AI Web MakerSitemap checker: find and validate any website's sitemap
Type a website address. The checker finds its sitemaps (from robots.txt and the usual addresses), checks the XML, counts the pages and tests a sample of them.
This tool checks one thing. The AI Website SEO Checker checks your whole website: 23 checks, every public page, three pages read in depth and the keywords you can win.
Check your website SEO with AI →What a sitemap does
An XML sitemap is a list of the pages on your website that you want search engines to know about, with the date each one last changed. Search engines still find pages by following links, but a sitemap tells them about every page at once, including new ones nothing links to yet, and which pages changed since their last visit.
What this checker looks at
- Where the sitemap is. It reads the Sitemap lines in robots.txt first, then tries the usual addresses: /sitemap.xml, /sitemap_index.xml and /wp-sitemap.xml.
- Whether the XML is valid. One broken character can stop a search engine reading the whole file.
- What kind of sitemap it is. A sitemap index lists other sitemaps (common on WordPress and shops); the checker opens the first five and counts their pages.
- The addresses themselves. Addresses on another domain, http addresses on an https site and missing lastmod dates are all flagged.
- A sample of pages. The first pages listed are opened to see that they answer with 200. A sitemap full of redirects or missing pages teaches search engines to trust it less.
Keeping a sitemap healthy
List only the final, live address of each page you want found: no redirects, no pages marked noindex, no duplicates with tracking codes. Let your website update the sitemap on its own when you publish, and name it in robots.txt so every search engine finds it, not only the ones you submit it to.
After the sitemap, check that Google may crawl the pages in it with the robots.txt tester, and that old addresses redirect cleanly with the redirect checker. The AI Website SEO Checker reads your sitemap as part of a full check of the site.
Sitemap Checker: questions and answers
Where is my sitemap?
Most sites have it at /sitemap.xml or /sitemap_index.xml, and WordPress at /wp-sitemap.xml. The best place to announce it is a Sitemap line in robots.txt, which every search engine reads.
What makes a good sitemap?
Only pages you want in Google: live pages that answer with 200, on your main address (https, with or without www as your site uses), without redirects, and with a lastmod date that changes when the page does.
How many URLs can a sitemap hold?
Up to 50,000 addresses or 50 MB per file. Bigger sites split it into several sitemaps and list them in a sitemap index.
Do I need a sitemap if my site is small?
It helps even then: it tells Google about every page at once and when each changed, so new and updated pages are found sooner.