Take my site off Google while I rebuild it
There are good reasons to come out of search for a while: you're rebuilding, the site is half-finished, you've taken on a rebrand and don't want the old name found, or the site is a private piece of work that shouldn't be turning up in results.
Ask for it plainly:
Hide my whole site from search engines while I rebuild it.
Bernard adds the do-not-list request to every page he can edit, in one go, and your course and shop pages are rebuilt with the same setting - so you don't have to chase them separately.
Putting it back is the same sentence the other way round: "put my site back in search."
What this actually does
It asks. Search engines honour the request, and the major ones honour it reliably - but it is a request, not a lock. Two consequences worth being clear about:
It is not privacy. Every page is still there and still opens for anyone with the address. If you need something genuinely restricted, hiding from search will not do it.
It is not instant. Pages already listed drop out over days or weeks, as each engine next comes round. The same delay applies to coming back. If you're timing a relaunch, start earlier than feels necessary.
It waits for your approval
Like every change to your pages, this lands in your draft and does nothing until you approve it (How do I approve or undo changes?). If you've asked to be hidden and you're still appearing, check whether the change is still sitting waiting for you.
Coming back
Ask to be listed again, approve it, and then ask Bernard to tell search engines your site has changed - it invites them back to read the new answer rather than waiting for their next visit (Tell search engines my site changed).
Sitemaps come back at the same time. While your site is hidden Bernard won't build one, because a sitemap asking engines to index pages you've asked them to skip is a contradiction (Does my site have a sitemap?).
Hiding one page, not the site
This is all-or-nothing by design - it's the answer to "take my site off Google", not to "keep this one page quiet". If a single page shouldn't be found, that's a different conversation, and usually the honest answer is that the page either belongs on the site or doesn't.
The prompt
“Hide my whole site from search engines while I rebuild it, and remind me to put it back when I'm done.”
Press Copy, then paste it into your AI and fill in the [bracketed] parts. First time? Connect your AI to bernard first - a one-time setup in bernard → your site → Use your own AI.
Questions people ask
- Does this password-protect my site?
- No, and this is the important limit. It asks search engines not to list you. Anyone with the address can still open every page, and so can anyone the address is shared with. If you need pages genuinely private, hiding from search is not the tool.
- How fast does it work?
- Not instantly. Pages already listed drop out over days or weeks as each engine next visits. Putting it back is the same in reverse. Plan around that if you're timing a relaunch.
- Does it hide my course and shop pages too?
- Yes. Those pages are built by bernard rather than typed by hand, so they're rebuilt in the background with the same setting. You don't need to do anything separately, and you shouldn't try to edit them yourself.
- When does it take effect?
- The change lands in your draft like every other change and does nothing to search engines until you approve it. Nothing you haven't approved is affecting how you're listed.
- Why won't Bernard make me a sitemap while it's hidden?
- Because a sitemap is an invitation to index the very pages you've just asked not to be indexed, and search engines get contradictory instructions. Once you're visible again, ask for the sitemap and it's built.