> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.trysight.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How Indexing Works

> Get your content discovered by search engines faster with automatic indexing.

## Overview

Sight AI helps your content get discovered by search engines faster through automatic sitemap monitoring, URL submission, and integration with Google Search Console and IndexNow (Bing).

## Why Indexing Matters

When you publish new content, search engines need to discover and index it before it can appear in search results. This can take anywhere from hours to weeks depending on how often search engines crawl your site.

Sight AI speeds this up by proactively notifying search engines about new content, rather than waiting for them to discover it naturally.

## How Sight AI Helps

### 1. Sitemap Monitoring

Sight AI continuously monitors your sitemap for changes:

* **Hourly checks** -- Detect new content within an hour
* **Daily full sync** -- Complete sitemap comparison
* **Change detection** -- Identify new, modified, and removed URLs

### 2. Google Search Console Integration

When connected to GSC, Sight AI can:

* Submit your sitemap to Google
* Request indexing for new URLs
* Check indexing status of your pages
* Monitor crawl and index statistics

Learn more: [Google Search Console Integration](/integrations/google-search-console)

### 3. IndexNow (Bing)

IndexNow provides instant notification to Bing:

* Real-time URL submission
* Supported by Bing
* No API limits
* Submit URLs immediately upon detection

Learn more: [IndexNow Setup](/indexing/indexnow)

## Automatic Workflow

Here's what happens when you publish new content:

1. **Content Published** -- Article goes live on your site
2. **Sitemap Updated** -- Your CMS updates the sitemap
3. **Detection** -- Sight AI detects the new URL (hourly or immediately if published via Sight AI)
4. **Google Notification** -- If GSC is connected, indexing is requested
5. **IndexNow Ping** -- If enabled, Bing is notified instantly
6. **Status Tracking** -- Sight AI tracks submission status

## Supported Search Engines

| Search Engine | Method             | Speed            |
| ------------- | ------------------ | ---------------- |
| Google        | Search Console API | Hours to days    |
| Bing          | IndexNow           | Minutes to hours |

## Setup Checklist

To enable full indexing capabilities:

* **Sitemap configured** -- Ensure your site has a valid XML sitemap
* **Google Search Console** -- [Connect GSC](/integrations/google-search-console) for Google indexing
* **IndexNow enabled** -- [Set up IndexNow](/indexing/indexnow) for Bing
* **Auto-submission on** -- Enable in site settings

## Checking Indexing Status

The full audit trail lives at **Indexing → Activity** (`/indexing/activity`):

1. Open the Indexing Activity page
2. Filter by **Type** (Submissions / Detections / Connections) or **Status** (Success / Failed)
3. Search by URL or source
4. Click any row to drill into the URLs that were submitted

The companion **Sitemap** page (`/indexing/sitemap`) shows current URL counts, last-checked time, and the historical URL-count chart.

[Learn more about the Indexing Activity page](/indexing/monitoring).

## Best Practices

* **Keep sitemap updated** -- Ensure your CMS updates the sitemap when you publish
* **Use both methods** -- Connect both GSC and IndexNow for best coverage
* **Monitor status** -- Check indexing status regularly for issues
* **Quality content** -- Search engines prioritize indexing quality content
* **Fix errors** -- Address any crawl or indexing errors promptly

## Limitations

While Sight AI helps speed up indexing, keep in mind:

* Google ultimately controls when content is indexed
* New sites may take longer to get indexed
* Low-quality content may not be indexed regardless of submissions
* Google has daily limits on indexing requests

## Next Steps

* [Set up IndexNow for Bing](/indexing/indexnow)
* [Configure Google sitemap submission](/indexing/google-sitemap)
* [Learn to monitor your sitemap](/indexing/monitoring)