Sitemap
A file listing the URLs you want Google to know about. A hint for discovery, not a guarantee of crawling or indexing; XML, RSS, Atom and text all work.
Reviewed by Alexander Yarovenko · Updated: 2026-10-08
A sitemap is a file that lists the URLs you want Google to know about. You publish it, submit it in the Sitemaps report in Search Console and read back the status Google gives. It is a hint, not a command: listing a URL does not guarantee that it will be crawled or indexed. XML is the usual format, but RSS, Atom and plain text work as well, and Google says it makes no difference to it.
What it is and where the boundary lies
A sitemap helps discovery. It does not replace links between your pages, does not decide what gets indexed and does not change rankings. Google says a site of about 500 pages or fewer, where every page can be reached through links from the homepage, probably does not need one, and that a hosting platform such as Wix or Squarespace usually manages it for you. A sitemap earns its place on large sites, new sites with few links, and sites with lots of media or frequently changing content.
How it differs from similar terms
| Term | What it is | Relation to a sitemap |
|---|---|---|
| Sitemap | a file listing URLs for search engines | the subject here |
| robots.txt | a file controlling crawling | can point to the sitemap with a Sitemap: line |
| Canonical tag | a signal for the preferred URL | the sitemap should list only canonical URLs |
| Indexability | whether a page can be indexed | listing a blocked page does not make it indexable |
| Crawl budget | how much a site is crawled | a clean sitemap avoids wasting it on duplicates |
Why it matters
For a site that Google cannot easily crawl through links alone, a sitemap is a direct list of what you consider important, and the Sitemaps report is a place where Google tells you whether it could read the list. That second part is often the more useful one: statuses and error messages point to fetching and format problems you would not otherwise see.
How to build and submit one
- Choose a format. XML is the most flexible. A text sitemap lists one URL per line and the file must end in .txt.
- List only canonical URLs. Use fully qualified absolute URLs in UTF-8, and leave out duplicates, redirects and pages you do not want in results.
- Respect the limits. One file may hold up to 50,000 URLs and 50 MB uncompressed; beyond that, split the list and add a sitemap index.
- Put it at the root. A sitemap in a folder covers only that folder and what is below it.
- Submit it. Enter the address in the Sitemaps report, or use the API or a
Sitemap:line in robots.txt; the report is the one that tells you the status (build and submit a sitemap). - Read the status. Success means the file was read without errors, Has errors means it was read in part, and Couldn’t fetch means Google could not get it (Sitemaps report).
Practical example
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
<url>
<loc>https://example.com/guide/</loc>
<lastmod>2026-09-30</lastmod>
</url>
</urlset>Each page gets a loc. The lastmod is used only when it is reliably accurate, so give the date of a significant change or leave it out.
Common mistakes
- Listing non-canonical or duplicate URLs: Google crawls exactly the URLs you list.
- Relying on priority and changefreq: Google ignores both optional tags.
- Inventing lastmod dates: the tag is used only when it is reliably accurate.
- Submitting a redirecting address: Google uses the address as it is and does not follow the redirect.
- Reading discovered pages as indexed pages: discovered means parsed from the file, with no promise of crawling or indexing.
How to validate the result
Check that the Sitemaps report shows Success and a plausible number of discovered pages. Then filter the Page indexing report by that sitemap to see how many of those URLs are indexed and why the rest are not. The Sitemaps report lists only sitemaps submitted through it or the API, and only for the current property, so check that you are on the right one (sitemaps overview).
More questions
Do I need a sitemap?
Often not. Google says a site of about 500 pages or fewer, fully linked from the homepage, probably does not.
Does a sitemap speed up indexing?
Google does not promise it. A sitemap is a hint for discovery; it does not guarantee crawling or indexing.
XML or text?
Google says the format makes no difference to it. Choose what you can generate and keep accurate.
Next practical step
Open the Sitemaps report for your property, read the status and filter the Page indexing report by that sitemap. For the full procedure see the sitemap FAQ article.
Related concepts
- robots.txt — controlling crawling.
- Canonical tag — the preferred URL.
- Indexability — whether a page can be indexed.
- Crawl budget — how much a site is crawled.
- URL Inspection tool — checking one URL.