Glossary
XML sitemap
An XML sitemap is a file that lists the pages and files you consider important on your site, and can say when each one last changed, in a format search engines read. It helps them discover pages. It does not guarantee that any page is crawled or indexed.
Also called sitemap, sitemap.xml.
When a small site needs one
Search engines find pages by following links, from other sites and from your own menus. A sitemap gives them a second route: a list you publish yourself. Google says a site whose pages are properly linked can usually be discovered without one, and that the sites with the most to gain are large ones and new ones with few links from elsewhere (Google Search Central).
A local business site is rarely large. It may well be new, though, with few other sites pointing at it yet. Google adds that site builders often publish a sitemap automatically, so the question is usually whether yours is accurate.
What a sitemap cannot do
Listing a page is a request to look. Google says a sitemap helps discovery but does not mean every address in it will be crawled or indexed (Google Search Central). Nor can it overrule the page: a page carrying a noindex rule is dropped from results whether the sitemap lists it or not (Google on noindex).
A sitemap should list only the live pages you want found. Addresses that redirect, pages that return an error and pages marked noindex send Google to addresses that are not those pages.
The scan looks for a readable sitemap at /sitemap.xml or named in your robots.txt. A missing one is T7, and so is one where too many of the listed addresses the scan reaches redirect, fail or carry noindex. The method page publishes the exact threshold.
Dates that tell the truth
Each entry can say when its page was last updated, and that date is only useful if it is honest. A generator that stamps every page with the day the file was rebuilt makes each one claim a change that never happened. Change a page's date only when that page changes.
Pages that nothing links to
If a page is listed but no other page links to it, visitors cannot reach it from your menus, and your own site gives Google no sign that the page matters. The scan samples sitemap pages that none of the pages it read link to and reports them as T8. Give each one a link from a page about something close to it, or take it out of the sitemap if it no longer matters.
What the free scan checks
Questions
Does my site builder make a sitemap for me?
Probably. Add /sitemap.xml to your domain in a browser. If a list of addresses appears, open a few: each should load a live page you want found. If nothing appears, open your robots.txt and look for a line starting with Sitemap, which can point to a file with another name. If you find neither, ask whoever runs your site to publish one.
Should every page on my site be in the sitemap?
No, only the pages you want in search results. Leave out thank-you pages, login pages, addresses that redirect and anything marked noindex. Every page you do list should also be reachable through a link on your site, so the sitemap backs up your menus and never stands in for them.
Where this fits in our work
We handle this as part of Technical SEO: The crawl, index, speed and structured data problems that keep good pages from being found, fixed and shown with evidence.
Related reading
Posts that use this term
- What happens to my Google ranking if I change my business name or address? A move keeps your profile and, for most businesses, your reviews. A new name may not. Where Google draws the line, and what to update first.
Related terms
- robots.txt: The file that tells crawlers which parts of a site they may fetch, and the one line that can hide a whole site.
- noindex: The rule that keeps a page out of search results, and how it ends up on pages that should be found.
- Core Web Vitals: Google's three measures of loading, responsiveness and visual stability, and the thresholds for a good score.
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): How long the biggest thing on the screen takes to appear, and what usually slows it down.
Sources
- Google Search Central: Learn about sitemaps, updated December 10, 2025. Checked September 26, 2026.
- Google Search Central: Block Search indexing with noindex, updated December 10, 2025. Checked September 26, 2026.