Free XML Sitemap Validator

Auto-discover, fetch, and validate any site's XML sitemaps in real-time — including sitemap indexes and .xml.gz files. Check URL count, lastmod dates, duplicates and broken links, and get a health score — no signup required.

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Enter a Domain

We'll auto-discover and analyze the sitemap for you.

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Why XML Sitemap Health Matters

A valid sitemap helps search engines discover your pages, especially new or poorly linked ones. A broken or outdated sitemap can slow down indexing of new content and the organic traffic that comes with it.

Index Coverage

Ensure every critical page is included and discoverable. A well-maintained sitemap tells search engines exactly what to crawl and when.

Structure

Keep the file well-formed and easy for crawlers to process. Sitemap indexes for large sites, valid XML, and fresh <lastmod> dates help crawlers decide what to recrawl.

Broken sitemap links cause pages to be missed during indexing
Missing <lastmod> dates slow recrawl of updated content
Duplicate URLs confuse crawlers and dilute crawl budget

example.com/sitemap.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<url>

<loc>https://example.com/</loc>

</url>

<url>

<loc>https://example.com/about</loc>

</url>

</urlset>

How to Use the Validator

Four steps from domain to full sitemap analysis in seconds.

Submit Domain

Enter your website URL — we auto-discover the sitemap from robots.txt or the default /sitemap.xml path.

Real-Time Crawl

We fetch and parse your sitemap XML instantly, handling both sitemap files and sitemap indexes.

Identify Issues

Spot-check URLs for broken responses and detect missing lastmod dates, duplicate URLs, and XML structure errors.

Health Summary

Get a report with URL count, image count, health score, and a pass/warn/fail result for each check.

When to Use This Tool

From site launches to ongoing monitoring — catch sitemap issues before Google does.

Site Launches

Verify your sitemap is valid and accessible before going live. Catch structure errors before crawlers do.

Post-Migration

Confirm the new sitemap is reachable, well-formed, and pointing at live URLs after a domain move or platform change.

Ongoing Monitoring

Catch sitemap issues before Google does. A monthly health check prevents silent ranking drops.

Large Sites

Check sitemap indexes and see every child sitemap they reference. Detect duplicate entries in large sitemap files.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an XML sitemap?

An XML sitemap is a file that lists all important URLs on your website, helping search engines discover and crawl your content efficiently.

How does the sitemap validator work?

Enter your domain (or a full sitemap URL) and we find your sitemaps: every Sitemap: line in robots.txt (up to 5), or the default /sitemap.xml and /sitemap_index.xml paths. We download each file (up to 5 MB, gzip included), check that it is valid XML, validate <lastmod>, <priority> and <changefreq>, look for duplicate and off-host URLs, spot-check 5 URLs spread across the sitemap for broken responses, and generate a health score.

What health score should I aim for?

The score starts at 100 and loses 25 points for each failed check and 10 for each warning. 80+ is excellent. Below 50 usually means a critical problem such as an unreachable sitemap, invalid XML, no URL entries, or broken sampled URLs.

Does this check sitemap indexes?

Yes. If your site uses a sitemap index, we detect it and fetch up to 10 of the child sitemaps it references, then validate their URLs together. For larger indexes, run individual child sitemaps through the validator by entering their full URL.

How often should I check my sitemap?

After any site update, migration, or CMS change. For active sites, a monthly check catches drift before it impacts rankings.

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Key terms explained

Plain-English definitions from the LazySEO SEO glossary.

Google Search ConsoleGoogle Search Console (GSC) is a free web service provided by Google that allows website owners to monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot their site's presence in Google Search results. It provides data on search performance (impressions, clicks, CTR, average position), page indexing, Core Web Vitals, structured data errors (rich result reports), manual actions, security issues, and more.IndexNowIndexNow is an open protocol that lets a website notify participating search engines immediately when a URL is added, updated or deleted, instead of waiting for crawlers to rediscover it. It was launched in October 2021 by Microsoft Bing and Yandex, and is also supported by engines such as Naver, Seznam and Yep. A notification sent to one participating engine is shared with the others.Crawl BudgetCrawl budget is the number of pages Googlebot (or any search engine crawler) will crawl on a website within a given timeframe. It is determined by two factors: crawl rate limit (how fast the crawler can crawl without overloading the server) and crawl demand (how frequently Google wants to recrawl pages based on their perceived value and change frequency). Sites with millions of pages need to actively manage their crawl budget.XML SitemapAn XML sitemap is a file that lists the URLs of a website, along with optional metadata such as last modification date, change frequency, and priority, in a structured format readable by search engines. It serves as a roadmap that helps crawlers discover and understand the full scope of a site's content, especially pages that might not be easily discoverable through internal links alone.Index CoverageIndex coverage refers to the status of a site's URLs within Google's index — specifically, which pages are indexed, which are excluded, and why. Google Search Console's Page indexing report (formerly the Index Coverage report) groups URLs into "Indexed" and "Not indexed" and gives a reason for every excluded URL, such as "Excluded by noindex tag" or "Crawled - currently not indexed". Understanding index coverage is essential for diagnosing why certain pages are not appearing in search results.Orphan PageAn orphan page is a page on a website that no other page on the same site links to. Visitors can only reach it by knowing the URL, following an external link or finding it in search results, and crawlers can only discover it through an XML sitemap or external links.

Browse the full SEO glossary

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