Verify Google and Bing indexing and establish a search-discoverability baseline

Priority: High

Problem

The site has crawlable public pages, canonical URLs, robots.txt, a sitemap, RSS, structured metadata, and AI/search crawler rules, but there is no verified baseline showing what Google and Bing actually index, which queries produce impressions, or whether newly published Insights and Projects are being discovered reliably.

Goal

Establish a real search-discoverability baseline using webmaster tooling rather than inferring SEO health from static configuration alone.

Scope

• Verify ownership/configuration in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
• Submit or verify the current sitemap.
• Record indexed vs discovered vs excluded URLs.
• Identify crawl/indexing errors and unexpected exclusions.
• Record current impressions, clicks, queries, and top landing pages where data exists.
• Verify whether recently published Insights and Projects are discovered within a reasonable period.
• Document a lightweight recurring review process.

Acceptance criteria

• Google Search Console is verified and sitemap status recorded.
• Bing Webmaster Tools is verified and sitemap status recorded.
• A baseline of indexed URLs and material exclusions is documented.
• Search impressions/queries are recorded where available.
• Any preventable crawl/indexing defects are fixed or split into dedicated issues.
• A low-maintenance process exists for checking discoverability after significant publication changes.

Start by reviewing the existing robots.txt, sitemap, RSS, structured metadata, and search crawler rules, then verify the site in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools. Record sitemap status, indexed and excluded URLs, crawl errors, impressions, queries, and landing pages; done means the baseline and recurring review process are documented and any preventable defects are fixed or split into issues.