Sitemap Checker
Confirm your XML sitemap exists, is discoverable, and lists the pages you want search and AI engines to find.
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Understanding XML sitemaps
Your XML sitemap is the list you hand to search and AI engines that says "here are the pages I want you to find." Without one, crawlers have to discover pages by following links, which means newer pages and category pages often go unnoticed for weeks or never get indexed at all.
How do I find my XML sitemap?
Most sites publish it at /sitemap.xml. Try loading yoursite.com/sitemap.xml in a browser. WordPress sites commonly use /sitemap_index.xml or /wp-sitemap.xml. Shopify and Squarespace generate one at /sitemap.xml automatically. This checker finds and reads it for you when you run a scan.
Why does my sitemap need to be in robots.txt?
When you add a "Sitemap:" line to your robots.txt file, any crawler that reads your robots.txt immediately knows where your page list lives. Without it, crawlers have to guess at the URL or wait until Google Search Console tells them. It is a one-line addition that accelerates discovery every time a new crawler visits your site.
Will adding a sitemap get my pages indexed faster?
Yes, meaningfully so. Submitting a sitemap through Google Search Console is one of the most reliable ways to get new pages discovered within days rather than weeks. The sitemap tells Google exactly which pages exist and when they were last updated. Sites without a sitemap frequently have indexing gaps: pages that are live but invisible in search because Google never found them.
How many URLs should my sitemap have?
It depends on the size of your site, but every URL in it should be intentional. A 10-page service business might have 8 sitemap entries. An e-commerce store might have thousands. What matters is that every page you want indexed is listed, and pages you do not want indexed are left out. Sitemaps filled with redirect URLs or duplicate paths signal poor maintenance and can reduce how much Google trusts the file.
What if my sitemap has incorrect URLs?
Wrong URLs (HTTP instead of HTTPS, www vs. non-www mismatches, URLs that redirect to something else) signal to Google that the sitemap is not well maintained. Over time, Google may crawl it less frequently. Every URL in your sitemap should be the final, canonical version of that page with no redirects in the chain.
Related guides and checklists
Keep going with hands-on guides and a checklist you can work through on your own site.