You have live roles on your website, candidates are searching for exactly those jobs, and yet your listings are nowhere in Google for Jobs. Job boards appear, competitors appear, and your own vacancies do not. If your jobs are not showing on Google for Jobs, the cause is almost always technical, and almost always fixable.
This guide covers the 12 reasons we see most often on recruitment agency websites, how to spot each one and what to do about it. Every point is checked against Google's job posting documentation, so you can share it with your developer or ATS provider with confidence.
One point before the list. Google's structured data guidelines say plainly that Google does not guarantee structured data will show up in search results. Fixing the problems below makes your jobs eligible. It does not force Google to show every one of them.
Why jobs are not showing on Google for Jobs: 12 reasons
1. There is no JobPosting markup at all
Google for Jobs does not read your page like a candidate. It looks for JobPosting structured data in the page code. Many older recruitment sites, and some website templates, simply never added it. Test a live job URL in Google's Rich Results Test or our Google for Jobs checker. If no job posting is detected, nothing else on this list matters yet.
2. Required properties are missing or invalid
Google's documentation lists five required properties: title, description, datePosted, hiringOrganization and jobLocation. The title should be the job title, not the title of the advert, and the description cannot be the same as the title. A blank hiring organisation, a date in the wrong format or a location with no address details is enough to make an item invalid.
For agencies, hiringOrganization is a common question. Google describes it as the company offering the job, so decide on a consistent approach for confidential roles and apply it across your feed.
3. The markup is on the wrong page
Google asks for the markup on the most detailed leaf page possible, meaning the individual job page. It should not sit on job search or listing pages, and Google's policies say JobPosting markup must only be used on pages that contain a single job. The structured data also has to describe the job the candidate can actually read on that page.
4. Jobs load in an iframe or live on your ATS's domain
Many ATS job boards are embedded into agency websites with an iframe. To a candidate, it looks like your page. In the code, the job content and its markup sit in a separate document loaded from the ATS's own URL, so your page's HTML carries no JobPosting markup of its own. At best the job appears under your ATS provider's address. The fix is a proper integration that publishes each job as a real page on your domain, which is covered in our article on structured data for recruitment websites and in our job page service.
5. Job pages are blocked by robots.txt or noindex
Google's documentation is explicit: the job page must be accessible to Google and not blocked by robots.txt or a noindex tag. It is surprisingly common for a staging setting, a plugin or a rule meant for search filter pages to block the job pages too. Check the robots.txt file and inspect a live job in Search Console to see whether Google is allowed to crawl and index it.
6. Candidates cannot see the job without logging in
Google does not allow job postings that require a login to view the description, or postings with no way to apply. If your site asks candidates to register before showing the full role, those jobs are not eligible. Show the full job publicly and put registration in the apply step if you need it.
7. Jobs have expired, or look expired
Google does not allow expired job postings. Its documentation gives three ways to take one down: set validThrough to a past date, return a 404 or 410 status, or remove the JobPosting markup. The opposite problem also happens. If your ATS fills validThrough with a past or default date, live jobs can be treated as expired. Check the dates in the markup, not just on the page.
8. Location data is wrong or incomplete
Google's policies prohibit false location data that does not match where the job actually is. For remote roles, Google says jobs marked with jobLocationType TELECOMMUTE must be fully remote, and you need applicantLocationRequirements listing at least one country where applicants can be based. Hybrid roles should keep a physical jobLocation.
9. The same job appears on several URLs
Agency sites often publish the same role under several URLs, for example once per location filter or once per consultant. Google's guidance says that if you have several copies of the same posting on your site, you should use a canonical URL on each copy. Point every version at one main job page.
10. Google has not found the job yet
New jobs need to be discovered quickly, because they do not stay open for long. Google recommends a sitemap that includes the canonical URL of each job with an accurate last-modified date, and no search or listing pages. For job pages specifically, Google also offers the Indexing API, which can only be used for pages with JobPosting or livestream BroadcastEvent markup. Google recommends it over sitemaps for job URLs because it prompts faster crawling. It comes with a small default quota for testing, and production use needs approval.
11. The job content only appears after JavaScript runs
Google says it can process structured data that is in the page once it is rendered. Its JavaScript guidance also explains that pages wait in a rendering queue, which can take longer than a few seconds, and that server-side rendering or pre-rendering is still a good idea. If both the job and its markup are built entirely in the browser, discovery can be slower and less reliable. Serving them in the initial HTML removes the doubt.
12. The posting breaks Google's content policies
Google's job posting content policies rule out several things recruitment sites sometimes do without thinking:
- Postings that require payment from applicants.
- Fake or non-existent jobs, including adverts posted mainly to collect CVs. Google says CV collection is only allowed for open positions.
- Promotional content disguised as a job, and keyword stuffing in titles or descriptions.
- Incomplete job descriptions.
- Text that ignores basic grammar, uses all caps or relies on unfamiliar acronyms.
Generic "register your CV" adverts and evergreen pipeline roles are the usual problem for agencies. Keep them off your job feed, or make them genuine roles with a real description.
A quick way to find the cause
Work through these steps on two or three live jobs from different consultants or job types.
- 01Test the live URL. run it through the Rich Results Test or our checker and note any missing or invalid properties.
- 02Inspect it in Search Console. the URL Inspection tool shows whether Google can crawl the page, whether it is indexed and whether job posting markup was detected.
- 03Check the Job posting report. Search Console's rich results report for job postings shows valid and invalid items across the site, so you can see whether one job or all of them are affected.
- 04Compare markup to the page. make sure the title, location, salary and dates in the markup match what a candidate sees.
- 05Look at the source. confirm the job and its markup are on your own domain, not inside an iframe, and are present in the HTML.
- 06Fix at the template or feed. most problems come from a shared template or ATS feed, so fix them there rather than job by job, then request validation in Search Console.
| What you see | Likely cause | Where to fix it |
|---|---|---|
| No jobs in Google for Jobs at all | No markup, iframe embed or a site-wide block | Website template or ATS integration |
| Some jobs show, others do not | Missing fields on certain job types, or duplicates | ATS data entry and canonical tags |
| Jobs show, then vanish early | validThrough set too short or in the past | ATS feed date mapping |
| Old jobs still showing | Expired roles still live with markup | Expiry rules: past validThrough, 404 or 410 |
| Remote jobs missing | TELECOMMUTE without applicantLocationRequirements | Job template and remote fields |
If you want a wider view of your site's search health, our recruitment agency SEO checklist covers the rest of the basics.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take for a job to appear in Google for Jobs?
There is no fixed time. It depends on how quickly Google crawls and processes the page. A sitemap with accurate dates helps, and Google recommends the Indexing API for job posting pages because it prompts faster crawling.
Do I need to pay Google to appear in Google for Jobs?
No. Google for Jobs listings come from structured data on job pages, and there is no fee to be included. Eligibility depends on valid markup and following Google's job posting policies.
Can my jobs appear in Google for Jobs if they are hosted by my ATS?
They can, but they usually appear under the ATS provider's address rather than yours, so the traffic and search value go there. Publishing each job as a page on your own domain keeps candidates on your site.
Is salary required for Google for Jobs?
No. baseSalary is a recommended property, not a required one. Including it is still worthwhile because salary is one of the first details candidates look for.
Where can I see Google for Jobs errors?
In Google Search Console, under the job posting rich results report, and for individual pages in the URL Inspection tool. Our Google for Jobs checker gives a quick read on a single job without logging in.