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⚡ The Complete Guide to Indexing in Search Atlas (Instant, Dynamic & Authority Indexer)

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Camilo Aponte

Camilo Aponte

Last updated on Sep 30, 2026

Search Atlas gives you multiple indexing workflows, each designed for different SEO scenarios.

If you’ve ever published a page and waited days (or weeks) for Google to crawl it… this is where that waiting stops.

This guide explains:

  • 🔥 Instant Indexing (real-time submission)
  • 🧠 Dynamic Indexing (re-submit pages that are indexed but receiving zero impressions in Google Search Console, so Google re-evaluates and potentially ranks them)
  • 🏗 Authority → URL Indexer (batch submission workflow)
  • 🛠 Advanced strategies & troubleshooting

📍 Navigation Paths

Instant Indexing: Left Sidebar → OTTO SEO → All Sites → Select your Site → Scroll to Recommendations → Left Panel → Indexing → Instant Indexing

Dynamic Indexing: Left Sidebar → OTTO SEO → All Sites → Select your Site → Scroll to Recommendations → Left Panel → Indexing → Dynamic Indexing

Authority → Indexer (URL Indexer): Left Sidebar → Authority → Indexer (URL Indexer)

🚀 What Is Instant Indexing?

Instant Indexing connects directly to:

  • Google Search Console (GSC)
  • Bing IndexNow

It allows you to submit URLs immediately for crawling and indexing.

Instead of waiting for Google to “discover” your page, you notify search engines proactively.

🧩 Two Methods Inside Instant Indexing

1️⃣ Sitemap-Based Indexing

Submit entire sitemaps for indexing.

You’ll see:

  • Pages count
  • Awaiting Indexation
  • Indexed
  • GSC / IndexNow toggles
  • Add Sitemap option

About the GSC / IndexNow toggles: Toggle GSC on to submit via Google Search Console. Toggle IndexNow on to simultaneously notify Bing. Both can be enabled at the same time for maximum coverage.

Best for:

  • Large websites
  • Ecommerce
  • CMS with structured sitemaps
  • Ongoing indexing management

2️⃣ Custom URL-Based Indexing

Submit specific URLs manually.

You can:

  • Add individual URLs
  • Perform bulk actions
  • Toggle GSC or IndexNow
  • Track submission status

IndexNow submission statuses (recently added): Submissions now display an explicit status — accepted, pending, or failed. If a submission shows as failed, retry the submission; if it continues to fail, contact support so we can investigate.

Best for:

  • New blog posts
  • Updated landing pages
  • Time-sensitive content
  • Campaign launches

🔗 Connect Google Search Console (GSC) for Instant Indexing

Instant Indexing can submit URLs to Google (via GSC) and Bing (via IndexNow). GSC and IndexNow can be toggled independently per sitemap or URL submission. To submit to Google, Search Atlas needs the correct permission level inside your Google Search Console property.

✅ What you’re actually doing

You’re granting Search Atlas access to submit indexing requests on your behalf. That permission is tied to the exact GSC property you connect (usually your domain property).

In the UI, this appears as an “Enable indexing access” prompt.

📍 Where this setup appears

Inside Instant Indexing, you’ll see a setup panel/modal titled:

Enable indexing access

It has a simple 2-step flow.

Step 1 — Copy your unique address

You’ll see a field labeled something like:

Copy your unique address

  • You can click Generate (to create one automatically), or paste an existing one if you already have it.
  • Then copy it using the copy icon.

Think of this as the “account identifier” Search Atlas needs to be added into your GSC property.

Step 2 — Add it to your Google Search Console property as an Owner

Right below, the UI tells you exactly what to do:

  1. Click Open GSC
  2. In Google Search Console, open the correct property (commonly a domain property like sc-domain:yourdomain.com)
  3. Go to Settings → Users and permissions
  4. Click Add user
  5. Paste the unique address you copied
  6. Set permissions to Owner

Why Owner matters:

Instant Indexing needs the ability to submit indexing actions consistently across the property. Lower permission levels can cause verification failures or partial capability.

Final step — Verify & enable access

Back in Search Atlas, click:

✅ Verify & Enable access

If successful, Search Atlas confirms indexing access and Instant Indexing can begin submitting requests.

Common GSC setup mistakes (and how to avoid them)

❌ Adding the user to the wrong property

Make sure you’re adding it to the exact property you’re indexing (domain vs URL-prefix matters).

❌ Not using Owner permissions

If it’s not Owner, verification may fail or submissions may not work reliably.

❌ Multiple GSC accounts / wrong Google login

If you’re logged into several Google accounts, GSC might open the wrong one. Confirm you’re in the correct account before adding permissions.

🔵 Bing IndexNow Setup

Bing IndexNow is a separate channel from Google. It requires you to prove domain ownership by hosting a verification key on your website.

In the UI, this appears as a modal titled:

API key

✅ What you’re doing

You’re adding an IndexNow API key to your website so Bing can verify that Search Atlas is allowed to submit URLs for that domain.

Step 1 — Copy your API key

You’ll see a field labeled:

API Key

Copy the key shown there.

Step 2 — Host your API key at your domain root

The UI describes two methods: Manual Installation and 1-Click Install (if eligible).

✅ Manual Installation (works for any site)

You must create a plain text file and upload it to the root of your website.

Rules that must be followed exactly:

  • Create a UTF-8.txt file
  • Filename must be the API key (exactly)
  • File content must be the same API key (exactly)
  • Upload it to your site’s root (top-level directory)

🎯 Instant Indexing in Landing Page Studio (LPS)

When publishing a site in Landing Page Studio, users with a custom domain will see an opt-in Instant Indexing toggle directly in the Publish flow.

What it does: When enabled, Search Atlas automatically submits the published URLs for indexing as soon as the site goes live — so you don’t have to add them manually inside Instant Indexing afterward.

Important: This toggle is gated to custom domains. If you’re publishing on a default Search Atlas subdomain, the toggle will not appear in the Publish flow.

🧠 Dynamic Indexing

What it is

Dynamic Indexing identifies pages on your site that have been indexed but are receiving zero impressions in Google Search Console, and re-submits them to prompt Google to re-evaluate and potentially rank them.

How to use it

  1. Navigate to OTTO SEO → All Sites → select your site → Recommendations → Indexing → Dynamic Indexing.
  2. Search Atlas will surface eligible URLs (indexed but zero impressions).
  3. Review the list and submit the pages you’d like Google to re-evaluate.

Best use cases

  • Pages that are technically indexed but “invisible” in search
  • Older content that has gone stale in rankings
  • Pages updated with new content that need to be re-evaluated
  • Sites with long-tail pages that struggle to gain visibility

🏗 Authority → URL Indexer (Batch Submission Workflow)

What it is

The URL Indexer (inside Authority Building) lets you submit URLs in batches for indexing. It’s designed for higher-volume workflows where you need to push many URLs through at once.

Batch submission workflow

  1. Go to Left Sidebar → Authority → Indexer (URL Indexer).
  2. Paste or upload your list of URLs.
  3. Start the batch job. Search Atlas processes the URLs and submits them for indexing.

Credit usage

Each URL submitted through URL Indexer consumes credits from your account. See the Credits & Billing section below for details on how credits are consumed and what to do if you lose credits to an error.

Status tracking

Each URL in a batch shows its current submission state so you can see what has been processed and what is still in progress.

💳 Credits & Billing (URL Indexer)

How credits are consumed

Each URL submitted through the Authority → URL Indexer consumes credits from your account balance. Credits are deducted at the time the job runs.

What happens if a job fails or errors mid-run

If a job fails part-way through, or if a platform error (for example, an Atlas Brain connection error) causes a job to be retried, credits may still be consumed across each run. This can result in credits being spent on incomplete or duplicated work.

Requesting a credit refund

If credits were consumed due to a platform error (not user action), contact Search Atlas Support with:

  • The date/time of the affected job
  • The number of credits consumed
  • A brief description of the error you encountered

Support will investigate and, if confirmed, refund the credits to your account.

🛠 Troubleshooting & Known Issues

Custom URL submissions not visible in the list

If you add a URL via Custom URL-Based Indexing and it does not appear in the list immediately, this is a known display/refresh issue. Your URL has been submitted — use the search bar at the top of the list to confirm it is present. A fix is in progress.

Submission limits & quotas

Indexing capacity has recently been expanded across the platform. For current submission limits or quota questions specific to your account, please contact Search Atlas Support.