# IndieSitemap > Check a site's sitemap: found through robots.txt, well formed, the URL count, same host, lastmod, and ten sampled pages with their status codes, with the fix for each gap. See whether crawlers can find and read your sitemap, and whether the pages it lists answer. The canonical page is https://indiesitemap.com/. ## Use the tool Open [IndieSitemap](https://indiesitemap.com/) to complete the job. The questions below describe the supported input, result, and limits. Every answer names its source next to it. Source: [sitemaps.org protocol](https://www.sitemaps.org/protocol.html). ## Questions and limits ### What does a sitemap check look for? A sitemap is an XML file, usually at `/sitemap.xml`, that lists the pages you want search engines to find. IndieSitemap finds yours the way a crawler does, from the `Sitemap:` line in `robots.txt` or at the usual address, reads it, and checks that it follows the [sitemaps.org protocol](https://www.sitemaps.org/protocol.html). It then opens a sample of the listed pages to see whether they answer, whether they redirect, and whether any of them tells search engines not to index it. ### What is lastmod, and does Google use it? `lastmod` is the date a listed page last changed. Google uses it to decide what to crawl again, but only when the dates are honest. A sitemap with no dates gets crawled on Google's own schedule. A sitemap whose dates all move on every build gets its dates ignored. The check counts how many entries carry a date and how many carry one that does not parse. ### Why does a listed page count as a problem? A sitemap is a promise that every address in it is a page worth indexing. An entry that answers 404, redirects somewhere else, fails with a server error, or does not answer at all breaks that promise and wastes crawl time. Remove it or fix the page. An entry whose page says `noindex` asks a crawler to come and then tells it to leave. Pick one: keep the page in the sitemap and let it be indexed, or drop it from the sitemap. ### Where should my sitemap be, and how do crawlers find it? Put it at `/sitemap.xml` and name it in `robots.txt` with a `Sitemap:` line that carries the full address. A large site can use a sitemap index that points at several sitemap files. Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools also accept the address directly. ### Does a pass mean every page is fine? No. The check reads the sitemap and samples a bounded number of the pages it lists. A pass says the sitemap is well formed and the sampled pages were healthy. It does not prove every entry in a large sitemap answers. Fix the flagged rows, then run the check again. ## Promises - The core is free: no account, no card, no premium plan, no upgrade nag, no hidden paywall. - Private lookup activity is never published. - Analytics is currently off. Private lookup activity is never published or sent to a tracker. No lookup history becomes public inventory. ## More - [Notes](https://indiesitemap.com/blog.md): posts by the maker, newest first - [More tools](https://indiesitemap.com/tools.md): the other tools by turushan - [security.txt](https://indiesitemap.com/.well-known/security.txt): how to report a vulnerability Made by turushan, https://twitter.com/turushan.