SEO Tools
Indexability Directive Checker
Combine pasted meta robots and X-Robots-Tag values into a clear directive view.
✓ Free
✓ No account
◉ Runs on this device
SEO Tools
Powering up the tool…
TOOL INDEXABILITY
What this tool does
About the indexability directive checker
The parser normalises index, follow, snippet and cache directives and highlights conflicts. It cannot determine actual indexing or rules outside the supplied values.
How to use it
- Paste the meta robots value(s) and any X-Robots-Tag header value(s) for the page.
- Read the resolved summary — the effective directive after combining every source.
- Review the conflict flags: noindex anywhere wins over index everywhere.
- Remove the stray directive at its source and re-verify with fresh markup and headers.
Useful for
- Work out why a page dropped from the index when the meta tag says index but a header says otherwise.
- Resolve the combined effect when a plugin, the theme and the CDN each add directives.
- Confirm a launch checklist item: this page’s directives say exactly what we intend.
Straight answers
Indexability Directive Checker FAQ
Which wins: meta robots or X-Robots-Tag?
Neither outranks the other — Google honours the most restrictive directive it sees from any source. One forgotten noindex header beats ten index tags, which is the trap this checker exists to catch.
Why is my noindexed page still showing in search?
Noindex takes effect when the page is recrawled — and only if crawling is allowed. A page blocked in robots.txt cannot have its noindex read; unblock it or it may linger as a URL-only result.