How Bernard tells Google about my changes
You publish a change. Somewhere in the background, Bernard tidies up the list of your pages and posts it to the search engines: "this site changed, come and take a fresh look." You do not press anything, and there is nothing to remember.
What actually happens when you publish
- Bernard refreshes your sitemap. Your site keeps a simple list of its pages - a sitemap (Does my site have a sitemap?). A new page you just added goes on it; a page you removed comes off. It rides along with the very change you published, so search engines are never sent a stale list.
- Bernard tells the search engines. Google gets the refreshed list filed directly; Bing, Yandex, Seznam, Naver and other participating engines get the quick notification described in Tell search engines my site changed.
- Nothing happens if nothing changed. Publish twice with no real change and Bernard stays quiet. Search engines only hear from us when there is genuinely something new, which is exactly how they prefer it.
When it is on
It runs for sites with measuring switched on - the one switch on the See how your site's doing page (Add my own analytics, Facebook pixel or chat tool to my site). That switch is where you asked Bernard to help you get found, so this comes with it, already ticked.
On that same page you will see:
- Tell search engines when I publish changes - the tick-box. Untick it and the automatic notification stops immediately.
- Last told Google - the date of the most recent one, so you can see it working.
Turning measuring off stops the automatic notification as well. Either way, the manual Notify search engines button stays available, and you can always just ask your AI.
What it does not do
It does not put you at the top of Google, and it does not decide what Google lists - nobody can promise that. It removes the delay: instead of waiting for a search engine to wander back on its own schedule, your changed pages get looked at sooner. The one-time Search Console setup only you can do is still worth doing - Get my site into Google walks you through it.
The prompt
“Is Bernard telling search engines automatically when I publish, and is my sitemap up to date?”
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
- Do I have to tell Google when I update my website?
- Not if measuring is switched on. Every time you publish a change, Bernard refreshes the list of your pages and sends it to Google and the other search engines for you. If measuring is off, you can still do it whenever you like with the 'Notify search engines' button, or just ask your AI.
- What is a sitemap?
- A simple list of every page on your site, with the date each one last changed. Search engines read it to work out what to look at. Bernard writes yours from your real pages, and keeps it current - you never edit it by hand.
- How do I stop Bernard telling search engines when I publish?
- Go to 'See how your site's doing' and untick 'Tell search engines when I publish changes.' It stops straight away, and nothing else about your site changes. Turning measuring off stops it too.
- Will my changes show up in Google straight away?
- No - telling search engines is an invitation, not a switch. It usually shortens the wait from weeks to days, sometimes hours, but Google decides when to come and what to list. It also only ever happens after you approve and publish, so search engines are never told about a draft.
- Does this happen if I have not turned measuring on?
- No. The automatic notification only runs for sites with measuring switched on, because that is where you told Bernard to help you get found. Everything else still works exactly as before.