Upgrading to Odoo 20 without losing your SEO: what the update fixes, and what it does not

Odoo 20 was unveiled on 24 September 2026 at Odoo Experience in Brussels. Many companies are already planning their Odoo upgrade. But the SEO side of the update is still poorly documented, and it is often where the nasty surprises come from.

When a site loses rankings after an update, the first instinct is to blame the new version. It rarely is. Odoo 20 actually strengthens the SEO foundations noticeably. The real risk lies elsewhere: where the new features meet your site's customisations. Here is what improves on its own, what can break, and how to check it.

An article from our Odoo 20 cluster. What is new on the website side for SEO and GEO is covered in our article on the Odoo 20 website. The indexing settings that remain to be done, whatever the version, are detailed in our guide co-written with Renaud De Harlez: sitemap, robots.txt and AI crawlers on Odoo.

In short

• Odoo 20 fixes several long-standing SEO issues: sitemap limited to indexable pages, structured data by default, pagination, mobile images, translatable URLs.
• It does not fix configuration mistakes: facets, pages published but not indexed, sitemap cache, robots.txt rewritten by a CDN.
• The risks come from your customisations: hand-added markup, robots.txt rules written for the previous version, renamed URLs.
• The name of some shop URL parameters changes from one version to the next: your robots.txt rules can stop working without warning.
• An SEO snapshot of the site before the update, compared afterwards, is enough to spot a regression before it costs you traffic.

Why an Odoo update is a risky moment for SEO

An Odoo update does not change your content. It changes the engine that serves it: the page code, the sitemap, the header tags, the structured data, sometimes the URLs. To a visitor, the page looks the same. To Google, it may be different.

Most of these changes are improvements. But they apply automatically, on a site that has often been adjusted by hand over the years: a block of markup here, a robots.txt rule there, a customised theme. Automatically is exactly the problem: nobody checks that the old setting and the new behaviour get along.

In other words, the update is not a risk in itself. Not checking before and after is.

What Odoo 20 fixes natively, and what remains to be done yourself

Odoo 20 fixes five issues that regularly penalised Odoo websites. These improvements are listed in the official release notes, Website section.

There are also more modest improvements: breadcrumbs on static pages, accented characters allowed in URLs, easier redirect creation, an llms.txt file for AI engines and AI-powered SEO optimisation of a page.

New version or the right settings: the number one confusion before an upgrade

An update acts on two things that have nothing to do with each other, and people almost always confuse them.

• The engine (what the version changes). How Odoo generates the sitemap, tags, structured data or images. This is what Odoo 20 improves, without you having to do anything.
• The settings (what depends on you). Which pages to index, which filters to let bots crawl, which bots to allow, what content to publish. No version makes these decisions for you.

The symptom is easy to spot: a site that expects the update to solve its indexing problems. It will not. These are precisely the mistakes we find on almost every Odoo site:

• Faceted navigation: every filter combination remains a separate URL, to be blocked or turned into a category (see part 1 by Renaud De Harlez on categories and faceted navigation).
• The canonical tag: it strips URL parameters, but does not merge two distinct pages with similar content and does not prevent crawling.
• "Published" and "Indexed" remain two separate settings, and a future publication date still makes a post invisible.
• The sitemap cache: a published page does not necessarily appear in it right away.
• The robots.txt actually served, which can be rewritten by a CDN such as Cloudflare.
• Incomplete translations, which create thin pages in some languages.
• Content and authority: no version of Odoo chooses your topics or gets other sites to cite you.

The fix comes down to one rule: deal with these settings before or after the update, but do not count on the update to do it.

URL parameters: the silent regression of an update

Of all the risks of an upgrade, it is the most discreet one, and the one that affects the most online shops.

The symptom

A few weeks after the update, Search Console once again shows thousands of URLs "Crawled, currently not indexed" or "Duplicate without user-selected canonical". Yet you had solved that problem with your robots.txt.

The mechanism

The robots.txt rules that block shop filters target the names of URL parameters. And those names change from one Odoo version to the next. The attribute filter parameter, for example, is called attrib in version 17, attribute_value in version 18 and attribute_values since version 19, Odoo 20 included (according to Odoo's public source code). A rule written for one does not necessarily block the others. The robots.txt stays the same, it simply no longer blocks anything.

The consequences

• Crawl budget wasted again on filter variants, at the expense of your new pages.
• Duplicate pages coming back in the Search Console reports.
• No alert: nothing visibly breaks, the robots.txt is still there.

The check takes two minutes: after the update, filter a category in your shop, copy the resulting URL and check that your rules cover it. The rules for each version are in part 2 of our guide: blocking filter URLs in the Odoo robots.txt.

Other risks to watch after the update

Duplicate structured data

If your site already carries its own JSON-LD markup, Odoo 20 may add its own on top. Two Organization blocks with different names, or two Article blocks with different dates, send a contradictory signal to Google and AI engines. Check your key pages with Google's Rich Results Test, and remove the less complete duplicate.

URLs changed without a redirect

Odoo 20 lets you translate the URL of static pages and use accents in them. It is an improvement, but every changed URL on an already indexed page must be redirected with a 301. Do not rename a well-ranking URL just to add an accent or a translated keyword. If you do, check that a 301 redirect really leaves from the old address.

The AI SEO optimisation trap

Odoo 20's AI SEO optimisation suggests titles and meta descriptions in one click. On a page that has none, it is a real time saver. On a page that already ranks, it can replace metadata you had worked on, without knowing anything about your real queries in Search Console. Write down the metadata of your traffic-generating pages before running the AI, and review each suggestion instead of accepting them all at once.

Theme customisations that hide the new features

A customised theme or code added to the header can prevent some new features from applying, or conflict with them. Typical cases are breadcrumbs, header tags and tracking scripts.

What to check for each type of page?

How to prepare the update: the before / after SEO snapshot

Without a baseline, there is no way to know whether a drop comes from the update or from something else. The method has two stages: take a snapshot of the site's SEO state before, then compare point by point afterwards.

Before the update

1. Export Search Console. The Performance report for the last three months (pages and queries), and the number of indexed pages in the Pages report.
2. Save the sitemap and robots.txt. Save the sitemap.xml page and copy the robots.txt served, with and without www.
3. List your 20 key pages, with their URL, title and meta description.
4. Record the structured data of each page type with the Rich Results Test.
5. Write down your customisations: code in the header, SEO modules, redirect rules.

After the update

1. Compare the sitemap: are the important pages still there? Were the pages that disappeared really useless?
2. Compare the robots.txt served, with and without www, and test a filtered shop URL.
3. Check the 20 key pages: same URL, same title, same description, 200 response.
4. Test the structured data: present, valid, no duplicates.
5. Check every language: URL, translated content, hreflang tags.
6. Resubmit the sitemap in Search Console.
7. Monitor Search Console for four weeks: indexed pages, 404 errors, clicks on key pages.

How to check

• URL Inspection in Search Console to see the page as Google receives it after the update.
• Google's Rich Results Test to spot duplicate structured data.
• A crawl of the site (Screaming Frog, free up to 500 URLs) before and after, to compare titles, descriptions and response codes.

If your site comes from another CMS, the precautions are broader: see migrating to Odoo: steps, timeline and pitfalls to avoid.

When should you move to Odoo 20?

The right time depends on your current version. Sites still on Odoo 17 or earlier should plan the update quickly: standard support for Odoo 17 ended in September 2026, and each version is in principle supported for three years. Sites on Odoo 19 can prepare it without urgency. All the new features, including beyond the website, are summarised in Odoo 20: the key new features.

On the SEO side, our advice is simple: avoid updating just before your peak sales season, and keep four weeks of margin to monitor Search Console and fix any regression.

Checklist: your Odoo 20 upgrade in 10 points

• A Search Console export (performance and indexed pages) was made before the update.
• The previous sitemap and robots.txt are saved.
• Your 20 key pages are listed with their URL, title and description.
• The update does not take place just before your peak season.
• The important pages are still present in the new sitemap.
• A filtered shop URL is still blocked by your robots.txt rules.
• Each page type has a single structured data block per entity.
• Every changed URL (translation, accents) redirects with a 301 from the old address.
• No metadata of a ranking page has been replaced by the AI without review.
• The sitemap has been resubmitted and Search Console is monitored for four weeks.

Frequently asked questions

Can the update to Odoo 20 make you lose rankings?

Rarely because of Odoo itself, but yes if the site's customisations conflict with the new features: duplicate structured data, robots.txt rules that no longer work, URLs changed without a redirect or rewritten metadata. Comparing the SEO state before and after the update makes it possible to spot these regressions quickly.

Does Odoo 20 improve SEO automatically?

Partly. Odoo 20 limits the sitemap to indexable pages, adds structured data by default, avoids duplicates on paginated pages, serves mobile-friendly images and lets you translate URLs per language. Indexing settings, filter management, content and the site's authority remain your responsibility.

Why do my robots.txt rules no longer work after the update?

Because the name of some shop URL parameters changes from one Odoo version to the next, for example the one used by attribute filters. Filter a category, copy the resulting URL and adapt your rules to the name actually used.

Do you need to redo redirects after an Odoo update?

No, existing redirects are kept. You only need to create new ones if URLs change, for example if you translate the URL of a static page or add accents to it. Then check that each old address really returns a 301.

What should you check in Search Console after an Odoo update?

Resubmit the sitemap, then monitor for four weeks the number of indexed pages, new 404 errors, pages excluded by the noindex tag and clicks on your key pages. Compare each indicator with the export made before the update.

Should you use Odoo 20's AI SEO optimisation?

Yes, for pages that have neither a title nor a meta description. On pages that already rank, review each suggestion before accepting it, because the AI knows neither your real queries nor your results. Write down the old metadata before any change.

Key takeaways

• Odoo 20 improves Odoo's SEO engine, not your settings: do not count on the update to fix indexing.
• The risks come from where the new features meet your customisations.
• URL parameter names change between versions: test a filtered URL after every upgrade.
• Every changed URL must be redirected with a 301, and every structured data block deduplicated.
• Odoo 20's AI is useful on empty pages, not on those that already rank.
• A snapshot before, a comparison after, four weeks of monitoring: it is the only insurance against a regression.

What next? Your update is prepared. What remains is to fix what no version fixes: sitemap, robots.txt, AI crawlers and shop architecture. That is the subject of our two-part SEO × Odoo guide, co-written with Renaud De Harlez: part 1, categories and faceted navigation and part 2, sitemap, robots.txt and AI crawlers on Odoo.

The author

Timothy Jacqmin is co-founder of Nexuro Digital, a digital marketing agency and Official Odoo Partner in Belgium. He helps companies with their SEO, their Odoo upgrades and their visibility in AI engines. LinkedIn profile · About us

Sources

1. Odoo, Odoo 20 Release Notes, Website and eCommerce sections, September 2026
2. Odoo, Supported versions
3. Odoo source code, public odoo/odoo repository, website_sale module, branches 17.0 to 20.0
4. Google Search Central, URL changes and site moves