Sitemap checker and validator

How to read the results

Errors stop Google from reading the file, or make it drop addresses. Most match a message in Search Console's Sitemaps report, and the result shows that message. Fix errors first. Warnings don't break the sitemap, but they make it less useful, like dates Google will likely ignore. Notes need no action.

The page check at the end opens 10 random pages from your sitemap. It looks for what later shows up in the Page indexing report: errors, redirects, noindex, robots.txt blocks, and canonicals that point to another page. Each problem links to the report's reason for it.

This checker is not Googlebot. A firewall can block it and still let Google in, or the other way around. If a file fails here but the Sitemaps report says Success, trust Search Console.

What Google reads in a sitemap

Of the basic tags, Google uses two: the address in <loc>, and the date in <lastmod> when it can trust it.

• <loc> must be a full address, like https://www.example.com/page, on the same host and protocol as the sitemap.
• <lastmod> counts only when it is accurate. Google uses it if it's "consistently and verifiably (for example by comparing to the last modification of the page) accurate." Write it as a W3C date, such as 2026-10-08.
• <changefreq> and <priority> do nothing on Google. In Google's words: "Google ignores <priority> and <changefreq> values."
• One file holds up to 50,000 URLs and 50MB uncompressed. Past that, split it and list the parts in a sitemap index. An index can't list another index.
• The file must be UTF-8.

A sitemap tells Google which pages you want found. It doesn't make Google index them. Google makes the final call on what it indexes.

Submit your sitemap in Search Console

1. Open Search Console and pick your property. You need owner permission.
2. In the menu, go to Indexing > Sitemaps.
3. Paste your sitemap's address in the Add a new sitemap box, and click Submit.
4. Check the Status column. Success means Google read it. For Couldn't fetch or Has errors, click the row for the details, then find the message in the sitemap errors guide.

Also list the sitemap in robots.txt, so any crawler that reads robots.txt can find it:

Sitemap: https://www.example.com/sitemap.xml

From a sample to every page

This checker opens 10 pages once. CrawlCoach checks the pages in your sitemap against Google's own URL Inspection data, up to 50,000 URLs per site, and tells you which ones Google left out and why. When your sitemap stops loading, that goes in your fix list too, with the steps. See plans and prices.

Questions

Related guides

• Search Console sitemap errors and fixes (every Sitemaps report message)
• Sitemap Couldn't fetch
• Sitemap shows Success, but pages are not indexed
• Discovered - currently not indexed
• Indexed, not submitted in sitemap

Sources

Checked on October 8, 2026. Vendors change their tools and docs, so check the source if something looks different.

• Google Search Central: Build and submit a sitemap
• Google Search Central: Manage your sitemaps with a sitemap index file
• Search Console Help: Manage your sitemaps using the Sitemaps report
• sitemaps.org: Sitemaps XML format