Sitemap found, but nothing could be read from it

What is wrong

Your sitemap file exists, but Google cannot read its contents. A sitemap is a file that lists all the pages on your website to help Google find and index them. If Google retrieves the file but finds it unreadable—perhaps because it is malformed XML, corrupted, or returning an error code other than 200—it cannot process the page list inside.

Why it costs you

When Google cannot read your sitemap, it misses the opportunity to discover pages you've listed there. This is particularly costly for new pages, pages deep within your site structure, or pages that have few links pointing to them from elsewhere. Without the sitemap as a guide, those pages may remain unindexed or take longer to appear in search results.

How to fix it

Check that your sitemap file is valid XML and returns an HTTP 200 status code when accessed. Use Google's free XML sitemap validator tool, or validate the file locally using an XML parser before uploading. Look for common issues: unclosed tags, special characters that should be encoded as XML entities (like & instead of &), or file encoding problems. If the file is generated by a plugin or tool, check its settings to ensure it is producing valid output. If you cannot identify the problem, try regenerating the sitemap from scratch using a reputable SEO plugin or online generator.