Checks / Links, canonical and speed
Sitemap and site disagree
Sitemap URLs that return errors or redirect, or pages found by crawling that the sitemap omits.
sitemap_stale · Links, canonical and speed · Notice
What triggers it
sitemap.xml cannot be read as a sitemap, or some of the sitemap URLs we checked do not answer 200.
What to change
Regenerate the sitemap from the live pages.
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_stale |
|---|---|
| Report section | Links, canonical and speed |
| Severity | Notice |
| 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 | No, the fix is described in words |
Related checks
- Sitemap has no useful last-modified dates
- Sitemap dates are older than the pages' own
- URL is hard to read or share
- Address variants of real pages return 404
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