Checks / Links, canonical and speed
robots.txt does not name your sitemap
Google, Bing and AI crawlers read the Sitemap: line in robots.txt first. Without it your sitemap is found only if a crawler guesses /sitemap.xml.
sitemap_not_in_robots · Links, canonical and speed · Warning
What triggers it
A sitemap is found and robots.txt answers, but robots.txt has no Sitemap: line with a full address.
What to change
Add one Sitemap: line to robots.txt.
Example
Line to add to robots.txt:
Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xmlHow to confirm the fix
- Open https://example.com/robots.txt: one line starts with Sitemap: and gives the full address
- Run a new crawl
How common it is
We have not measured how common this is on a sample of sites. Counts appear here when a study covers it.
About this check
| Check ID | sitemap_not_in_robots |
|---|---|
| Report section | Links, canonical and speed |
| Severity | Warning |
| How it is decided | Measured: read directly from the page or the server's response. |
| Added | Before 19 Oct 2026 (versions 1 and 2), or a site-wide check with no version date yet |
| Status | Measured in every report |
| Report gives the code | Yes, one block for the site |
Settings by platform
For robots.txt, where the setting lives differs by platform. Our guides cover 13 of them: AI crawler settings by platform.
Related checks
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