where the two differ and when you would care.
Couldn't fetch sitemap in Search Console: how to fix itCouldn't fetch means Google could not retrieve the sitemap file at all. The five documented causes, in the order I actually check them.
Google-Extended in robots.txt: what blocking it doesGoogle-Extended controls Gemini training and grounding, not Search. What blocking the token changes, what it cannot change, and my own choice.
Do trailing slashes matter for SEO?Google treats /page and /page/ as two separate URLs. When that costs you, when it does not, and what I found auditing my own site for it.
What is wp-sitemap.xml? The WordPress core sitemapWordPress has shipped its own sitemap at /wp-sitemap.xml since 5.5. What it lists, why entries have no lastmod, and when to disable or extend it.
Can you see AI Mode traffic in Search Console?AI Overviews and AI Mode data is in Search Console, mixed into Web search type with no filter. How each is counted, and what you can still work out.
Google's site reputation policy update: what changedGoogle splits site reputation manual actions by region from 30 August. What the change does, the four factors behind a review, and who should care.
How long do Google updates take to roll out?Ten rollouts from Google's status dashboard, timed. Core updates cluster around two weeks, spam updates do not cluster at all, and the gap matters.
Indexed, though blocked by robots.txt: what it meansGoogle indexed a URL it was never allowed to fetch. Why robots.txt cannot keep a page out of Google, and the two fixes depending on what you wanted.
Why WordPress /feed/ URLs show as crawled, not indexedEvery WordPress install publishes a stack of RSS feeds you never made. Why they fill the Page indexing report, and why the obvious fix backfires.
Alternate page with proper canonical tag: what it meansThe one Search Console status that tells you nothing is wrong. What Google means by alternate, why the count can be large, and when to actually look.
google.com/goto in search results: what it is and what it breaksGoogle now routes search result links through a google.com/goto redirect. Tested on 28 August 2026: what breaks, what stays fine, and whether your referral data is affected.
Page with redirect in Search Console: is it a problem?Page with redirect is usually Search Console telling you a redirect worked. Here is when it is fine, when it is not, and how to tell the two apart.
What is WebMCP, and does it affect SEO?ChatGPT's browser now reads tools that websites declare in JavaScript. What WebMCP actually is, and the honest answer on whether it touches search.
Should you noindex WordPress category and tag pages?WordPress creates an archive for every category and tag whether you use it or not. When those pages help indexing, when they hurt, and how to decide.
Does Google use lastmod in a sitemap?Google ignores priority and changefreq outright, and uses lastmod only when it is consistently and verifiably accurate. What that condition actually means.
llms.txt v2: what changed, and does it help SEO?The llms.txt proposal was revised on 10 August 2026. What v2 actually changes, what it does not do for Google rankings, and the gaps in my own file.
Soft 404 in Search Console: what it means and how to fix itA soft 404 is a page that says not found and answers 200. What Google actually checks, why single-page apps produce them in bulk, and the fix order.
WordPress robots.txt: where it is, what it contains, how to edit itWordPress has no robots.txt file on disk. It builds one per request. What the default contains, what quietly rewrites it, and the three ways to edit it.
WordPress attachment pages are still on your siteWordPress 6.4 turned attachment pages off, but only for brand new installs. Every upgraded site kept them, and Google still crawls them.
Discourage search engines from indexing this site: what it doesThe WordPress checkbox does not edit robots.txt any more. Since 5.3 it prints noindex, nofollow sitewide. Here is what that means and how to undo it.
Do I need to optimize for AI Overviews?Google says there are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. What that leaves you with, and what you can actually measure.
Does robots.txt block ChatGPT? Not the way you thinkOpenAI runs four crawlers and they do different jobs. Blocking GPTBot does not remove you from ChatGPT search, and one of them ignores robots.txt.
Googlebot does not parse JSON: what that changesGary Illyes confirmed Google's crawlers only download JSON, JSON-LD included. Parsing happens at indexing. What that changes when your schema breaks.
Duplicate without user-selected canonical: what it meansGoogle found a duplicate and picked the canonical for you because you never picked one. When that is correct, when it is not, and how to tell them apart.
Google Merchant Center image size: the new 500 x 500 minimumFrom 31 January 2027 product images under 500 x 500 pixels stop being approved. What Google says, and the crawl problem the resize pass will expose.
Search Console new owner added emails: bug or breachOn 24 August 2026 Search Console emailed owners about new owners who were already owners. Google confirmed a bug. How to tell that apart from a real one.
Google changed JSON-LD escaping: what to check on your siteGooglebot now applies one pass of HTML unescaping to JSON-LD. Double-escaped entities stay literal. What breaks, and the check I ran on 120 pages.
Not found (404) in Search Console: when to fix itNot found (404) in the Page indexing report is usually normal. What Google says about 404s, when to redirect, 410 vs 404, and how soft 404 differs.
Why is Search Console data delayed? The 2 to 3 day lagSearch Console data is usually 2 to 3 days behind and the newest days are preliminary. What that means, and why the API hides them by default.
Site name not showing in Google Search: how to fix itGoogle picks your site name automatically from the home page. The WebSite markup it reads, the one name per domain rule, and how long a change takes.
Failed: robots.txt unreachable in Search ConsoleWhat failed: robots.txt unreachable means, the 12 hour and 30 day clock Google runs behind it, and the fix order that gets crawling back the same day.
Favicons disappearing from Google Search: what happenedSites lost their favicons in Google Search from about 17 August 2026. Google has confirmed the bug is on its end. What I checked, and what not to do.
Search Console crawl stats missing two days of dataCrawl stats is missing 15 and 16 August 2026 for many sites. What a reporting gap means, what it does not mean, and how to check crawling yourself.
Validation started in Search Console: what it meansValidation started means Google queued the URLs it knew about for a recheck. What each state means, how long validation takes, and why it fails.
URL is not in property: what it means and the 30 second fixSearch Console says to inspect a URL in the currently selected property, or switch properties. Nothing is wrong with your page. Here is the exact cause and how to fix it in under a minute.
How many URLs can a sitemap have?A sitemap can hold 50,000 URLs or 50MB uncompressed, whichever comes first. The sitemap index math, and why I split mine far earlier than that.
Impressions but no clicks: how I fixed 9 pagesNine guides had impressions but no clicks in Search Console. The position rule I used, the exact title rewrites, and what retitling cannot fix.
Noindex vs robots.txt: which one removes a pageNoindex removes a page from Google, robots.txt only stops crawling, and combining them breaks both. Which one to use for each removal job.
What to do during a Google update: my checklistA Google update is rolling out. What to do in Search Console while it runs, what not to touch, and the before and after comparison that works.
August 2026 spam update: what Google said and what to checkGoogle's third spam update of 2026 began 18 August. What Google actually said, which policies it skips, and how to read Search Console until it ends.
4 GSC statuses that mean Google is ignoring youThe four Search Console statuses that mean Google has seen your pages and declined them so far, what causes each one, and which fix actually applies.
90+ local pages: the math behind service areasWhy service area builds land on 90 plus town pages, why waves beat bulk publishing, and what per URL ledgers from real local rollouts actually show.
The same store, seven empty indexesOne skincare brand, seven country storefronts on Shopify, and the indexing lesson that repeats at every launch: Google does not transfer trust between domains.
Why I gave away the index checker I use on client workWhere the free bulk index checker came from, the bug in my own code that reshaped it, why it runs in your browser and not on my server, and its real limits.
Anatomy of a 118-day indexing jobWhat 1,006 manual submissions actually look like day to day: the routine behind one store's catalogue, and why the owner has now ordered seven times.Nothing in that category yet.
The evergreen answers live in the guides, and the numbers behind these stories are in the case studies.