Website Deindexed by Google? Why It Happened and How to Recover

If your traffic suddenly drops to zero or your website vanishes from Google overnight, it’s natural to panic.

And if you’ve been publishing content using AI, it’s easy to assume that’s the cause, especially with all the fearmongering claiming “Google’s out to get AI-generated content!”

But here’s the truth: in most cases, AI-generated content is not the problem. Google has explicitly stated that using AI to create content is fine, as long as the content is helpful, original, and high quality.

There are many other possible reasons why your website got deindexed.

In this article, we’ll cover why your site might have been deindexed, how to confirm it, what to do next, and how to prevent it from happening again.

How to Check if Your Site Got Deindexed

First things first, let’s differentiate what it means to get deindexed vs deranked.

When a website is deindexed, it means Google has removed some or all of your pages from its search index. In simple terms, your pages won’t appear in search results, even if someone searches your exact brand name.

On the other hand, if your site is deranked, your pages are still indexed, but their rankings have dropped significantly. They exist in search, but so far down they’re practically invisible. This can cause a big traffic drop if you ranked high previously.

The fastest way to check if you got deindexed is to run the site search operator on Google. Just type this into the search bar (replace it with your actual domain):

site:yourdomain.com

If no results show up, or only a tiny fraction of your pages appear, your site might be partially or fully deindexed.

You can also check whether you got deindexed using Google Search Console:

First, go to Indexing > Pages. Then, compare the number of Indexed vs Not Indexed pages.

If you notice a steep drop in indexed pages or a spike in “Not Indexed,” that’s a strong signal something is wrong.

If you scroll down, you’ll see that Google lists reasons why your pages are not indexed.

You want to pay attention to the one that says “Crawled – currently not indexed”.

This means Google crawled the page but chose not to index it for some reason.

“Discovered – currently not indexed” pages are also worth looking into, as it means the URL is known to Google but hasn’t been crawled yet. This usually points to crawl budget issues, where Googlebot isn’t allocating enough resources to your site.

If your site is still indexed but you’ve lost most of your traffic, or you no longer rank for keywords you previously did, then it’s likely a deranking issue.

Deranking can be caused by:

• A Google algorithm update
• Thin, unhelpful, or outdated content
• Quality signals that have declined over time

In other words, being deranked means your site is still in the index… just not favored by Google anymore.

Why Your Site Got Deindexed: Possible Reasons and How to Fix Them

Now, let’s look at some possible reasons why your website got deindexed, and how you can fix each one.

1. Manual Actions by Google

Start by checking for any manual penalties. Head over to Google Search Console > Manual Actions.

If you see a big green checkmark that says “No issues detected,” good news – you’re in the clear.

But if it says “x issues detected,” that means your site has been manually penalized.

A manual action is a penalty applied directly by a human reviewer at Google when your website violates Google’s Search Quality Guidelines.

Unlike algorithmic updates, which affect many sites automatically, manual actions are site-specific. Someone at Google reviewed your site, saw something that goes against their guidelines, and took action to remove or suppress your pages in search results.

Common Manual Action Triggers

You’ll see the exact reason for the manual action in Search Console, but some common ones include:

• Unnatural links to your site: Buying backlinks or participating in link schemes
• Unnatural links from your site: Outbound links that look manipulative or spammy
• Cloaking: Showing different content to Googlebot than to users
• Sneaky redirects: Redirecting users to a different page than what was indexed
• Pure spam: Aggressive, low-quality tactics or junk content
• Thin content: Pages with little or no original value

How to Fix a Manual Action

Here’s what you should do if you got hit by a manual action:

1. Identify the issue

Read Google’s reason in the Manual Actions tab.

2. Fix the problem

This could involve removing bad backlinks, rewriting thin content, or disabling cloaking or spammy redirects.

3. Submit a reconsideration request

Once the issues are resolved, submit a reconsideration request to Google.

Explain what you did to fix them. Be specific, honest, and clear. A human reviewer will evaluate your request.

Do note that recovery won’t be instant – it can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. But once the manual action is lifted, your pages can start appearing in search results again.

2. Accidentally Blocked Google From Accessing Your Pages

Another common reason for sudden deindexing is that you (or your dev) accidentally blocked Google from crawling your pages.

And if Google can’t crawl a page, it can’t index it.

This often happens after a site revamp or migration, where staging or dev settings get pushed live by mistake. For example, your site have a directive that says:

<meta name="robots" content="noindex">

Or your server might be returning a response header like:

x-robots-tag: noindex

Both of these signal to Google: “Do not index this page.” If applied across your entire site, they can wipe you out of Google’s index.

You can check for this in Google Search Console > Indexing > Pages. Look for pages labeled as “Excluded by ‘noindex’ tag”.

Also, check your robots.txt file. A directive like this:

User-agent:*
Disallow: /

…will block all bots, including Googlebot, from crawling any page on your site.

If your robots.txt is misconfigured, Google may not even be able to crawl your homepage.

How to Fix Accidental Crawl Blocks

1. Remove any accidental noindex tags

Check your page’s <head> section and remove the <meta name=”robots” content=”noindex”> tag if it’s not intentional.

2. Check server headers

Ensure your server isn’t returning x-robots-tag: noindex for important URLs.

3. Update your robots.txt file

Go to yourdomain.com/robots.txt and make sure it’s not disallowing important sections of your site (e.g. /blog/, /products/, or the entire site).

4. Use the URL Inspection Tool

In Google Search Console, enter an affected URL into the URL Inspection Tool to see how Google sees it. This helps confirm if Googlebot is being blocked.

5. Resubmit your sitemap

Once the blocks are removed, submit your sitemap again via Search Console to encourage faster reindexing.

3. Security Issues

If your website gets hacked, contains malware, or redirects users to malicious or deceptive pages, Google will almost certainly deindex it.

Google prioritizes user safety. So the moment your site is flagged as unsafe, it’s removed from search results until the threat is resolved.

To check if your site has been flagged, go to Google Search Console > Security Issues. If there’s a problem, you’ll see alerts explaining the nature of the threat.

How to Fix Security Issues

1. Identify the issue

Review the warnings in Google Search Console. Google will specify whether it’s malware, a phishing attempt, deceptive content, or unwanted software.

2. Clean up the site

If your site has been hacked, remove any malicious code, suspicious plugins, or unauthorized admin accounts. Restore from a clean backup if available, and run a full malware scan using your hosting provider or a professional malware removal service.

3. Secure your site

Update your CMS, themes, and plugins to the latest versions. Change all passwords and review user roles to remove any unauthorized access. Set up a Web Application Firewall (WAF) and enable security monitoring to block future threats.

4. Request a review from Google

Once your site is clean and secure, go to Google Search Console > Security Issues and click “Request Review.” Clearly explain what was wrong, how you fixed it, and the steps you’ve taken to secure the site going forward.

If your request is successful, Google will lift the warning and begin reindexing your pages. This process may take a few days.

4. Poor Site Architecture

Site architecture refers to how your website’s pages are structured and connected.

When you have a good, organized site structure, Googlebot can crawl your pages smoothly, understand the relationships between them, and index your content accurately.

But when it’s disorganized, that crawl process gets disrupted, which leads to missed pages, crawl inefficiencies, or even deindexing.

One of the most common problems is lack of a clear hierarchy. If your pages aren’t grouped into logical categories or if everything is just dumped under one folder, Google may struggle to understand what your site is about or how your content fits together.

Another issue is orphaned pages. These are pages that no other page on your site links to. Since Googlebot primarily discovers content by following links, orphaned pages are often overlooked or dropped from the index altogether.

Poor internal linking is also a red flag. If your content exists in silos, with no links connecting related topics, you’re missing the chance to help Google (and users) understand the depth and structure of your site. Internal links signal topical relevance, establish authority across clusters, and guide both users and crawlers to your most important pages.

How to Fix Poor Site Architecture

1. Map out your site structure

Group related topics into logical categories. If possible, use a siloed structure (e.g. /category/topic-name/) to reflect this in your URLs.

2. Build internal links

Link from one page to others in the same topic cluster. Use descriptive anchor text that signals relevance to both users and Google.

3. Fix orphaned pages

Use an SEO crawler (like Screaming Frog or Ahrefs) to identify orphaned pages. Link to them from other relevant pages or add them to your site navigation.

4. Use breadcrumb navigation

Breadcrumbs help users and bots understand your site hierarchy. They also show up in search results, improving click-throughs.

5. Submit updated sitemap

Once your internal linking and structure are improved, resubmit your sitemap in Google Search Console to help Google rediscover and crawl your pages efficiently.

A clear, interconnected site structure doesn’t just help with indexing – it strengthens your topical authority and improves user experience too.

5. Missing Trust Signals

Trust is a core element of Google’s ranking algorithm, especially with their recent emphasis of E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness).

If your site is missing the basic signals of credibility, it can seriously hurt your rankings. Google wants to know if your content comes from a reliable, knowledgeable source, especially for YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) topics like health, finance, or legal advice.

Without trust signals, Google may view your site as less trustworthy, which can lead to deindexing or deranking.

At the very least, your site should include these fundamental elements to build trust with both users and search engines:

• An About page that explains who you are, what your site is about, and why you’re an authority on the subject.
• A Contact page with clear ways for users to reach you (email, phone, or even a contact form).
• Author bylines with bios that showcase the author’s relevant expertise or credentials.

If these basic trust signals are missing (especially on YMYL content) Google may not consider your site credible.

In fact, lack of trustworthiness is one of the most common reasons for ranking drops.

How to Fix Missing Trust Signals

1. Create an About page

Clearly explain your mission, expertise, and the purpose of your site. Don’t just list your company info, tell users why they should trust your content and who’s behind it.

2. Add a Contact page

Include a physical address, phone number, and email address. This helps establish transparency and shows that your business is legitimate.

3. Add author bylines

Include a brief bio for each author on your site. Highlight their qualifications, experience, and expertise in the relevant field. If possible, link to their professional profiles or social media to further establish credibility.

4. Be transparent with your sources

If you’re publishing research, medical, or financial advice, always cite your sources. Links to reputable external sites (like government websites, medical journals, or accredited institutions) can significantly boost trust.

Building these trust signals won’t just help with Google rankings – it’ll also enhance your credibility with your audience, making them more likely to engage with and trust your content.

6. Severe Content Quality Issues

Google has been doubling down on eliminating low-value content from its index.

If your site is filled with shallow, repetitive, or low-effort articles, that’s a major red flag.

One of the biggest offenders is thin content, which are pages with very little useful information, often under 500 words, stuffed with keywords, or lacking depth.

Other common content problems include:

• Unoriginal or paraphrased content: If your articles are just rewrites of top-ranking content without adding value, Google sees no reason to index or rank them.
• No topical depth: Targeting only broad, short-tail keywords like “best laptop” or “lose weight” without surrounding content weakens your authority. You end up competing with massive domains, without the quality to back it up.
• Poor content organization: If your site is just page after page of random content with no structure, categories, or internal linking, it may look like a “content dump.” That signals low effort and low trust.

How to Fix Content Quality Issues

1. Audit your content

Review your pages and identify those with low word count, poor traffic, or high bounce rates. You can use Google Search Console or Google Analytics 4 for this (both are free!).

2. Rewrite or remove thin pages

Consolidate weak articles into comprehensive guides or delete pages that serve no purpose.

3. Add depth and originality

Provide real value like examples, visuals, expert insights, case studies, or unique data that set your content apart.

4. Cover topics in clusters

Instead of writing disconnected articles on short-tail keywords, build content around specific themes. Then, make sure to interlink related pages to signal topical authority.

5. Check formatting and readability

Break content into scannable sections with headings, bullet points, and proper structure. Make it easy to read and useful at a glance.

7. Lack of Utility and Purpose

Sites that exist just to churn out content, without offering real value or utility to users, will easily get deindexed by Google.

If your site doesn’t:

• Help users solve a problem
• Provide tools, comparisons, or insights
• Show a clear purpose beyond ranking for keywords

…then Google may deprioritize or deindex it.

How to Fix Lack of Utility and Purpose

1. Clarify your site’s purpose

Ask yourself: What problem do you solve? What’s the goal of your site? Make this clear in your About page, navigation, and homepage content.

2. Add value beyond articles

Include features like comparison tables, calculators, templates, checklists, or FAQs – anything that serves user intent.

3. Structure your site like a product, not a dump

Organize your content into clear categories. Build journeys (e.g. beginner → intermediate → advanced) to guide readers deeper into your ecosystem.

4. Improve engagement signals

Include CTAs, comments, related posts, and visual elements that encourage people to stay longer and interact with your content.

8. Spammy Practices

If your site engages in black-hat tactics, Google will likely detect it and take action. These include:

• Cloaking – showing different content to Googlebot than to users
• Keyword stuffing – unnaturally cramming keywords into every sentence
• Scraped content – content created with no originality
• Doorway pages – low-quality pages created to rank for specific terms, then redirecting users elsewhere

These tactics violate Google’s Search Quality Guidelines and often result in manual actions, algorithmic suppression, or deindexing.

How to Fix Spammy Practices

1. Stop all black-hat tactics immediately

No more cloaking, doorway pages, keyword stuffing, or spammy redirects. If you’re working with an SEO agency, make sure they’re following Google’s guidelines.

2. Clean up spammy content

Review your site for overly optimized articles that feel unnatural or forced. Rework them to sound human and helpful.

3. Disavow toxic backlinks

If you’ve engaged in link-buying or received suspicious links, create and submit a disavow file via Google Search Console to distance yourself from them.

4. Request reconsideration (if penalized)

If you received a manual action, fix the issue, then submit a detailed reconsideration request explaining what you did and how you’ll avoid it in the future.

5. Avoid spamming low-quality content

AI tools are fine when used responsibly. But pumping out thousands of auto-generated pages with no editing, structure, or purpose? That’s asking for trouble.

Is AI Content the Reason I Got Deindexed?

Publishing AI content is unlikely to be the reason you got deindexed or deranked, because using AI to generate content is not against Google’s guidelines.

What matters isn’t how the content was made – rather, it’s whether the content is helpful, valuable, and unique.

If your content lacks originality, provides little value, or is created without user intent in mind, it will be treated as low quality.

But that applies to any content, not just AI-generated ones. Even if a human wrote an article by hand, it would still fail to perform well on Google if it’s very bad quality.

And we’re not just saying this. This is based on our own firsthand experience.

At SurgeGraph, we’ve used our own AI writing tool to generate and publish articles as part of a public traffic growth challenge.

And it’s helped us grow our traffic significantly. Here’s the traffic we managed to grow from just our blog (excluding traffic from other parts of our website):

And this is because SurgeGraph’s AI writing tool is specifically designed to build unique, helpful content.

SurgeGraph comes with built-in tools designed to help you avoid thin, low-value content:

• Information Gain: Helps you add unique insights to stand out from competitors
• Knowledge: Pulls in your own expertise and knowledge for uniqueness and originality
• Internal Linking & Topical Coverage: Encourages structured, authority-building content clusters

At the end of the day, AI is just a tool. When used the right way, it can accelerate content writing without compromising quality.

If your site was deindexed or deranked, the root cause likely lies in site-wide quality, structure, or trust signals – not AI itself.

Can I Recover My Website After Being Deindexed?

Yes, recovery is possible.

But how quickly (and whether) your site returns depends on why it was deindexed in the first place.

If your content is original, your structure is solid, and your technical setup is clean, yet you were still hit, it may have been a mistake or an algorithmic misjudgment.

In those cases, recovery can happen naturally, especially after a future Google update.

We’ve seen sites bounce back without making major changes simply because their overall quality held up.

But here’s the other side of it:

If your site was thin, poorly structured, or lacked real value for users, then recovery won’t happen on its own.

You’ll need to take action by fixing what’s broken, improving what’s weak, and start rebuilding trust with both users and Google.

And even with the right fixes in place, remember that recovery won’t be instant. It takes time and consistency.

How to Prevent Being Deindexed in the First Place

There’s a saying in SEO that it’s “mostly common sense.” 

And if you think about it, it’s true.

Because essentially, SEO is about making sure Google can access and understand your content, and then decide that it’s useful and helpful enough to be served to people.

That means making sure your site is easy to navigate, well-structured, fast, and filled with genuinely useful content.

To stay safe, ask yourself two fundamental questions:

• Is my site easy for both users and bots to understand?
• Is my content genuinely helpful – the kind of page someone would be glad to land on?

If you can answer “yes” to both, you’re on the right path.

Final Thoughts

Getting deindexed by Google can feel like a worst-case scenario, but it’s not the end.

In most cases, the cause can be identified, the damage repaired, and the site brought back even stronger than before.

A simple way to go about is to build a website worth indexing. Make sure it’s crawlable for Google’s bots and beneficial for actual users.

So if you’ve been hit, don’t panic. Take action.

And if you haven’t been hit, double down on doing things right, before it ever becomes a problem.

FAQ

1. Why did my website suddenly disappear from Google?

A sudden disappearance usually means your site was either deindexed or severely deranked. This can be due to technical issues, a manual penalty, poor content quality, or a site-wide trust or crawlability problem.

2. How do I check if my website is deindexed by Google?

Search site:yourdomain.com on Google. If no results appear, or far fewer than expected, your site may be deindexed. You can also check Google Search Console under Indexing > Pages for more details.

3. How long does it take to recover from being deindexed?

It depends on the issue. Technical fixes may get you reindexed within days or weeks. But if it’s a quality or trust issue, recovery can take months of consistent effort.

4. Can using AI content cause deindexing?

No. Google has stated that AI-generated content is allowed, as long as it’s helpful and not designed to manipulate rankings. Thin, spammy content is the problem, not the tool used to create it.

5. What should I fix first after a deindexing?

Start with technical basics: check for noindex tags, robots.txt blocks, or security issues. Then audit your content quality, site structure, and trust signals like author pages and contact info.