Missing sitemap.xml

An XML sitemap lists your important URLs so search engines can discover and prioritise them.

What it is

This check flags sites where no sitemap was found at the usual locations.

Why it matters for SEO

Without a sitemap, discovery relies on crawling links alone, which can leave new or deep pages unindexed for longer.

Example

GET /sitemap.xml   ->  404 Not Found

How to fix

1. Generate an XML sitemap of your canonical, indexable URLs.
2. Reference it in robots.txt with a Sitemap: line.
3. Submit it in Google Search Console.
4. Re-crawl to confirm the sitemap is reachable.

Related checks

• Sitemap contains no URLs
• robots.txt does not reference a sitemap

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