A sitemap
What we check
A sitemap is an XML file listing the pages of your site. We look for one named in robots.txt with a Sitemap: line, and at the usual address, /sitemap.xml.
A valid sitemap named in robots.txt passes in full. A valid one at the usual address that robots.txt doesn’t mention gets half. A sitemap that’s there but broken (not XML, or not a list of pages) scores lower still, and no sitemap at all scores nothing.
Why it matters
Crawlers find pages two ways: by following links, and by reading the list you hand them. A sitemap is that list. Without one, the pages nobody links to — an old post, a product page reached only through search — may never be found, and an AI assistant can’t mention a page that isn’t in its index.
Naming the sitemap in robots.txt matters because robots.txt is the first thing every well-behaved crawler reads. It saves them guessing, and not every crawler guesses.
How to pass
- Publish a sitemap listing the pages you want found, with the date each one last changed:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"> <url><loc>https://example.com/</loc><lastmod>2026-10-01</lastmod></url> <url><loc>https://example.com/about</loc><lastmod>2026-09-12</lastmod></url> </urlset> - Add one line to robots.txt saying where it is:
Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml - Keep it current. Most platforms (WordPress, Shopify, Squarespace, Webflow) and site generators make one automatically; turn that on rather than writing it by hand.