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Rule · Sitemaps

Sitemaps list canonical, non-redirecting URLs

SEO-SITEMAP-03C2 Recommended· w4

Class
C2 Recommended
Weight
4
Severity on fail
major
Applies to
Google

Test this rule on a live site with the XML sitemap checker. Free, no account needed.

Scope and evidence

Evaluated on each valid, fetched loc. The book marks this requirement DOCUMENTED RECOMMENDATION.

Listed URLs that are not 200, carry noindex, or are disallowed are judged by the indexing gates (SEO-HTTP-01, SEO-IDX-06, SEO-ROBOTS-05A) and cross-referenced here, never scored twice.

Fail conditions

Each condition has a stable code and a reason template. The evaluator fills the placeholders from observed values only; no sentence in a report is generated.

  • redirects

    {loc} is listed in {sitemap} but redirects to {final}. Google treats every URL in a sitemap as a suggested canonical, so the sitemap and the redirect send conflicting signals.

  • not_self_canonical

    {loc} is listed in {sitemap} but declares {canonical} as canonical. Google treats every URL in a sitemap as a suggested canonical, so the two signals conflict.

The documented fix

List only final, self-canonical URLs; generate the sitemap from the same canonical function as the templates.

Sources, quoted

These are the passages the rule rests on, stored once in the knowledge base and emitted exactly as written. A citation marked for specific conditions appears only on findings with those codes.