Free sitemap checker
Can Google actually read your sitemap?
Enter your website. We find every sitemap it publishes, check each file against the protocol, read robots.txt the way Googlebot does, and load a sample of the listed pages. You get the problems worst first, with the line number when there is one.
Public files only: robots.txt, your sitemaps, and a dozen of your pages.
What we check
Everything Google reads before it trusts a sitemap
Every sitemap the site publishes
The Sitemap lines in robots.txt first, because that is where a site declares them, then /sitemap.xml, /sitemap_index.xml and WordPress's /wp-sitemap.xml. A sitemap index is followed one level down, the way Google follows it, up to ten of its files, and gzip files are unpacked.
The XML, line by line
The root element and its namespace, tags that open and never close, addresses missing https://, an & that should be &, spaces inside addresses, and Google's 50,000 address and 50MB limits. Each error names the line it is on.
The dates
Google uses <lastmod> only when it is accurate. We flag dates that are not real dates, dates in the future, and the generator habit of stamping the same day on every page, which makes the field worthless.
robots.txt, as Googlebot reads it
Rules grouped the way the standard groups them, Googlebot's own section used when the file has one, and the longest matching rule winning. A stray Disallow: / or a server error on robots.txt stops crawling across the whole site, and a Sitemap line without the full address is ignored.
The pages themselves
We load a dozen pages spread across the list. Each one that 404s, redirects, carries noindex, names a different page as canonical or is blocked by robots.txt is a contradiction Search Console flags in its Page indexing report.
One address for one site
A sitemap that lists http:// pages on an https:// site, or the bare domain when the site answers on www, sends every entry through a redirect. Pages on another domain are ignored outright.
AI crawlers
Whether robots.txt turns away GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot or Google-Extended, the names AI companies check before they use your pages. Blocking them is a fair choice, and the report names every one you have shut out.
A starter sitemap when there is none
No sitemap at all? We walk your site from the homepage, list up to 40 pages that load and want to be indexed, and hand you a file to upload with the robots.txt line that goes with it.
How it works
The same files a crawler reads, in the same order
Enter your site
Your website, the address of one sitemap, or the XML pasted straight in for a file you have not published yet.
We read what Google reads
robots.txt, every sitemap and index it leads to, then a sample of the pages they list, loaded like a crawler loads them.
Unlock the full report
Drop in your email and everything opens up: each file's errors by line, what every page we loaded answered, and the full list of addresses to copy.
Fair questions
The things people ask before they hit the button
Is it actually free?
Yes. No trial, no card, and the report is yours to keep and share.
Do I need a sitemap at all?
Google's own guidance says a site of 500 pages or fewer, with every page linked from somewhere, can do without one. A sitemap costs nothing to keep, it is the first file Search Console asks for, and it is how a page nothing links to yet gets found.
Why do you load my pages?
A file can be perfect XML and still list pages that 404, redirect or ask not to be indexed. Google judges a sitemap by what it finds at those addresses, so we look too.
Does this submit my sitemap to Google?
No. Submitting happens in Search Console, under Sitemaps, signed in as the site's owner. The Sitemap line in robots.txt is what lets every other search engine find it.
My sitemap is a .xml.gz file. Does that work?
Yes. We unpack it before checking, the same as Google does.
Can I check a site I do not own?
Yes. Sitemaps and robots.txt are public files, published so that crawlers can read them.
What do you do with my email address?
You use it to unlock the report, and we send you a copy. No drip sequence, no campaign, and it never gets sold or shared.
Want the rest of your SEO checked too? Run the SEO Report or see what the website is built with.
Where Venbit comes in
Search Console flags every sitemap page it could not use. We clear that list.
A page in your sitemap that redirects, returns a 404 or says noindex is a page Google crawled for nothing, and Search Console flags every one. Venbit fixes sitemaps, robots.txt and the site structure behind them for small businesses. Send us the report and we will tell you exactly what to change.
No retainers required. Real people, based in the US.