Deindexing happens for several distinct reasons: a deliberate noindex tag or robots.txt block, a manual action from Google for policy violations, a severe algorithmic quality issue, or an unintentional technical error like an accidental noindex tag left on after a staging-site migration. Checking deindexing status is done through Google Search Console's URL Inspection tool, which shows exactly whether and why a URL is or isn't indexed, rather than guessing from a drop in traffic alone. Recovering from unintentional deindexing (usually a technical mistake) is typically fast once the cause is fixed and a reindex is requested; recovering from a manual action requires filing a reconsideration request after the underlying issue is genuinely resolved.
Example
A site relaunch accidentally leaves a global noindex tag active for six days, deindexing the entire site before the error is caught via a sudden Search Console impressions drop to zero.
Related terms
Related Reading
404 Error
A 404 error is the standard HTTP status code returned when a requested page doesn't exist on the server — the classic 'page not found' response.
A/B Testing (SEO)
A/B testing in SEO is the practice of showing two versions of a page element — usually a title tag, meta description, or on-page element — to see which one earns a better click-through rate or ranking outcome.
AI Citation
An AI citation happens when an AI assistant like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, or Gemini references or links to a specific page as the source for part of its answer.
