How to read backlink indexing claims

The checklist

Use these questions on any indexing figure, including the ones on this site. Each maps to a way a number can be accurate and still mislead.

1. Crawled or indexed?

Crawling is a Googlebot fetch. Indexing is Google storing the page so it can appear in results. A tool can achieve the first reliably and the second only partly. Watch for wording such as "processed," "sent," "bot hit," or "crawled" presented next to the word "indexing." A claim about crawl time tells you how fast discovery happens, not whether the page will rank or even appear.

IndexChex states its own position plainly: it guarantees Googlebot crawling, not indexing. Its measured crawl figure (under 2 minutes average to first Googlebot crawl, weekly measurements on recurring URL sets, October 2026) is a crawl number and is labelled as one.

2. Over what window?

An indexing rate needs an end point. "Indexed within 24 hours," "in 72 hours," and "over the 7-day window" are three different measurements. Indexing keeps accumulating for days (the indexing timeline shows typical stages), so a longer window produces a larger number from the same URLs. If no window is stated, the figure cannot be compared to anything.

3. Divided by what?

The denominator decides the result as much as the numerator. Common choices:

• all submitted URLs
• submitted URLs that were reachable (no 404, no block)
• URLs that were crawled
• URLs judged "indexable" by the vendor

Each step down removes hard cases and raises the rate. None is wrong if disclosed. See indexing metrics defined for exact formulas.

4. Who measured it, and how?

Ask whether the figure comes from the vendor, a customer or an independent tester; how indexation was checked (site: queries, quoted URL searches, Search Console, a third-party checker); how many check attempts were made; and how often the measurement repeats. A one-off test on a hand-picked list is weaker than a recurring measurement on a stable set. Vendor-published figures, including those of IndexChex, are self-reported and should be read that way.

5. Does a refund change the basis?

Several tools refund credits for URLs not indexed by a deadline. That turns the deadline into an implicit window and the price into a price per indexed URL. Tools that charge per submission, IndexChex among them, are priced per submitted URL. To compare, convert both to the same basis and state it.

Worked examples

The examples below apply the checklist to published statements. Full quotes and sources are on the vendor claims page.

None of the three is directly comparable to the others. They use different or unstated windows and none publishes a full denominator definition. That is the normal state of vendor claims in this category, and it is why the methodology behind any figure matters more than the figure.

A worked price conversion

IndexChex standard submission costs $0.0014 to $0.0044 per submitted URL depending on plan or pack (IndexChex pricing). If 85% of submissions are indexed, the cost per indexed URL is the price divided by 0.85: $0.0044 / 0.85 = about $0.0052 at the most expensive tier, and $0.0014 / 0.85 = about $0.0016 at the cheapest. A refund-based tool's per-URL price is already per indexed URL and can be compared against those derived figures directly. The pricing basis comparison covers this in more depth.

Red flags

• A percentage with no window and no denominator.
• "Guaranteed indexing." Google says that even its own Request Indexing tool "does not guarantee that the page will appear in the Google Index."
• Speed figures that measure a bot visit but are described as indexing.
• Rates with no date and no indication of whether they are repeated.

Applying it to this site

The IndexChex weekly indexing benchmark states its basis and date for each figure, and the publisher's interest is disclosed on the IndexChex page. Readers who want their own numbers can follow the benchmark-your-own guide.