XML Sitemap Generator

What Is an XML Sitemap and Why Does Every Website Need One?

An XML sitemap is a file that tells search engines like Google and Bing about the pages on your website. It lists URLs along with metadata such as when a page was last modified, how often it changes, and its priority relative to other pages. Having a sitemap helps search engines discover and index your content more efficiently — especially for new sites, large sites, or sites with pages that aren't well-linked internally.

How Do You Generate an XML Sitemap from a URL?

1. Enter your URL: Use the "Crawl URL" tab and enter your domain. The tool first checks for an existing sitemap.xml, then falls back to extracting internal links from your homepage.
2. Or paste URLs manually: Switch to "Paste URLs" and enter one URL per line.
3. Set parameters: Choose change frequency, priority, and whether to include today's date as the lastmod value.
4. Generate and download: Click "Generate" then "Download" to save as sitemap.xml.
5. Deploy: Upload to your website root directory and submit to Google Search Console.

What Are the Best Practices for XML Sitemaps?

• Keep it under 50,000 URLs — Use a sitemap index for larger sites.
• Use accurate lastmod dates — Only update when content actually changes.
• Reference in robots.txt — Add Sitemap: https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml.
• Only include indexable pages — Don't include noindex, redirected, or 404 pages.
• Submit to search engines — Use Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.

How Does a Sitemap Help AI Search Engines?

AI search engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews rely on efficient crawling to find and reference your content. A well-structured sitemap ensures AI crawlers (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot) can discover all your pages quickly. Without a sitemap, AI bots may miss pages that aren't well-linked, reducing your visibility in AI-generated answers.