XML Sitemap Validator

How it works

What we check

• Well-formed XML — Parses the file with a strict XML parser. A single unescaped & or < , an unclosed tag, or a stray BOM will break parsing — and a sitemap that doesn't parse is rejected outright by search engines. We tell you exactly where it failed.
• Root element type — Confirms the root is a valid <urlset> (page list) or <sitemapindex> (a list of child sitemaps). An unexpected root element means the file isn't a sitemap search engines recognize, even if the XML itself is technically valid.
• URL count vs the 50,000 limit — Counts every <loc> entry. A single sitemap may contain at most 50,000 URLs. Over that, you must split into multiple sitemaps and reference them from a sitemap index file — we flag it when you're over.
• File size vs the 50 MB limit — Measures the uncompressed size. The hard cap is 50 MB (52,428,800 bytes) uncompressed per file. You can gzip a sitemap for transfer, but the uncompressed content must still stay under 50 MB or it gets rejected.
• Duplicate URLs — Compares every <loc> value and flags repeats. Duplicates waste crawl budget and muddy which URL you actually want indexed. Each page should appear exactly once across your sitemaps.
• Insecure http:// URLs — Counts <loc> entries that start with http:// instead of https://. On an HTTPS site these create redirect hops and mixed signals — every listed URL should be the final, canonical https:// version.
• <lastmod> presence — Reports how many entries carry a <lastmod> date. It's optional, but an accurate W3C-format date (e.g. 2026-06-23) helps search engines schedule re-crawls and prioritize pages that actually changed.

Common issues we catch

• More than 50,000 URLs in one file — The 50,000-URL ceiling is per sitemap, not per site. The fix isn't to trim pages — it's to split into several sitemaps (e.g. /sitemap-1.xml, /sitemap-2.xml) and list them in a <sitemapindex> file, which can itself reference up to 50,000 sitemaps.
• File over 50 MB uncompressed — Long URLs and lots of optional tags (<lastmod>, <changefreq>, <priority>) inflate size fast. Gzipping helps transfer but the limit is on the uncompressed content. If you're over, split the file — same as the URL-count fix.
• Malformed XML from unescaped characters — Raw &, <, > or " inside a <loc> URL (common with query strings like ?a=1&b=2) breaks the parse. They must be entity-encoded (&amp;, &lt;, etc.). One bad character can invalidate the entire file.
• Duplicate URLs across split sitemaps — When a site splits its sitemap, the same URL sometimes lands in two child files — easy to miss because each file looks fine alone. Search engines see the duplication across the set, so dedupe globally, not just per file.
• http:// URLs on an HTTPS site — After an HTTPS migration the sitemap often still lists the old http:// URLs. Every one becomes a redirect, diluting crawl efficiency and sending a mixed canonical signal. List only the final https:// URLs you actually want indexed.
• Listing non-canonical, blocked, or noindex URLs — A sitemap should contain only the canonical, indexable version of each page. Including redirected, robots-blocked, noindexed or parameter-variant URLs sends conflicting signals — telling search engines to index pages you've told them elsewhere to ignore.
• A urlset where you needed a sitemapindex (or vice versa) — Pointing search engines at a plain <urlset> when you meant to give them a master <sitemapindex> — or nesting <url> entries under a <sitemapindex> — produces a structurally wrong file. The root element must match the content: <urlset> holds <url>/<loc>; <sitemapindex> holds <sitemap>/<loc>.

Where this matters

• Google Search Console — Submit your sitemap (or sitemap index) under Indexing → Sitemaps. Google reports its own parse status and discovered URL count there, so a file that passes here should submit cleanly. A single index file can point to all your child sitemaps.
• Bing Webmaster Tools — Bing reads the same XML sitemap format and enforces the same 50,000-URL / 50 MB limits. Submit the file in Bing Webmaster Tools so Bing — and the engines that draw on its index — discover your pages.
• Sitemap index files — For large sites, a <sitemapindex> lists multiple child sitemaps so you stay under the per-file limits. We detect index files and count the child sitemaps instead of pages, so you validate the structure at the right level.
• WordPress, Shopify & sitemap plugins — CMS platforms and SEO plugins (Yoast, Rank Math, the built-in WordPress sitemap) auto-generate sitemaps — and auto-generate the bugs too: stale URLs, duplicates after a URL change, or noindexed pages still listed. This catches those before submission.