> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.morpht.com/convivial-for-govcms/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.morpht.com/convivial-for-govcms/concepts-and-tools/excluding-from-search.md).

# Excluding from search

Three separate settings keep a page out of the three places it can be found, all in the page's sidebar. They are independent — set the ones you need.

* **Search exclude** — leaves the page out of the site's own search results. Visitors can still open it from a menu or a link.

  ![The Search exclude field](https://3733701002-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F3fBWwpuJPUqPpT2ulMXp%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-51dcec606f64aee708da5c62b169e84d22375c66%2Ffield-search-exclude.png?alt=media)
* **Simple XML sitemap** — set the page's sitemap inclusion to *Exclude* so it is not listed in the sitemap that search engines read.
* **Meta tags → Advanced → Robots** — tick *noindex* to ask search engines not to index the page even if they find it, and *nofollow* to stop them following its links. This is the one that actually removes a page from Google over time.

Typical uses: a page that only makes sense reached from another page (a thank-you page, a step in a process), a landing page for a campaign that has finished, or a page kept for reference that should not be discoverable. For content that should not be public at all, none of these is enough — unpublish or archive it instead; see [Hiding content](/convivial-for-govcms/concepts-and-tools/hiding-content.md).

Changes take effect on the site immediately; search engines catch up on their own schedule, typically days.