Search Console Indexing Audit

---

name: search-console-indexing-audit
description: Analyze Google Search Console Coverage or indexing CSV exports and correlate them with repo and live-site SEO signals. Use for Chart.csv, Metadata.csv, Critical issues.csv, Non-critical issues.csv, sitemap/robots/canonical indexing problems, "Discovered - currently not indexed", redirect indexing buckets, or requests to fix Google indexing coverage.
license: MIT
allowed-tools: Bash, Read, Write
compatibility: Codex, Claude Code, Cursor, Pi, Hermes, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf, Kiro, and other Agent Skills compatible tools.
metadata:
  targets: [_source-only]
  author: Oleg Koval
  tags:
    - seo
    - google-search-console
    - indexing
    - sitemap
    - canonical

---

# search-console-indexing-audit

Use this skill to turn Google Search Console Coverage exports into a concrete indexing fix plan.

## Workflow

1. Read the export directory first:
   - `Chart.csv` for indexed/not-indexed trend and impressions
   - `Metadata.csv` for property context such as sitemap scope
   - `Critical issues.csv` and `Non-critical issues.csv` for issue buckets
2. Run the summarizer when the standard CSV files are present:

```bash
python3 <skill-dir>/scripts/summarize_gsc_coverage.py <export-dir>
python3 <skill-dir>/scripts/summarize_gsc_coverage.py <export-dir> --json
```

3. Inspect the target repo for SEO sources of truth:
   - sitemap generation and whether listed URLs are canonical, indexable HTML pages
   - robots rules, sitemap URL, and host hints
   - canonical metadata, `metadataBase`, Open Graph URL base, and per-route `noindex`
   - redirects across apex/www, http/https, trailing slash, moved routes, and legacy paths
4. Check live URLs when network access is available:

```bash
curl -sS -I https://example.com/sitemap.xml
curl -sS https://example.com/sitemap.xml
curl -sS https://example.com/robots.txt
curl -sS https://example.com/page | rg -o '<link rel="canonical"[^>]*>|<meta name="robots"[^>]*>'
curl -sS -I -L --max-redirs 5 https://example.com/page
```

5. Map GSC buckets to fixes:
   - `Page with redirect`: remove redirected URLs from sitemap and canonicals; submit only final 200 URLs.
   - `Redirect error`: inspect redirect chains, protocol/host loops, blocked destinations, and non-200 final responses.
   - `Alternate page with proper canonical tag`: usually acceptable; verify sitemap does not include alternates.
   - `Discovered - currently not indexed`: improve crawl signals first: clean sitemap, canonical consistency, internal links, content quality, stable 200 responses, and lastmod accuracy.
   - `Excluded by noindex`: verify it is intentional and keep those URLs out of sitemap.

## Output

Report:

- Export summary: date range, indexed/not-indexed trend, issue buckets, and limitations.
- Likely root cause, with evidence from files or live HTTP responses.
- Prioritized fixes, smallest reliable change first.
- Verification steps for local tests, build, live sitemap/robots/canonical checks, and Search Console validation.

Call out when the export is aggregate-only and does not contain affected URL examples. Do not infer exact URLs unless the CSVs or live sitemap provide them.