Sitemap checker: is your XML sitemap valid?

What makes a sitemap valid

A valid XML sitemap is well formed XML with a <urlset> root tag and the namespace http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9. Each <url> has a <loc> with a full URL, such as https://example.com/pricing, not /pricing. Characters like & in a URL must be escaped as &, or the file stops being valid XML.

One file can list up to 50,000 URLs and be up to 50MB uncompressed. The URLs should be on the same host as the sitemap, with the same www or non www and https as your live pages. The <lastmod> date should use the W3C format, like 2026-10-29, and never sit in the future. Google’s guide to building a sitemap and the sitemaps.org protocol set these rules, and this XML sitemap checker tests each one.

Sitemap index files

A sitemap index is a file that lists other sitemaps instead of pages. Its root tag is <sitemapindex>, and each <sitemap> entry has a <loc> pointing to one sitemap file. Use one when you have more than 50,000 URLs, or when you want separate files for pages, posts and images.

An index should list sitemaps, not other index files. Google’s docs on large sitemaps cover the limits. This checker follows an index breadth first and reads up to 10 files, so on a very large site it tells you how many it didn’t get to.

Which pages belong in a sitemap

List the pages you want in Google: the final URL each one loads at, the one its canonical tag names. Leave out pages that redirect, return an error, carry a noindex or point their canonical somewhere else. Google treats a sitemap as a list of the URLs you prefer, so mixed signals there make it harder to trust.

That is why this checker loads a sample of up to 10 listed pages and checks each one. To check any single page in full, use the indexability checker. If pages still aren’t showing up, our guide to a website not indexed by Google walks through every reason.

FAQ

Does a sitemap help my pages rank?

No. A sitemap helps Google find your pages and notice when they change. It does not make them rank higher, and Google says listing a URL does not guarantee it will be crawled or indexed.

Is this a free sitemap validator?

Yes. This free sitemap validator needs no sign-up. It reads your robots.txt, your sitemap files and a sample of up to ten pages once, the checks run in your browser, and nothing is stored.

Does this tell me if Google has read my sitemap?

No. It checks the file your site serves. The Sitemaps report in Search Console shows when Google last read it, and any errors Google found.

Where should my sitemap live?

Most sites serve it at /sitemap.xml on the same host as the pages it lists. Add a Sitemap line with its full URL to robots.txt, and submit it in Search Console.

Do priority and changefreq matter?

Google ignores both. It uses lastmod when the dates are consistently accurate, so set lastmod to when a page last changed in a way that matters.

Why does the check say my site blocked it?

Some firewalls and bot protection block checkers like this one. Google may still be let through, so we mark the result unknown rather than broken. Check the Sitemaps report in Search Console to be sure.

Read next

• Indexability checker, for whether Google can index one page
• Website not indexed by Google? How to find the reason and fix it
• llms.txt generator and checker, for the file AI tools read
• AI crawler checker, for what your robots.txt lets AI crawlers do
• Technical SEO: indexing, rendering and AI crawlers