Question 1

What is an XML sitemap?

Accepted Answer

An XML sitemap is a sitemap.xml file that lists every URL you want search engines and AI crawlers to index, optionally with a last-modified date, change frequency and priority. It helps crawlers discover pages that internal links alone might miss.

Question 2

Where do I put sitemap.xml?

Accepted Answer

Place it at the root of your domain (e.g. https://example.com/sitemap.xml) and reference it from robots.txt with a line like 'Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml'. Then submit the URL in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.

Question 3

Do AI crawlers use sitemaps?

Accepted Answer

Yes. AI crawlers such as GPTBot, ClaudeBot and PerplexityBot honor robots.txt and can use your sitemap to find pages, so a complete, current sitemap improves the odds your content is read and cited in AI answers.

XML sitemap generator