Term
Sitemap (sitemap.xml)
Updated · 2 min read · By The ParSEO team
The short answer
A file that lists a site's pages so search engines can find them, often with the date each page last changed.
A sitemap is usually an XML file at /sitemap.xml listing the pages you want search engines to know about, optionally with when each last changed. Most website builders create one automatically.
You can submit it in Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools, and reference it from robots.txt. It helps discovery, especially for new pages and large sites, but it doesn't force indexing: Google still decides which pages to index.
Keep it clean: list only pages you want indexed, with their canonical addresses.
In practice
In practice, most website builders generate a sitemap automatically. Open it in a browser to check that your important pages are listed with their preferred addresses, then submit it in Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools. Pages you deliberately keep out of search, such as thank-you pages, shouldn't be listed.
Sources
Read next
See what Google and AI say about your business.
Add your website and get your Day 0 in minutes: where you rank, what AI answers say, and what to fix first.
Start your Day 0