How to submit a sitemap to Google, step by step
By Hamza Rivera, updated
Short answer: Put your sitemap on your site, confirm Googlebot can fetch it with a live URL inspection, then paste its URL into the Sitemaps report in Search Console and click Submit. You can also add a Sitemap line to robots.txt. Google says a submitted sitemap is a hint and gives no guarantee that any URL in it will be crawled or indexed.
A sitemap is a list of the URLs you want Google to know about. Submitting one takes a few minutes. Most of the work is making sure the file is correct first.
If your sitemap shows errors you cannot trace, our team can help with technical SEO services.
Step 1: build the file
Google supports XML, RSS or Atom feeds, and plain text sitemaps. XML is the most versatile. A single sitemap can hold up to 50 MB uncompressed or 50,000 URLs, and larger sites split theirs and use a sitemap index file. The file must be UTF-8 encoded. Use absolute URLs, and list the version of each page you want to appear in search results, ideally the canonical one.
Step 2: put it at the site root
Google recommends hosting the sitemap at the root of your site, because a sitemap there can cover the whole site. A sitemap placed in a subfolder only covers that folder and below, unless you submit it through Search Console.
Step 3: test that Google can fetch it
Search Console's help page says to run a live URL inspection on the sitemap address and check that the page fetch shows as successful before you submit.
Step 4: submit it
You need owner permissions on the property. Open the Sitemaps report, paste the sitemap URL into the box that adds a new sitemap, and click Submit. Google fetches it right away. If you are not an owner, you can list the sitemap in your robots.txt file with a Sitemap line instead. Google allows several of those lines.
Reading the status
"Success" means the sitemap loaded and processed with no errors. "Has errors" means Google fetched it and found problems, and it queues the URLs it could parse. "Couldn't fetch" means Google could not retrieve the file.
What submitting does not do
Google states there is no guarantee that a URL discovered in a sitemap has been or will be crawled or indexed. It also ignores the priority and change frequency values, and uses the last modified date only when it is consistently and verifiably accurate. If your pages are listed but not showing up, read discovered, currently not indexed next.
Where to go from here
If a sitemap keeps failing or lists URLs that redirect or error, we can sort it out. See our technical SEO services. Passieon is an independent agency and is not affiliated with Google.
Sources
- Google Search Central: Build and submit a sitemap, read November 10, 2026.
- Search Console Help: Manage your sitemaps, read November 10, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Where should my sitemap live?
Google recommends the root of your site, because a sitemap there can cover the whole site.
How big can a sitemap be?
Up to 50 MB uncompressed or 50,000 URLs. Larger sites split the file and use a sitemap index.
Do I need to be an owner in Search Console to submit?
Yes. Without owner permissions you can list the sitemap in your robots.txt file instead.
Does submitting a sitemap get my pages indexed?
No guarantee. Google says there is no guarantee that a URL found in a sitemap will be crawled or indexed.
Does Google use priority and changefreq?
No. Google ignores those values. It uses lastmod only when it is consistently and verifiably accurate.
What does Couldn't fetch mean?
Google could not retrieve the sitemap. Check that the URL is public, correct and not blocked, then test it with a live URL inspection.
Want this done for your site? See what our technical SEO services page covers, or read the client results.
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