The sitemap declared in robots.txt resolves

What this check means

Checks that the Sitemap: URL declared in your robots.txt actually resolves.

Why it matters

A declared sitemap that 404s is worse than none at all: a crawler follows the declaration, gets nothing, and has no reason to look for one anywhere else.

How we detect it

We request the first Sitemap: URL from robots.txt and require a 2xx XML response.

How to fix it

Correct the Sitemap: URL in robots.txt, or publish a sitemap at the address it names.

Check whether this applies to your site.

Run an AI audit

Other AI Discovery checks

llms.txt is reachable
llms.txt follows the spec
llms.txt lists enough entry points
llms.txt is lightweight
llms-full.txt companion is published