Part of our guide: Why is my website not getting enquiries?.
Written by Dan Sagar, FoundationsAI. Updated October 2026.
Usually one of three things: Google doesn't know the site exists yet, something on the site is telling Google to stay away, or the site is too small to show up for what people search. You can check all three in under an hour, for free.
First, check whether Google has your site at all
Search Google for site: followed by your web address, with no space, for example site:yourbusiness.co.uk. This lists every page Google has stored. If nothing comes up, Google hasn't indexed the site. If some pages are missing, those pages have a problem of their own. If every page is there, Google has your site but isn't showing it for the searches that matter, which is reason six below.
The six usual reasons
1. Google hasn't been told about it
A new site on a new domain can take weeks to be found if nothing links to it. Set up Google Search Console, which is free, add your site and submit your sitemap, usually your web address followed by /sitemap.xml. Then add the website to your Google Business Profile.
2. A setting is telling Google to stay away
Some builders hide a site from search engines while it's being built, and the setting doesn't always get switched off at launch. Search Console's indexing report will say "Excluded by noindex tag" if this is the cause. Also open yourwebsite.co.uk/robots.txt and check it isn't blocking everything.
3. Google has the builder's address, not yours
If the pages Google lists are on the builder's preview or test address rather than your own domain, connect your domain, then submit the sitemap for your domain in Search Console.
4. The words aren't in the page
Some AI-built pages only show their text once the page's code has run, or once someone clicks. Google can often cope, but slowly, and many AI tools can't at all. Right-click a page, choose View page source, and search for a sentence from the page. If it isn't there, ask your builder to put the content in the page itself.
5. Google decided the pages aren't worth keeping
If Search Console says a page is "Crawled, currently not indexed", Google read it and chose not to keep it, usually because it's thin or too like another page. Area pages that only swap the town name are the most common example. Improve the page rather than resubmitting it.
6. It's too small to be found
AI builders build what you describe, which is usually four or five pages: home, services, about and contact. Nobody searches for "plumbing and heating services". They search "boiler repair" plus their town, or "how much is a power flush". If you don't have a page about what they searched, you can't come up for it. One plumbing and heating site we looked at had 8 pages. A competitor a few miles away had 99.
What to do this week
- Run the site: search.
- Set up Google Search Console and submit your sitemap.
- Check the indexing report for pages marked noindex or not indexed, and fix the cause.
- Run the View page source test on your home page and one service page.
- Set up Bing Webmaster Tools too. Microsoft Copilot answers from Bing.
- Plan a page for each service and each town you cover, and a prices page.
We build sites this way on our Website plan, and every plan includes our step-by-step course if you'd rather fix it yourself. Not sure where you stand? Get a free AI search check.
Common questions
How long does a new website take to show up on Google?
A new site usually takes a few weeks to appear properly, and months to build positions for competitive searches. Submitting your sitemap in Google Search Console helps with the first part.
Does Google penalise websites built with AI?
Not for being built with AI. Google says it judges content on whether it's helpful, not how it was made. What holds AI-built sites back is being thin, generic or repetitive, and claims nobody checked.
Why does my site show up for my business name but not my service?
Because Google knows the site exists, but you don't have pages about what people search for. Add a page for each main service and each town you cover, and a prices page.
Want your website to answer the questions customers ask?
Book a 45-minute demo. See also our guide: why is my website not getting enquiries?