WordPress has a search-engine visibility setting, but it is not a password or access-control system. A site that discourages indexing can still be visited by anyone who knows its address.
Check search-engine visibility
In the WordPress dashboard, open Settings → Reading and find Search engine visibility. For a public site you want search engines to discover, leave the option to discourage search engines unchecked and save changes. WordPress explains this setting in its Reading settings documentation.
If a page is still missing from search, inspect its public robots instructions and canonical URL, and check whether an SEO plugin or hosting configuration adds a separate restriction. Clearing one WordPress setting does not override every other layer of the site.
For private sites, require authentication
Do not rely on the indexing preference to protect confidential content. Use an access-control arrangement appropriate to the site, and test it while logged out. For a headless setup, check the public frontend and the WordPress backend independently: the backend may correctly discourage indexing while public articles remain indexable on another hostname.
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