SEO & AI Search glossary

Sitemap (sitemap.xml)

An XML file listing the URLs you want to show the search engine — a map of the site for crawlers, not for users.

Why it matters

What it changes in practice

A sitemap doesn't guarantee indexing, but it makes it much easier — especially in large stores, where crawlers won't reach everything through internal links alone. It's also the fastest way to spot the gap between what you want in Google and what Google has actually indexed.

What to do about it

Concrete steps

Include only URLs meant for the index (status 200, indexable, self-referencing canonical)
Split large stores into several sitemaps (products, categories, blog) — problems are easier to diagnose
Submit the sitemap in Google Search Console and keep an eye on the indexing report
Update it automatically when products are added or removed

Related terms

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Sitemap (sitemap.xml)

What it changes in practice

Concrete steps

See also

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