The Indexing Rescue Kit
For anyone staring at Discovered, currently not indexed and out of ideas.
Definition
Discovered, currently not indexed means Google knows a URL exists but has chosen not to index it. The cause is usually mechanical: a sitemap that promises redirecting URLs, canonicals pointing elsewhere, a stale page class, or pages with no internal links.
You published 400 pages. Google indexed nine. Search Console says Discovered, currently not indexed and offers no reason.
There is almost always a mechanical cause and it is almost always invisible in a browser. This is the diagnostic: four live tests against the running site that find the defect, in the order that finds it fastest.
What you get
- The four live-host tests, in the order that finds the defect fastest
- Why a sitemap full of redirects burns your crawl allowance and how to prove that is happening
- The frozen-page-class test that catches a rebuild silently skipping a page type
- The fix-at-source method, because every failure here traces to two parts of a build disagreeing
The problem
Why this keeps happening
Indexing failures feel mysterious because every symptom looks the same from the outside. The page loads, it looks fine, and Search Console gives you a status rather than a reason.
The causes are boringly mechanical. A sitemap promising URLs that redirect. Canonical tags pointing somewhere other than the page itself. A whole class of pages that has not been rebuilt in weeks. Pages nothing links to.
None of those are visible when you open the site in a browser, which is exactly why they survive for months. You have to test the live host, not the built folder, and you have to test the right four things.
What is The Indexing Rescue Kit?
The Indexing Rescue Kit is discovered, currently not indexed means Google knows a URL exists but has chosen not to index it. The cause is usually mechanical: a sitemap that promises redirecting URLs, canonicals pointing elsewhere, a stale page class, or pages with no internal links.
Four tests you run against the live site, in order: whether every sitemap URL actually returns a 200, whether every canonical points at its own served address, whether any page class has silently stopped being rebuilt, and whether any class is orphaned with no internal links.
Illustrative diagram. Shape of the argument, not measured data.
How it runs
How does The Indexing Rescue Kit work, step by step?
The Indexing Rescue Kit runs in 5 steps: sample the sitemap, check canonicals, compare freshness, find orphans, fix at source. Each step is described below with what it produces and why its position in the sequence matters.
- 01
Sample the sitemap
Take thirty URLs and check every one returns 200 directly. A redirect here is a hard fail and it is the most common cause.
- 02
Check canonicals
Every page must declare itself as its own canonical, matching host and trailing slash exactly.
- 03
Compare freshness
Look at the newest update per page class. A class weeks behind the others means the rebuild is silently skipping it.
- 04
Find orphans
Every page class needs at least one link from a strong page. A sitemap is a hint, a link is a road.
- 05
Fix at source
Decide the URL shape once in the build config so the page generator, sitemap, links and canonicals cannot disagree.
What is inside
What do you get with The Indexing Rescue Kit?
The Indexing Rescue Kit is delivered as a working skill file plus a written companion covering the method. It contains 4 parts: the four live tests, diagnosis order, fix-at-source method, re-verification.
- The four live tests40%
- Diagnosis order20%
- Fix-at-source method25%
- Re-verification15%
Failure modes
What do people get wrong?
The 4 most common failures are: testing the built folder; sitemap urls that redirect; canonicals pointing at a different url form; assuming a rebuild covers every page type. Each one is explained below with why it happens and what to do instead.
- 01
Testing the built folder
The defect lives in what the server actually serves, which can differ from what you built.
- 02
Sitemap URLs that redirect
Every redirect spends crawl allowance and signals the sitemap is unreliable.
- 03
Canonicals pointing at a different URL form
The page effectively says its real address is elsewhere, so it is not indexed.
- 04
Assuming a rebuild covers every page type
A workflow can refresh the blog daily and never touch 18,000 other pages.
You published 400 pages. Google indexed nine. Search Console says Discovered, currently not indexed and offers no reason.
Bhavik Sarkhedi · somewhere over Australia
The alternatives
How does The Indexing Rescue Kit compare to the alternatives?
There are three ways to solve this: do it yourself, hire it out, or buy the method. The Indexing Rescue Kit is the third. It costs $25 once, the method stays yours, and you can re-run it without paying again.
| Consideration | Doing it yourself | Hiring it out | This system |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tells you the cause | No, only status | Sometimes | Yes, four specific tests |
| Cost shape | Weeks of guessing | Four-figure audit | One payment |
| Tests the live host | No | Rarely | Yes, always |
| Fix at source | Symptom patching | Recommendations | Build config |
| Re-runnable | n/a | Costs again | Any time |
Key terms
The vocabulary, defined
- Crawl allowance
- The finite attention a search engine spends on your site.
- Canonical
- The tag declaring a page's authoritative address.
- Page class
- A group of pages generated by the same template.
- Orphan
- A page no internal link points to.
Who is behind it
Built from the actual work
Named to the Forbes 2025 list of top personal branding experts. Published twice in The New York Times. Writing for HuffPost since 2016.
Before you buy
Questions
My site looks completely fine in a browser.
That is the entire problem. None of these four defects are visible in a browser, which is why they survive for months. Every one of them requires testing the live host directly.
Will this get my pages indexed?
It finds and removes the mechanical reason they are being refused. That makes them eligible. Nobody can force indexing, and anyone claiming otherwise is guessing.
Is this just a pack of prompts?
No. A prompt is one instruction. This is a production system: the method, the sequence, the failure modes, and the standard for finished work. It is the process I would charge a client for.
Can I use this on client work?
Yes. That is what it is for. Use it inside your own delivery, for as many clients as you like. You are buying the method, not a seat.
Could I not just ask an AI to do this?
You can ask. You will get an average answer, because the model writes toward the middle of everything ever written. Knowing what good looks like in this specific job is the part that took twelve years.
Do I need to be technical?
No. If you can use ChatGPT, you can use this.
What format do I actually receive?
A working skill file you install once, plus a written companion explaining the method so you can adapt it rather than follow it blindly. It runs inside Claude.
What happens after I click buy?
It opens an email to me, already filled in. I reply with a payment link and send the files the same day. Deliberately human, because I want to know who is using these.
Is there a refund?
Yes. If you use it properly and it does not do what this page said, tell me and I refund you. No argument.
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