Definition
An XML sitemap is a machine-readable file listing URLs you want search engines to discover. It can include a lastmod value describing when a page last changed significantly. A sitemap index lists several sitemap files. Unlike an HTML navigation page, its main audience is search-engine crawlers.
Which URLs belong in it?
Include the canonical URLs you want indexed: accessible pages that return successful responses. Avoid redirects, missing pages and URLs marked noindex. Keep modification dates accurate instead of resetting every page's date on every build.
A sitemap helps engines find pages, especially when internal links are sparse or the site is large. It does not replace internal linking, override access restrictions or guarantee indexing. Removing a URL from a sitemap does not remove it from search results.
Where to check its status
Review submitted sitemaps in Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools or Yandex Webmaster. Look for fetch failures, parsing errors and unexpected URL counts. A processed sitemap means the engine could read it; individual pages may still be excluded from the index.
Use the sitemap submission guide for the submission workflow. If a file is readable but its pages are missing, inspect sample URLs and check their canonical and indexing status.
Ask mowteng to review it
mowteng can list submitted sitemaps in Google, Bing and Yandex, with Bing and Yandex available as optional, experimental sources. Google's sitemap tool returns counts, errors and warnings. A sitemap health check helps organize these findings; an index coverage audit checks Google's status for the URLs themselves.
List my submitted Google sitemaps and their counts, errors and warnings. Then inspect a sample of URLs from the main sitemap and distinguish file errors from pages Google has not indexed.