IndexRocketGuides · By Clioos 团队 · Updated October 26, 2026
Sitemap basics: what it is and how to submit it
A sitemap is a file — usually sitemap.xml at your site's root — that lists the pages you want search engines to know about, in a format they can read. It does not make Google index a page, but it makes sure Google knows the page exists, which is the precondition for everything else.
What goes in a sitemap
Only pages you actually want indexed: live pages that return HTTP 200, are canonical (not duplicates of another URL), and are not blocked by robots.txt or a noindex tag. Each entry can carry a lastmod date — the date the page last changed — which helps engines prioritise fresh content. A single sitemap file holds up to 50,000 URLs and 50 MB uncompressed; larger sites split into several sitemaps listed in a sitemap index file.
Where it lives and how engines find it
The convention is https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml. Engines also look for a Sitemap: line in robots.txt, and you can submit the sitemap directly in Google Search Console (under Sitemaps) and in Bing Webmaster Tools. Submitting it in both places costs nothing and covers the two indexes that matter most — including the Bing index that feeds ChatGPT's search.
Common mistakes
The mistakes that waste a sitemap are all avoidable:
- Listing URLs that redirect, return errors, or are blocked by robots.txt — engines learn to distrust the file.
- Listing non-canonical URLs (for example both /page and /page?ref=x) — pick one canonical version per page.
- Including noindex pages — a sitemap entry contradicts the noindex tag, and the engine trusts the tag.
- Never updating lastmod — a stale sitemap tells engines nothing about what changed.
- Treating the sitemap as a guarantee — it is a discovery aid, not an indexing promise.
Sitemap plus IndexNow
A sitemap and IndexNow solve different halves of the same problem. The sitemap is the full inventory; IndexNow is the real-time notification when something in it changes. IndexRocket uses both: your URLs are pushed through IndexNow the moment you submit them, and you should still keep a sitemap submitted in Search Console for the Google side, where no push API exists.
Questions
Do I need a sitemap if my site is small?
It helps at any size. Even a ten-page site benefits: the sitemap tells engines the full list of pages and when each last changed, so nothing is missed between crawls.
Where do I submit my sitemap?
In Google Search Console under Sitemaps, and in Bing Webmaster Tools. Add a Sitemap: line to robots.txt as well so any crawler can find it.
Does a sitemap guarantee indexing?
No. It guarantees discovery — the engine knows the URL exists. Indexing is still the engine's decision, based on quality and duplication.
What is the size limit for a sitemap?
One sitemap file holds up to 50,000 URLs and 50 MB uncompressed. Larger sites use a sitemap index file that lists multiple sitemaps.