An XML sitemap is a file in XML format that lists the URLs of a website a search engine should crawl and index, optionally with the date each page last changed. Its structure is defined by the Sitemaps protocol published at sitemaps.org.
At a glance
- Type
- File in XML format (Sitemaps protocol 0.9)
- Affects
- Discovery and crawling of URLs
- Values
- Required:
<urlset>,<url>,<loc>; optional:<lastmod>,<changefreq>,<priority> - Limit per file
- 50,000 URLs or 50 MB uncompressed
- Specification
- sitemaps.org protocol
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What does an XML sitemap contain?
The required elements are <urlset>, one <url> entry per page and the page address in <loc>. The protocol also defines the optional <lastmod>, <changefreq> and <priority>. One file may hold at most 50,000 URLs and may not exceed 50 MB uncompressed. Larger sites split their URLs across several files and list them in a sitemap index.
Google requires UTF-8 encoding and fully qualified, absolute URLs. It ignores <priority> and <changefreq>. It does use <lastmod> if the value is consistently and verifiably accurate, meaning it reflects the last significant change to the page.
| Type | Purpose | Limits | Required elements |
|---|---|---|---|
| XML sitemap (this term) | a file with information about the pages, videos and other files on a site and the relationships between them | at most 50,000 URLs or 50 MB (uncompressed) per file; UTF-8, absolute URLs | urlset, and per URL a url with loc |
| Sitemap index | groups several sitemaps so they can be submitted together | at most 50,000 sitemaps and 50 MB per index; up to 500 index files per site in Search Console | sitemapindex, and per sitemap a sitemap with loc |
| Image sitemap | tells Google about images it might not otherwise find, such as images loaded with JavaScript | up to 1,000 image:image per url; otherwise as for XML sitemaps | image:image with image:loc |
| Video sitemap | adds information about videos hosted on the pages | as for XML sitemaps; description at most 2,048 characters | video:video with video:thumbnail_loc, video:title, video:description and either video:content_loc or video:player_loc |
| News sitemap | tells Google about news articles with extra details | up to 1,000 news:news per file; only articles from the last two days | news:news with news:publication (news:name, news:language), news:publication_date, news:title |
| Sitemap with hreflang | lists the language and regional versions of a page | as for XML sitemaps | per url a loc and one xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="…" for every version, including the page itself |
| HTML sitemap | a page of links for visitors to the site | – (not part of the sitemap protocol; Google says it cannot be submitted as a sitemap. Source: Google Search Central Blog, 2005) | – |
Image, video, news and hreflang data are extensions of the XML format; every file is limited to 50,000 URLs or 50 MB. Of the optional elements, Google uses lastmod if it is consistently and verifiably accurate and ignores priority and changefreq. The HTML sitemap details come from a 2005 Google blog post; Google's current sitemap documentation does not mention HTML sitemaps. Sources: Google Search Central: Build and submit a sitemap (last updated 2025-12-10); Google Search Central: Manage your sitemaps with sitemap index files; Google Search Central: Image sitemaps; Google Search Central: Video sitemaps; Google Search Central: Create a news sitemap; Google Search Central: Localized versions of your pages (sitemap method); sitemaps.org: Sitemaps XML format; Google Search Central Blog (2005): How is a Google Sitemap different from an HTML sitemap?. Last checked: .
How does Google find a sitemap?
Site owners submit a sitemap in the Search Console Sitemaps report, through the Search Console API, or with a Sitemap: line in robots.txt. Google deprecated the old ping endpoint in June 2023 and announced it would stop working six months later. Submitting a sitemap is, in Google’s words, “merely a hint.” Google does not guarantee it will download the file or crawl every URL in it.
Example
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
<url>
<loc>https://www.example.com/cargo-bikes/</loc>
<lastmod>2026-09-28</lastmod>
</url>
<url>
<loc>https://www.example.com/cargo-bikes/longtail-20/</loc>
<lastmod>2026-10-02</lastmod>
</url>
</urlset>
Reference in robots.txt:
Sitemap: https://www.example.com/sitemap.xml
Common mistakes
- Listing the wrong URLs. Redirected URLs, pages with
noindexand error pages do not belong in a sitemap. Google recommends listing the canonical URLs you want to appear in search results. - Setting lastmod to the export date. If the value changes without real content changes, Google stops relying on it.
- Stale sitemaps after a relaunch. The file keeps listing old addresses instead of the new ones.
FAQ
Is an XML sitemap still needed? Google recommends one for large sites, new sites with few external links and sites with a lot of video, images or news content. For small, well-linked sites of about 500 pages or fewer, Google says a sitemap may not be necessary.
How do I find the XML sitemap of a website?
Check robots.txt for a Sitemap: line first. Common locations are /sitemap.xml and /sitemap_index.xml, but the path is not fixed.
Sources
- Sitemaps XML format – sitemaps.orgsitemaps.org
- Build and submit a sitemap – Google Search Centraldevelopers.google.com
- Learn about sitemaps – Google Search Centraldevelopers.google.com
- Sitemaps ping endpoint is going away – Google Search Central Blog, June 2023developers.google.com
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