XML schema compliance, URL format (absolute, reachable), lastmod date format, limits (50,000 URLs max per file, 50MB uncompressed), encoding.

Does it verify URLs return 200?

No — URL reachability requires live HTTP requests, which the browser can't do cross-origin. Use a crawler (Screaming Frog, Sitebulb) for full checks.

HTTP URLs when site is HTTPS, trailing slash inconsistencies, URLs from other domains (sitemap should only list same-domain URLs), and invalid dates.

What about sitemap indexes?

Yes — validates the index structure (list of sitemap URLs) and each referenced sitemap in turn. Common for large sites.

Sitemap XML Validator | DevTools Surf

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Example: Sitemap XML Validator

A worked example, rendered from real sample data. Sign in to run the tool on your own input.

Input

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/</loc>
    <lastmod>2024-03-15</lastmod>
    <priority>1.0</priority>
  </url>
  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/about</loc>
    <priority>0.8</priority>
  </url>
</urlset>

Output

═══ Summary ═══
Document type: URL set (sitemap)
Entries: 2 of 50,000 allowed
Uncompressed size: 0.3 KB of 50 MB allowed
With <lastmod>: 1 (50%)
Unique URLs: 2
✓ No errors found
✓ No warnings
═══ Hosts ═══
https://example.com: 2 URLs
═══ robots.txt ═══
Add this line to robots.txt so crawlers can discover the file:
  Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml
ℹ The URL was guessed from the first host in the file — set the sitemap URL option to pin it.
═══ Notes ═══
✓ Every entry matches the sitemaps.org 0.9 protocol.
ℹ Only the pasted markup was checked. No URL in this sitemap was fetched, so 404s, redirects and robots.txt blocks are not covered.

About Sitemap XML Validator

Sitemap XML Validator preview - Web / Frontend tool

Validate sitemap.xml structure and check for common issues. Part of the DevTools Surf developer suite. Browse more tools in the Web / Frontend collection.

Use Cases

SEO specialists auditing sitemap coverage before site launches
Web developers verifying sitemap generation in CMS builds
Marketing teams ensuring new landing pages appear in sitemaps
DevOps engineers validating sitemap output in CI/CD pipelines

Tips

Check for URLs exceeding the 50,000 entry limit per sitemap
Validate lastmod dates are in W3C Datetime format
Ensure the sitemap index file references all child sitemaps

Fun Facts

The Sitemaps protocol was jointly created by Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft in 2006 and submitted to sitemaps.org — a rare moment of cooperation among search engine rivals.
A single sitemap XML file can contain at most 50,000 URLs and must not exceed 50 MB uncompressed — larger sites must use sitemap index files.
Google's John Mueller has confirmed that lastmod dates in sitemaps are only trusted when they accurately reflect actual content changes — padding dates is detected and ignored.

FAQ

What does it check?: XML schema compliance, URL format (absolute, reachable), lastmod date format, limits (50,000 URLs max per file, 50MB uncompressed), encoding.
Does it verify URLs return 200?: No — URL reachability requires live HTTP requests, which the browser can't do cross-origin. Use a crawler (Screaming Frog, Sitebulb) for full checks.
Common issues?: HTTP URLs when site is HTTPS, trailing slash inconsistencies, URLs from other domains (sitemap should only list same-domain URLs), and invalid dates.
What about sitemap indexes?: Yes — validates the index structure (list of sitemap URLs) and each referenced sitemap in turn. Common for large sites.

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