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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “indexing api”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “indexing api”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 1 plugin is pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Instant Indexing & Check for Google and Bing SEO shows at wp.org #7 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

GEO Plugin by Squirrly SEO places #11 on merit, 4.6★ from 683 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 CrawlWP SEO – Complete WordPress SEO Plugin with AI, Indexing & Search Performance 30K+ · 4.7★ (62) wp.org #3 4 Instant Indexing for Google 200K+ · 3.6★ (36) wp.org #2 ↓1 2 too high 5 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too low 6 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #10 ↑2 4 too low 7 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #13 ↓5 5 too low 9 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #15 6 too low 10 Schema & Structured Data for WP & AMP 100K+ · 4.5★ (252) wp.org #14 ↓1 4 too low 11 GEO Plugin by Squirrly SEO 30K+ · 4.6★ (683) wp.org #19 ↓4 8 too low 12 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #20 ↑2 8 too low 13 R REST API Log 5K+ · 3.6★ (24) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 Zhanzhangb Indexing Submission for Baidu 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #6 ↓1 8 too high 15 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #16 ↑3 1 too low 16 WP Search with Algolia 7K+ · 4.5★ (24) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 IndexPro – URL Indexing Manager 20+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #23 ↓3 6 too low 18 ReCrawler 3K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #17 ↓3 1 too high 19 Fast Index for Google Indexing API 300+ · 3.3★ (3) wp.org #5 14 too high 20 Website LLMs.txt 50K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #24 ↓7 4 too low 21 SiteSEO – SEO Simplified 400K+ · 4.0★ (8) wp.org #12 ↓2 9 too high 22 Instant Indexing & Check for Google and Bing SEO 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↓1 15 too high 23 noindex SEO 3K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↓5 2 too high 24 NutsForPress Indexing and SEO 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↑1 2 too high

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.