# **🧩 Why Validation Can Take Time**

After you add the OTTO pixel code to your website, Search Atlas needs to crawl your site before it can confirm the pixel is installed correctly. This crawl does not happen instantly — depending on your site's size and current crawl queue, **validation can take anywhere from a few hours up to 48 hours**. Seeing a "not installed correctly" status during this window does not necessarily mean something is wrong.

# **📋 Before You Wait: Confirm the Basics**

While the crawl completes, take a few minutes to double-check the following common installation mistakes that can cause a genuine validation failure:

- **Pixel placed in the correct location:** The OTTO pixel snippet must be added inside the **<head>** section of every page on your site, not in the body or footer.
- **API key is correct:** Copy your API key directly from the Search Atlas platform to avoid any typos or extra spaces.
- **Snippet is complete:** Make sure you copied the entire code block — even a missing character will cause validation to fail.
- **No caching layer blocking changes:** If your site uses a caching plugin or a CDN (such as Cloudflare), **clear your cache** after adding the pixel so the new code is visible to crawlers.
- **Code not duplicated:** Adding the snippet more than once on the same page can interfere with validation. Confirm it appears exactly once per page.

# **⏱️ What the Normal Timeline Looks Like**

1. You add the pixel code to your site and save the changes.
2. Search Atlas queues a crawl of your domain — this typically begins within a few hours.
3. Once the crawl reaches your key pages, the platform validates the pixel presence.
4. Your OTTO dashboard updates to show a **green confirmed status** automatically — no manual action required.

In most cases the status updates within **24 hours**. If 48 hours have passed and the status is still showing as not installed, move on to the troubleshooting steps below.

# **🛠️ Troubleshooting After 48 Hours**

If more than 48 hours have passed and validation has not completed, work through these steps before contacting support:

- **Verify the pixel live on your site:** Open your website in a browser, right-click the page, and select *View Page Source*. Search for your OTTO pixel snippet in the source code. If you cannot find it, the code was not saved correctly on your site.
- **Check for JavaScript errors:** Open your browser's developer console (F12) and reload the page. Look for any JavaScript errors that might be preventing the pixel from firing.
- **Confirm the domain in Search Atlas matches your live URL:** Go to **Left sidebar → OTTO SEO → All Sites (SEO Automation)** (URL: **/seo-automation-v3**) and verify the domain listed for your OTTO project exactly matches the URL where the pixel is installed, including whether it uses *www* or not.
- **Re-save or re-publish your site:** Some CMS platforms (WordPress, Webflow, Wix, etc.) require you to republish pages after code changes. Confirm your changes are live.
- **Clear cache again:** If you made any changes, clear your site cache and CDN cache one more time.

# **✅ How to Re-Trigger Validation**

After correcting any issues, you can prompt a fresh validation check from within the platform:

1. Navigate to **Left sidebar → OTTO SEO → All Sites (SEO Automation)** (URL: **/seo-automation-v3**).
2. Open your OTTO project and locate the pixel installation section.
3. Select the option to **re-check or re-validate** the pixel. This queues a new crawl of your domain.
4. Allow up to 24 hours for the updated crawl to complete and reflect in your dashboard.

# **💡 Tips to Speed Up Future Validations**

- Install the pixel on your highest-traffic or most-linked pages first — crawlers tend to reach these pages sooner.
- Submit an updated sitemap to Google Search Console after adding the pixel so crawlers index your changes faster.
- Avoid making other structural changes to your site immediately after adding the pixel, as redirects or page moves can delay crawl completion.

# **🙋 Still Showing as Not Installed?**

If you have followed all the steps above and validation still fails after 48 hours, our team is ready to help investigate further. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type **human teammate** to be connected with a member of our team.