Sitemap checker
Find a site's XML sitemap, follow sitemap indexes, validate every entry against the sitemap protocol, and spot-check that the listed pages load. Free, no account.
Enter your sitemap URL, or just the domain to find it via robots.txt.
No sitemap yet? Build one with the sitemap generator.
How to check an XML sitemap
- 1
Enter your domain or sitemap URL
A domain is searched via the Sitemap lines in robots.txt, then /sitemap.xml and /sitemap_index.xml. A sitemap URL is checked as given.
- 2
Review the files
A sitemap index is followed to its child sitemaps, each fetched, counted and size-checked against the 50,000 URL and 50 MB limits. Gzipped sitemaps are supported.
- 3
Fix invalid entries
URLs on other hosts, http:// URLs, duplicates, badly formatted or future lastmod dates and out-of-range priority values are counted with examples.
- 4
Remove dead and redirected URLs
A spread of listed URLs is fetched. A sitemap should only list canonical pages that answer 200, so update anything broken or redirected.
Check the rest of the site too
The free audit checks your sitemap alongside robots.txt, canonicals, indexability and AI-search readiness.
Frequently asked questions
What does a sitemap checker test?
Whether the sitemap can be found and read, whether it is a valid urlset or sitemap index, whether it stays within the protocol's limits, whether its URLs, dates and values are valid, and whether the pages it lists actually load.
How does Google find my sitemap?
From a Sitemap line in robots.txt, from a submission in Search Console, or by guessing /sitemap.xml. The robots.txt line is the one every crawler reads, so it is worth having even if you submit it to Google.
Should every URL have a lastmod date?
Google uses lastmod when it is consistently accurate, to decide what to recrawl. Leave it out rather than stamping every URL with today's date, which teaches crawlers to ignore it.
Why shouldn't a sitemap list redirects?
A sitemap tells search engines which URLs you want indexed. Listing a URL that redirects or returns 404 sends mixed signals and wastes crawl budget. List the final, canonical URLs only.
How big can a sitemap be?
50,000 URLs and 50 MB uncompressed per file. Larger sites split into several sitemaps and list them in a sitemap index, which can itself hold 50,000 sitemaps.