The phrase "a surefire indicator of" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe something that reliably signifies or predicts a particular outcome or situation.
Example: "The sudden drop in temperature is a surefire indicator of an approaching storm."
Alternatives: "a reliable sign of" or "a certain signal of".
("Ambition interests me because it's such a surefire indicator of damage," he said).
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But I guess we are talking about America, where entitlement is a surefire indicator of moral fortitude.
The most important thing was, as he says, "getting it to Ron Hardy and Frankie Knuckles and Wayne Williams and people like that around town, people synonymous with party events". That's not to say that mere proximity was a surefire indicator of success.
What has been termed "real time regulation" [ 36] is a surefire indicator of the growing importance of the "hypothesis-testing" phase.
That's a surefire indicator that he's being considered.
Only when the days are long enough, a surefire indicator, do they begin to flower.
For example, the question "How much notice would you need to give your adviser in order to leave?" is a surefire indicator that a salary discussion is right around the corner.
Dragon Age: Inquisition takes this to new extremes, and early in the game (as well as through the meaty middle) I felt like I could barely walk ten steps in any of the game's multiple expansive area maps before coming across an exclamation point on my navigational HUD, a surefire indicator that someone wants you to fetch something, find someone, or clear some bad guys out of a fort somewhere.
It's a great time to be a street artist in Cairo, because political stencils are seen as a surefire indicator that things are looking up.
Given how expansive and diverse our social circles on Facebook have become, sharing a friend, or even ten, in common with another person isn't always a surefire indicator we'd want to meet.
