How to use Google Custom Search API to Get Total Indexed URLs?

To get the total count of indexed URLs for a domain using Google’s Custom Search API, you need to configure a Programmable Search Engine for that domain, then use the API to perform a site: query, the response will include an estimated count of indexed pages in the totalResults field.
This method is useful when you want a programmatic way to check how many of your site’s pages are visible to Google, especially helpful in SEO audits and index monitoring tasks.

What Is Google Custom Search API?

Google Custom Search (now called Programmable Search Engine) lets you build a customized search engine that focuses only on a specific website or set of websites.

The Google Custom Search JSON API gives you access to this search engine programmatically, so you can send a search request via code and get structured results (in JSON format), including an estimate of how many results (i.e., indexed pages) exist for a query.

When used with a site: query, this is a neat way to find out how many of your pages Google knows about.

Get Total Indexed URLs for a Domain Using Google Custom Search API

Step 1: Create a Programmable Search Engine for Your Domain

Go to: Programmable Search Engine
Click “Get Started” and create a new search engine.
Under Sites to Search, enter your domain like this: CopyEditexample.com
Finish the setup and copy your Search Engine ID (cx), which you’ll need later.

Your custom engine is now restricted to search only within your domain. Perfect.

Step 2: Get Your API Key from Google Cloud

Visit the Google Cloud Console
Create a new project (or use an existing one).
Navigate to APIs & Services > Library and search for: sqlCopyEditCustom Search API Enable it.
Go to APIs & Services > Credentials and create an API Key.

Save this key, it authenticates your requests to the Custom Search API.

Step 3: Make the API Request

Here’s the format of the request URL:

arduinoCopyEdithttps://www.googleapis.com/customsearch/v1?key=YOUR_API_KEY&cx=YOUR_CX&q=site:example.com

Replace:

YOUR_API_KEY with your actual API key
YOUR_CX with your Search Engine ID
example.com with your domain

This query searches only within your domain and tells you how many indexed URLs Google has for it.

Sample Response Breakdown

When you hit the endpoint, Google responds with structured JSON. Here’s the part you care about:

jsonCopyEdit"searchInformation": {
  "searchTime": 0.234,
  "formattedSearchTime": "0.23",
  "totalResults": "215"
}

totalResults: "215" means Google found 215 indexed pages for your domain.

That’s the number you came for!

Real-Life Use Case

Let’s say you’re doing an SEO audit for a client’s domain: clientsite.com.

You want to know if Google is indexing most of the site’s pages.

You use:

bashCopyEdithttps://www.googleapis.com/customsearch/v1?key=XYZ&cx=ABC&q=site:clientsite.com

The response shows:

jsonCopyEdit"totalResults": "72"

But your CMS shows 300+ published pages, a red flag!
This is a quick and programmable way to identify indexing issues before deep-diving.

Things to Watch Out For

It’s an Estimate, Not Exact

Google returns an approximate number of results, not the exact count. But it’s still useful for spotting major differences.

API Quotas Apply

Free Tier: 100 queries per day.
Beyond Free: $5 per 1000 queries.

If you’re using it for one-off checks or for a few domains, the free tier is more than enough.

Only First 100 Results Are Fetchable

The API only lets you retrieve up to 100 search results per query, but the totalResults field can go beyond that. This is fine since we’re just looking for the total count.

Bonus Tip: Automate It!

You can easily script this using:

Python + requests module
Google Apps Script (for Google Sheets)
Postman (for testing)

This makes it repeatable and ideal for reporting.

Using the Google Custom Search API is one of the easiest and most efficient ways to programmatically estimate how many of your pages are indexed by Google.

To recap:

Set up a Programmable Search Engine for your domain
Get your API key and cx ID
Query using site:yourdomain.com
Read the totalResults field from the JSON response

It’s reliable, beginner-friendly, and great for audits, automation, or just keeping tabs on Google indexing over time.

How to Use Google Custom Search API to Get Total URLs Count for a Domain?

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