Sitemap shows Success but 0 discovered pages: why and how to fix it

Where you see it

In Indexing > Sitemaps, the Status says Success and the Discovered pages column shows 0.

What it means

Discovered pages is the number of page addresses Google parsed from the sitemap, with duplicates counted once. For a sitemap index, it counts the pages in every child sitemap.

Zero means the file had no page addresses Google could use, even though it read the file without errors.

Common causes

• The file lists only images or videos. Discovered pages counts page addresses only.
• It is a sitemap index whose child sitemaps Google has not read yet.
• The sitemap really is empty, such as a new site or a section with no pages yet.
• You submitted it in a different property than the pages, so the counts show elsewhere.

Find the cause

1. Open the sitemap and look for <url> entries with <loc> page addresses.
2. If it is an index, click it in the report to see its child sitemaps and their counts.
3. Check that the property matches the addresses: https, www, and domain.

How to fix it

1. Make sure the sitemap lists your page addresses, not only media files.
2. For a new index, give Google a few days to read the child sitemaps, then check again.
3. Submit the sitemap in the property that matches its addresses.

When you can ignore it

An image sitemap, or a sitemap index that Google is still reading, can show 0 for a while. That is fine.

On your platform

Catch sitemap problems before they cost you pages

On paid plans, CrawlCoach downloads your sitemaps every day and reads Search Console's sitemap data for each fix list. When a sitemap stops loading, Search Console reports errors in it, or Google stops reading it, the fix goes in your fix list with the steps and a link to the right guide. See plans and prices.

Questions

Sources

Checked on October 8, 2026. Search Console's wording can change after that date.

• Search Console Help: Manage your sitemaps using the Sitemaps report
• Search Console Help: Page indexing report