XML sitemap troubleshooting
Invalid sitemap XML errors
A sitemap can be readable in a text editor and still fail because its XML is malformed or its core fields do not follow the sitemap protocol.
Start with the supplied document
Paste or upload the XML to find the first structural problems. CorrectSitemap does not fetch the live sitemap, so HTTP status, redirects, compression, robots rules, and server availability remain separate checks.
Check sitemap XMLCommon structural failures
- Unclosed, mismatched, or incorrectly nested XML tags.
- A
DOCTYPEor custom entity declaration that the bounded validator rejects. - A
urlentry with noloc, an empty location, or a relative/non-HTTP URL. - Duplicate core children or fields in the wrong protocol order.
- An impossible
lastmoddate, unknownchangefreq, or priority outside 0.0–1.0.
What a clean result means
A clean result means the submitted XML is structurally plausible within the validator limits. It does not prove that the deployed URL is reachable, indexed, canonical, or accepted by every search engine.