Free crawlability check

XML Sitemap Checker and Validator

Check that your sitemap exists, parses as valid XML, is declared in robots.txt and lists urls that actually work. A broken sitemap wastes the crawl budget you give it.

Validate a sitemap

Enter the address of the site. The checker finds the sitemap through robots.txt and the usual locations.

Checks in this tool:crawl.sitemap crawl.robots-txt

Why use the Sitemap Checker

Found where crawlers look

The checker reads the Sitemap lines of robots.txt, then tries /sitemap.xml and /sitemap_index.xml.

Index files followed

A sitemap index is opened and its child sitemaps are read, the way a search engine does.

Sample urls tested

A sample of the listed urls is requested, so you learn whether the sitemap points at pages that redirect or fail.

Declaration checked

A sitemap that robots.txt does not declare is still found, and the checker tells you to declare it.

When to use the Sitemap Checker

New site

Confirm the sitemap your platform generates is actually published and valid.

After a redesign

Make sure the sitemap lists the new urls, not the old ones that now redirect.

Indexing gaps

When pages are slow to appear in search, check the sitemap lists them and they answer with 200.

Plugin changes

SEO plugins move sitemaps around. Check the location after switching tools.

Multilingual sites

Confirm the index lists a sitemap for every language.

Before submitting

Validate the file before you submit it in Search Console or Bing Webmaster Tools.

Understanding Sitemap

What a sitemap is for

An XML sitemap is a list of the urls a site wants indexed, optionally with the date each one last changed. It helps crawlers discover pages that few links point at, and it makes coverage measurable.

A sitemap does not guarantee indexing. It is a strong hint, and a sitemap full of redirects, errors and non canonical urls teaches crawlers to trust it less.

What makes a good sitemap

1Only canonical urls. List the final address of each page, not urls that redirect or carry tracking parameters.
2Only indexable pages. Leave out pages with noindex and pages blocked by robots.txt.
3Within the limits. At most 50,000 urls and 50 MB uncompressed per file. Split larger sites with a sitemap index.
4Declared. Add a Sitemap: line with the absolute url to robots.txt and submit it in the search engine consoles.

lastmod and priority

Google uses lastmod when it is consistently accurate and ignores priority and changefreq. Set lastmod to the date the content really changed, not the date the sitemap was generated.

Privacy, safety and limits

The check runs on Aback servers as AbackAuditBot. It sends ordinary GET and HEAD requests, never a cookie, a password or a form, and it never changes anything on the site.

The result is stored as a report that anyone with its link can open, and it is deleted after 30 days. Do not check addresses that carry secrets in the path or the query string.

Related tools and guides

Robots.txt CheckerCheck that robots.txt is published, parses cleanly and does not block the pages you want found. See at a glance which search engines and AI crawlers the rules allow.Indexability CheckerA page can be blocked from the index in four places: the status code, a noindex directive, robots.txt and the canonical link. Check all four at once and see exactly which one is the problem.Broken Link CheckerDead links frustrate visitors and waste crawl budget. Check a page for internal links that answer with errors or long redirect chains.Redirect CheckerFollow every redirect of an address, hop by hop. Find chains that slow crawlers down, loops that break pages, and host variants that split your signals across duplicates.SEO CheckerFind the technical problems that keep a page out of search results. The checker reads the page the way a search crawler does and lists what to fix first, with the evidence behind every verdict.llms.txt Validatorllms.txt is a Markdown file that gives language models a short, curated map of a site. Check that yours is published, follows the proposed format and links to pages that work.Guide: The technical SEO checklistA practical technical SEO checklist in the order that matters. Crawling, indexing, on-page signals, structured data, speed, AI search and security, with a way to check each item.

Frequently asked questions

Where should the sitemap live?

Anywhere on the same host, but /sitemap.xml is the convention. What matters most is that robots.txt declares it with a Sitemap: line and an absolute url.

Does every site need a sitemap?

Small, well linked sites are found without one. A sitemap helps most on large sites, new sites with few links and sites with pages that are deep in the navigation.

Why does the checker sample urls instead of testing all?

Requesting every url would crawl the whole site in one go. A sample shows whether the sitemap is healthy without putting load on your server.

Can I list urls from another domain?

Not normally. A sitemap lists urls of its own host. Cross host sitemaps need the other host to declare them in its own robots.txt.

Should the sitemap be compressed?

It may be gzip compressed. The 50 MB limit applies to the uncompressed size.

My sitemap lists urls that redirect. Is that a problem?

It wastes crawl requests and blurs which url is canonical. Regenerate the sitemap with the final addresses.

Does a sitemap help AI assistants?

AI search crawlers discover pages much like search engines, so a clean sitemap helps them too. For a curated overview aimed at language models, also publish an llms.txt.