# Sitemap Monitoring: Overview

Sitemap Monitoring reads your XML sitemaps every day and tells you what changed in them. A sitemap is the list of pages that you want search engines to find. If a deploy removes half of your sitemap URLs, or a sitemap file stops loading, Google can stop finding your pages.

## What Sitemap Monitoring does [#what-sitemap-monitoring-does]

Sitemap Monitoring needs no setup. It starts after you [verify that you own the domain](/getting-started/domain-setup/verify-ownership).

1. VitalSentinel finds your sitemaps. See [How Sitemap Monitoring finds your sitemaps](#how-sitemap-monitoring-finds-your-sitemaps).
2. VitalSentinel reads every sitemap file once a day.
3. VitalSentinel compares each daily check with the check before it. It records the URLs that are new, removed, back in the sitemap or updated.
4. VitalSentinel checks each file against the official sitemap limits and rules. See [Files](/sitemap-monitoring/files).

Sitemap Monitoring has no settings. It has one page with three tabs: **Overview**, **URLs** and **Files**. Open it from **Crawling & availability** > **Sitemap Monitoring** in the sidebar.

| Tab | What it shows |
|-----|---------------|
| **Overview** | The number of URLs over time and what changed between two checks. This page. |
| **URLs** | Every URL in your sitemaps, with what other modules know about it. See [URLs](/sitemap-monitoring/urls). |
| **Files** | Every sitemap file, its status and its limit findings. See [Files](/sitemap-monitoring/files). |

## How Sitemap Monitoring finds your sitemaps [#how-sitemap-monitoring-finds-your-sitemaps]

VitalSentinel finds your sitemaps automatically. The **Found in** column of the **Files** tab shows where:

| Found in | Meaning |
|----------|---------|
| **robots.txt** | A `Sitemap:` line in your robots.txt. |
| **Google Search Console** | A sitemap that you submitted in Google Search Console. |
| **Common location** | A standard address, for example `/sitemap.xml`. |
| **Listed in …** | A sitemap that a sitemap index lists. |

You cannot add a sitemap by hand in VitalSentinel. To add a sitemap, add a `Sitemap:` line to your robots.txt, or submit the sitemap in Google Search Console. VitalSentinel looks again every day.

If a sitemap file returns "not found" for 7 days in a row, VitalSentinel stops checking it. Its status then shows **No longer checked**.

## How Sitemap Monitoring protects you from false removals [#how-sitemap-monitoring-protects-you-from-false-removals]

Sitemap Monitoring does not report a URL as removed by mistake:

- If a sitemap file cannot be downloaded, VitalSentinel keeps its URLs. They show **Held – file not read** and do not count as removed until the file downloads again.
- If a file suddenly loses many URLs, VitalSentinel downloads it a second time. If the second download does not confirm the loss, the check shows **Listing shrank** and the URLs are kept.
- If the counts of a check do not add up with the check before it, the check shows **Counts did not add up**. Nothing is counted for that check.

## Data from other modules [#data-from-other-modules]

Sitemap Monitoring does not open your pages. It uses data from other modules to show more about each URL:

| Data | Source |
|------|--------|
| HTTP status, redirects, noindex and canonical | [Site Health Monitoring](/site-health/overview) checks |
| Whether Google indexed the URL | [Indexing Monitoring](/indexing-monitoring/overview) |
| Googlebot visits and sitemap reads | [Server Log Monitoring](/server-logs/overview) |
| Google clicks | [Google Search Console](/google-search-console/overview) |

A column or a tab that needs a source that you did not connect shows what it needs, for example **Needs Server Log Monitoring**.

## First check and module states [#first-check-and-module-states]

While the first check runs, Sitemap Monitoring shows **Checking your sitemaps for the first time**. On a large site this can take a while. The page updates by itself.

After the first check, the page can show **Monitoring starts with the next check**. The **Files** tab already shows the files. Changes show from the next check. Until then, the **What changed** card shows "Changes show here after the next check".

If the daily check is late, a note at the top says "The daily check is running late. Your last check was …".

### No sitemap found [#no-sitemap-found]

If VitalSentinel finds no sitemap, the page shows **Publish a sitemap to see what changes in it**. Add a `Sitemap:` line to robots.txt, or put a sitemap at `/sitemap.xml`. The **Open Robots.txt Monitoring** button shows what VitalSentinel read from your robots.txt.

### We couldn't download your sitemap [#we-couldnt-download-your-sitemap]

If the first check fails, the page shows **We couldn't download your sitemap** with the reason, for example "returned 403 (access denied)". Make sure that the sitemap opens in a browser. VitalSentinel tries again and shows when.

If your server or firewall refuses the VitalSentinel crawler, the page shows **Let our crawler in to see what changes in your sitemap**. Follow the steps in the red banner at the top of the page. See [Monitoring IPs](/help/monitoring-ips).

## Sitemap size [#sitemap-size]

The top card of the Sitemap Monitoring **Overview** has four tiles. They show the newest check in the selected date range:

| Tile | What it shows |
|------|---------------|
| **URLs listed** | How many URLs your sitemaps list. The note compares it with the previous check, for example "+120 vs previous check". |
| **New** | URLs listed for the first time at the check. |
| **Removed** | URLs that left every sitemap at the check. A URL whose file could not be downloaded is never counted here. |
| **Files not read** | Sitemap files that the check could not download or read. Their URLs are kept. |

If files were not read, the card shows a button such as **See the 2 files not read**. It opens the panel **Sitemap files not read**. See [Files](/sitemap-monitoring/files).

### The size chart [#the-size-chart]

The chart shows the selected tiles over the checks in the date range. Click a tile to add it to the chart or to remove it. You can show up to two. The second one uses the axis on the right, so the heights of the two lines are not comparable.

A mark with **!** shows a check in which some files could not be read. Click a point of the chart to compare that check with the one before it in **What changed**. The chart shows after the second check.

## What changed [#what-changed]

The **What changed** card of Sitemap Monitoring lists the URLs that changed between two checks. By default, it compares the checks at the start and the end of the date range. Hover the **?** to see the two dates.

To compare one check with the check before it, click a point of the chart or a row of **Checks**. To go back, click **Back to the date range**.

### Change tabs [#change-tabs]

The tabs above the list show the totals for each type of change. Click a tab to filter the list. The totals ignore your filters. The list follows them.

| Tab | Meaning |
|-----|---------|
| **All changes** | Every URL that changed between the two checks, counted once. |
| **New** | Listed in your sitemaps for the first time. |
| **Removed** | No longer listed in any sitemap. |
| **Updated** | Its last modified date (`lastmod`) moved forward. |
| **Other changes** | **Back in sitemap**, **In a different sitemap**, **Date went backwards**, **Date now given** or **Date no longer given**. |

If your sitemaps give no dates, **Updated** shows **No dates in your sitemaps**. The **Updated** tab also shows a **Google** column: whether verified Googlebot fetched the page after its date moved. This needs Server Log Monitoring.

### Columns and chips [#columns-and-chips]

The list shows **URL**, **Change**, **Sitemap file**, **Last modified**, **Status** and **Clicks** (Google clicks in the date range). A column with the same value on every row is left out. Click a row to open the URL panel. See [URLs](/sitemap-monitoring/urls).

Some URLs show a chip:

| Chip | Meaning |
|------|---------|
| **Held – file not read** | Its sitemap file did not download. VitalSentinel keeps the URL and does not count it as removed. |
| **Sitemaps disagree on the date** | Two sitemaps give different dates. It counts as updated only when they agree. |
| **Date in the future** | Its last modified date is more than a day after the check. |
| **Keeps coming and going** | It left and came back, or its date changed back and forth, 3 or more times in 14 days. |

### Still getting clicks [#still-getting-clicks]

Click **Still getting clicks** to see the removed URLs that Google still sends people to. The clicks are for the date range. Put a URL back in the sitemap if the removal was a mistake, or redirect it to the closest page.

This list needs Google Search Console. If no removed URL gets clicks, the card shows "No removed URLs still get search clicks". Click **Back to all changes** to see every change again.

## Checks and filters [#checks-and-filters]

Lower on the Sitemap Monitoring **Overview**, the **Checks** table lists every daily check in the date range. The columns are **Checked**, **URLs listed**, **New**, **Removed**, **Back in sitemap**, **Updated** and **Files not read**. A dash means that the value was not measured. A check that was not counted shows a chip, for example **Files failed**. Click a row to compare that check with the one before it.

The filter bar at the bottom of the Sitemap Monitoring **Overview** has the date range and the change filters. The date range is the last 28 days by default. You can select up to 12 months. The date range changes the chart, the tiles and **What changed**. The change filters narrow only the list of changes. For example, **Keeps coming and going** can hide those URLs or show only them.

## Issues in Site Health Monitoring [#issues-in-site-health-monitoring]

Sitemap Monitoring does not keep its own list of problems. Problems such as unreadable files, a large drop in URLs, broken sitemap URLs and limit findings open as issues in [Site Health Monitoring](/site-health/issue-types). A banner at the top of the page shows the open sitemap issues and links to them.

## Troubleshooting [#troubleshooting]

### How often does Sitemap Monitoring check my sitemaps? [#how-often-does-sitemap-monitoring-check-my-sitemaps]

Once a day. Each daily check adds one point to the chart.

### How do I add a sitemap to Sitemap Monitoring? [#how-do-i-add-a-sitemap-to-sitemap-monitoring]

Add a `Sitemap:` line to your robots.txt, or submit the sitemap in Google Search Console. VitalSentinel looks for new sitemaps every day. You cannot add a sitemap by hand.

### Why does Sitemap Monitoring show no sitemap? [#why-does-sitemap-monitoring-show-no-sitemap]

If the page shows **Publish a sitemap to see what changes in it**, VitalSentinel found no sitemap. Add a `Sitemap:` line to robots.txt, or put a sitemap at `/sitemap.xml`. If the page asks you to let the crawler in, allow the VitalSentinel crawler in your firewall. See [Monitoring IPs](/help/monitoring-ips).

### Why are URLs not counted as removed? [#why-are-urls-not-counted-as-removed]

If a sitemap file could not be downloaded, its URLs show **Held – file not read**. They count as removed only if the file downloads again without them.

### Why does What changed show "The date range holds fewer than two checks"? [#why-does-what-changed-show-the-date-range-holds-fewer-than-two-checks]

**What changed** compares two checks. Select a longer date range in the filter bar.

## Related [#related]

- [URLs](/sitemap-monitoring/urls) - every URL in your sitemaps and its panel
- [Files](/sitemap-monitoring/files) - every sitemap file, its status and its limits
- [Robots.txt Monitoring](/robots-txt-monitoring/overview) - the `Sitemap:` lines and the rules that block sitemap URLs
- [Indexing Monitoring](/indexing-monitoring/overview) - which sitemap pages Google indexed
- [Server Log Monitoring](/server-logs/overview) - Googlebot's reads of your sitemaps and pages
- [Site Health Monitoring issue types](/site-health/issue-types) - the sitemap issues and how to fix them