What Is an XML Sitemap, and How Do You Submit One to Google and Bing?

By Bill Stilwell · Last reviewed October 16, 2026

The short answer

An XML sitemap is a file that lists the pages on your website you want search engines to find. Most website builders make one for you. Check that it lists only your real, live, main pages, then submit it in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools and add it to your robots.txt file. Google calls a sitemap a hint, so it helps search engines find pages but doesn’t guarantee they’ll be indexed.

What this means

XML stands for Extensible Markup Language. It’s a plain text format that computers read easily. Your sitemap usually lives at an address like example.com/sitemap.xml or example.com/sitemap_index.xml.

Each entry in the sitemap lists one page address. It can also list the date the page last changed in a meaningful way, called “lastmod.”

Say Harbor Dental has 14 pages: home, about, six services, three locations, contact, and two policy pages. Its builder makes a sitemap automatically. The office manager checks it and finds an old “Summer Whitening Special” page from two years ago and a test page called “home-copy.” Both get removed or set to noindex, and the sitemap now lists only the pages that matter.

Why it matters

It helps search engines find new pages. That’s most useful for new sites with few outside links, and for pages that are hard to reach by clicking around.
It’s a list of what you consider important. If it’s full of test pages, duplicates, and old offers, it sends mixed signals.
Bad dates get ignored. Google says it uses lastmod only when it’s consistently accurate. Bing says it uses lastmod to decide what to recrawl.
It makes reports easier to read. With a submitted sitemap, you can see in Search Console how many of your listed pages are indexed.

Who this applies to

Every business with a website. Even small sites benefit, because it takes only a few minutes to check and submit. Larger sites, sites that add pages often, and new sites with few outside links get the most from it.

How to do it

Find your sitemap. Try example.com/sitemap.xml or example.com/sitemap_index.xml, or check your builder’s search settings.
Open it and read the list. It should include your home, service, location, about, contact, and helpful article pages.
Remove pages that shouldn’t be there: thank-you pages, test pages, duplicates, redirected addresses, and pages set to noindex (see 19.5.2 Index Control). Google says to list only the version of each page you want shown in search.
Make sure every address is full, including “https” and your domain, and that each one loads.
Check the lastmod dates. They should change only when the page content really changes, not every day. Google ignores the “priority” and “changefreq” fields, so don’t spend time on them.
Add a line to your robots.txt that points to the sitemap, for example “Sitemap: https://www.example.com/sitemap.xml” (see 19.5.1 Crawl Access and Robots.txt).
In Google Search Console, open Sitemaps, enter the sitemap address, and submit.
In Bing Webmaster Tools, open Sitemaps and submit the same address. Bing says it reads a submitted sitemap right away and rechecks it at least once a day. Bing also supports IndexNow, a way to notify search engines the moment a page changes (see 19.13.3 Bing, IndexNow, and AI Search).
Check both reports a few days later. Look for errors and how many listed pages are indexed.
Recheck the sitemap after any redesign, new service, or page removal.

Size limits rarely matter for small businesses. Google and Bing both cap a single sitemap at 50,000 addresses, and Google also caps it at 50 megabytes (MB) uncompressed. Bigger sites split into several sitemaps.

What proof to keep

The sitemap address and a dated copy or screenshot of its contents
Screenshots of the Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools sitemap reports showing success
Notes on any pages you removed from the sitemap and why

Keep these in your website records folder.

Common mistakes

Never looking at the sitemap. Builders add test pages, tag pages, and old offers without asking.
Listing redirected or deleted pages. Every address should load directly with no redirect.
Listing noindex pages. It tells Google “find this” and “don’t show this” at the same time.
Fake lastmod dates. Setting every page to today’s date doesn’t make Google crawl more. Google says it only trusts lastmod when it’s consistently accurate.
Submitting to Google and forgetting Bing. Bing is a separate search engine with its own index (see 19.13.3 Bing, IndexNow, and AI Search).
Expecting a sitemap to fix thin or duplicate pages. It helps search engines find pages. It doesn’t make weak pages rank.

When to get help from a pro

Your web developer or a search engine optimization (SEO) specialist: if the sitemap shows errors in Search Console, lists pages you can’t remove, or your builder doesn’t make one. Questions to ask:

Can we control which pages show in the sitemap?
Are the lastmod dates accurate?

Bill’s note

[Bill: add a short story or lesson here. For example, junk pages you’ve found in a client’s automatic sitemap, or why you submit every SiteSmarty site to Bing as well as Google.]

If you’d rather have this done for you, SiteSmarty sets up and submits sitemaps to Google and Bing as part of every website launch.

How I did this for SiteSmarty

[Date I did this:]
[What I actually did, step by step: where SiteSmarty’s sitemap lives, what I removed, and how I submitted it to Google and Bing]
[What it cost and how long it took:]
[What surprised me or what I’d do differently:]
[Screenshot or photo to add, with private info blurred: Sitemaps reports in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools]
[Result so far:]

Questions people ask

Does a small business website need a sitemap? It’s not required, but it’s quick to set up and helps search engines find your pages, especially on a new site.

Where do I find my sitemap? Usually at example.com/sitemap.xml or example.com/sitemap_index.xml, or in your website builder’s search settings.

Does submitting a sitemap guarantee indexing? No. Google says a sitemap is a hint and doesn’t guarantee Google will crawl or index the pages.

What pages should not be in a sitemap? Thank-you pages, test pages, duplicates, redirected addresses, and noindex pages.

Do I need to submit my sitemap to Bing? Yes, it’s worth doing. Submit it in Bing Webmaster Tools and list it in robots.txt.

Audit check

Question: Does the site have an accurate XML sitemap submitted to Google and Bing and listed in robots.txt?
Pass looks like: A sitemap with only live, indexable, main pages, full addresses, honest lastmod dates, a Sitemap line in robots.txt, and successful reads in both Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
Fail looks like: No sitemap, test or noindex pages listed, redirected addresses, fake dates, errors in Search Console, or never submitted to Bing.
Evidence to collect: A dated copy of the sitemap and screenshots of both sitemap reports.

Where this fits

Do this first: 19.5.1 Crawl Access and Robots.txt, 19.5.2 Index Control

Do this next: 19.6.1 Local Business Structured Data

Sources

Google Search Central, "Build and submit a sitemap" (checked October 16, 2026)
Bing Webmaster Blog, "Keeping Content Discoverable with Sitemaps in AI Powered Search" (July 2025) (checked October 16, 2026)
Google Search Central, "Robots.txt introduction and guide" (checked October 16, 2026)

This page explains general rules and Bill's own experience. It is not legal, tax, or insurance advice. Talk to a qualified professional about your situation.