How to Submit a Sitemap to Google (and Confirm It Actually Worked)

Submitting a sitemap to Google is a three-step job in Google Search Console, and the submission itself takes about thirty seconds. Open the Sitemaps report, type the path to your sitemap, click Submit. Done. The reason this post is longer than thirty seconds of reading is the part most guides skip: confirming it actually worked, and knowing what "worked" even looks like in the report.

Before you start, you need two things. A published XML sitemap at a stable URL (usually https://example.com/sitemap.xml), and a verified Google Search Console property for your site. If you don't have a sitemap yet, generate one with our sitemap generator, publish it at your domain, then come back. If you're not sure your site even needs one, we wrote an honest answer to does a small website need a sitemap.

Step 1: submit it in Search Console

This is the primary method and the one Google recommends.

1. Go to Google Search Console and select your property from the property picker (top left).
2. In the left sidebar, click Indexing > Sitemaps.
3. Under "Add a new sitemap", type just the path relative to your domain, so sitemap.xml, into the box (the domain prefix is shown for you).
4. Click Submit.

That's it. The report will add a row for your sitemap. Don't expect an instant "indexed" number; you'll usually see "Success" with a discovered-URLs count within minutes to a day, and indexing itself takes longer.

If your site has many sitemaps grouped under a sitemap index file, submit the index (sitemap_index.xml or similar). Google reads the index and follows it to every child sitemap; you don't submit each child separately.

Step 2: add the Sitemap line to robots.txt

Regardless of Search Console, add a reference to your sitemap in robots.txt. This is how other crawlers (Bing, and anything that respects the standard) discover it without you submitting anywhere:

User-agent: *
Allow: /

Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml

The Sitemap: directive must be an absolute URL, and it can sit anywhere in the file (convention is at the bottom). You can list several Sitemap: lines if you have more than one. This is belt-and-braces alongside the Search Console submission, and it's the only "submission" some crawlers get. If you need to build or check the rest of the file, our robots.txt guide covers it.

Step 3: tell Bing too (and IndexNow)

Google isn't the only search engine, and the equivalent step in Bing Webmaster Tools is nearly identical: Sitemaps > Submit sitemap, paste the full URL. Bing also powers DuckDuckGo and others, so it's worth the two minutes.

Bing (and Yandex, and others) also support IndexNow, a protocol where you ping a single endpoint to tell participating engines that specific URLs changed, so they crawl them sooner rather than waiting to re-fetch your sitemap. If your CMS or CDN has an IndexNow integration (Cloudflare offers one, and several WordPress plugins do), turn it on. Google does not use IndexNow, so it doesn't replace the sitemap; it complements it for the engines that do.

The part everyone skips: reading the Sitemaps report

Submitting is easy. Knowing it worked is where people get lost. Go back to Indexing > Sitemaps and look at the Status column. You'll see one of these:

| Status | What it means | What to do | | --- | --- | --- | | Success | Google fetched and parsed the sitemap fine | Nothing. It worked. | | Has errors | Fetched, but some URLs or the format have problems | Click in to see the specific error | | Couldn't fetch | Google couldn't retrieve the file at all | Check the URL loads, and that robots.txt doesn't block it |

"Couldn't fetch" is the one that trips people up, and it's rarely permanent. It usually means one of: the sitemap URL 404s or returns the wrong content type, robots.txt is blocking the sitemap path, or Google simply hasn't gotten to it yet (a fresh submission can show "Couldn't fetch" briefly before it succeeds). Confirm the file actually loads in your browser at the exact URL you submitted before assuming something is broken.

Once it says Success, click the sitemap row to see discovered URLs. This number is how many URLs Google found in the file. It is not how many are indexed.

Discovered is not indexed: what to actually expect

This is the expectation gap that generates most "my sitemap isn't working" panic. The Sitemaps report tells you Google read your sitemap. It does not tell you Google indexed those pages. Those are different questions with different reports.

To see indexing, go to Indexing > Pages. That report splits your URLs into "Indexed" and "Not indexed", with reasons for the latter ("Discovered - currently not indexed", "Crawled - currently not indexed", and so on). A sitemap gets your URLs discovered faster; it does not guarantee or force indexing. Google still decides what to index based on quality, crawl budget, and whether the page is worth having. A sitemap is an invitation, not a command.

So the healthy sequence is: Sitemaps report shows Success and a sensible discovered count within a day, then over the following days and weeks the Pages report shows those URLs moving into Indexed. If discovery works but indexing stalls, the problem is the pages, not the sitemap.

When to resubmit: basically never

Here's the thing almost nobody tells you. Once a sitemap is submitted and showing Success, you do not need to resubmit it when your content changes. Google re-fetches submitted sitemaps on its own schedule, periodically, forever. Add new pages, update your sitemap file at the same URL, and Google will pick up the changes on its next fetch. There is no button you need to press.

The only times resubmitting makes sense: you moved the sitemap to a new URL, you fixed an error that had it in a failed state and want to prompt a re-check, or you removed and want to re-add it. For routine content updates, leave it alone. Keep the file current at its URL, keep your lastmod dates honest, and let Google do the fetching.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take Google to process a submitted sitemap?

The sitemap itself is usually fetched and shown as "Success" in the Sitemaps report within minutes to a day. Indexing the URLs inside it takes longer, from days to weeks, and isn't guaranteed. Check the Sitemaps report for fetch status and the separate Pages report (Indexing > Pages) to watch URLs actually get indexed.

My Sitemaps report says "Couldn't fetch". What's wrong?

Usually one of three things: the sitemap URL returns a 404 or wrong content type, your robots.txt blocks the sitemap path, or Google just hasn't fetched it yet (fresh submissions can briefly show this). Load the exact URL you submitted in your browser to confirm the file is really there and is served as XML, then wait a day and refresh the report.

Do I need to resubmit my sitemap every time I add a page?

No. Google re-fetches submitted sitemaps automatically on its own schedule. Just keep the sitemap file updated at the same URL and Google will pick up new and changed pages on its next crawl. Resubmit only if you move the sitemap to a new URL or need to prompt a re-check after fixing an error.

What's the difference between "discovered" and "indexed" URLs?

Discovered means Google read that URL from your sitemap. Indexed means Google actually crawled the page and added it to its search index. A sitemap helps with discovery; it does not force indexing. Google still decides what to index based on page quality and crawl priorities, so discovered counts are usually higher than indexed counts.

Should I submit my sitemap to Bing as well as Google?

Yes, it takes two minutes in Bing Webmaster Tools (Sitemaps > Submit sitemap) and Bing also feeds DuckDuckGo and other engines. Also add a Sitemap: line to your robots.txt so any standards-respecting crawler can find it without a manual submission at all.