Inspect the exact URL
In plain English: Enter the complete canonical URL you want to diagnose.
The indexed view can show whether the URL is known and indexed, crawl information, the declared canonical and Google's selected canonical where available. Start with the exact protocol, hostname and path used internally and in the sitemap.
Indexed information versus live test
In plain English: The indexed view describes Google's stored state; the live test checks the page available now.
A live test can confirm access and current indexability after a fix, but it does not prove the page is indexed or predict how Google will select and rank it. The indexed state can lag behind a deployment until Google recrawls and processes the URL.
Request indexing carefully
In plain English: Use the request after an important new page or meaningful fix—not as a ranking button.
Requesting indexing places one URL into a recrawl queue when available. It does not guarantee indexing, immediate processing or improved position. Repeating the request does not turn it into a growth strategy.
A practical diagnosis
In plain English: Compare access, directives, rendered output and canonical signals.
Check response status, robots access, noindex, rendered primary content, user-declared canonical, Google-selected canonical and referring sitemap. If the URL is a duplicate or redirect, exclusion may be correct.
- Live test passes, indexed view is old: allow time for recrawl.
- Google chose another canonical: compare content and signals across both URLs.