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sitemap

Sitemap

Why it matters Agents and search bots discover your product pages more slowly.

Category
Access
Weight
2 of 100 points
Critical blocker
No. If it fails, it only costs its own weight.
Applies to
Online stores · Hotels and lodging · Service businesses
Effort
30 minutes · developer (built into most platforms)
Score model
v2.4

How we measure it

We look for a “Sitemap:” line in robots.txt or for /sitemap.xml. Found passes, neither fails; if the file can’t be read, it’s not verifiable.

On hotel and service sites this check is measured on the homepage instead of a product page.

What the result page says

These are the sentences in the test result; “…” is replaced by what we found on your site.

  • PassedA sitemap was found, so agents can discover your product pages.
  • FailedNo sitemap found (in robots.txt or at /sitemap.xml).

How to fix it

Target: An up-to-date sitemap lists your product pages and is referenced from robots.txt.

Example code

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

Example values (example.com, product name, price) are placeholders; replace them with your own.

How to verify it yourself

https://example.com/sitemap.xml should open and robots.txt should have a “Sitemap:” line.

Fix it with an AI coding agent

Paste this into Claude Code, Cursor or another coding agent working on your store’s code. Review the change before you deploy it.

You are working on my online store. Specoria’s agent readiness test checks the item below. Fix it so AI shopping agents can read the store and act on it.

## 1. Sitemap (sitemap)
Target: An up-to-date sitemap lists your product pages and is referenced from robots.txt.
Example fix (adapt it to this codebase and platform; example values are placeholders):
```
Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml
```
Reference: https://specoria.com/method/checks/sitemap/

## Rules
- First look through the codebase and tell me which files or templates you will change, before editing anything.
- Change only what these checks need, and keep the visible page and the structured data saying the same thing.
- Never invent prices, stock, shipping or return terms, reviews or product identifiers (GTIN): take them from the store’s real data or ask me.
- Don’t block or slow down real visitors and don’t add tracking.
- After deploying, run the free test again at https://specoria.com/ to verify the fix.

Specifications and guidance

The check is based on these open sources; links go to the publisher’s own pages.

Where it sits in the 196-criteria framework

The result of this check counts as evidence for these items of the readiness framework:

  • 1.11 XML sitemap is current and complete

The framework and its source →

Run the free test See the sample report →