> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.get-ryze.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Sitemaps on Shopify

> How Shopify generates sitemaps automatically, what they include, their limits, and how to submit and troubleshoot them in Google Search Console.

Shopify generates and maintains `sitemap.xml` automatically at your domain root. You do not create it, and on most plans you cannot edit it directly.

```
https://yourstore.com/sitemap.xml
```

## What it contains

The root sitemap is an index pointing to sub-sitemaps:

* `sitemap_products_1.xml`
* `sitemap_collections_1.xml`
* `sitemap_pages_1.xml`
* `sitemap_blogs_1.xml`

Shopify updates these as you add, change, and remove content. Only canonical, indexable URLs are included — products hidden from the sales channel, and pages set to `noindex`, are excluded automatically.

## Submit it

In [Google Search Console](/connect-gsc), go to **Sitemaps** and submit `sitemap.xml`. Do the same in Bing Webmaster Tools.

Submit once. Resubmitting repeatedly does not increase crawl rate and is not a fix for anything.

## Limits worth knowing

* **You cannot exclude individual URLs** from the generated sitemap on most plans. Control inclusion by unpublishing from the sales channel or setting `noindex` in the theme.
* **`changefreq` and `priority` values** are not used by Google. Adjusting them achieves nothing.
* **Sitemap files cap at 50,000 URLs each**; Shopify splits automatically past that.
* **The sitemap is a discovery aid, not an indexing guarantee.** Inclusion does not mean a page will be indexed.

## Troubleshooting

**"Couldn't fetch" in Search Console.** Usually a password-protected store or a `robots.txt` rule blocking the sitemap. Confirm the store is publicly accessible and the sitemap loads in an incognito browser.

**Pages missing from the sitemap.** Check the product or page is published to the Online Store sales channel, and that the theme is not applying `noindex`.

**Submitted URLs not indexed.** Normal to a degree, especially on large catalogues. Persistent large-scale exclusion usually indicates thin content or [crawl budget](/concepts/crawl-budget) problems rather than a sitemap fault.

**Sitemap contains URLs that redirect or 404.** Shopify should remove these automatically; if they persist, the underlying resource is likely still published somewhere.

## Custom sitemap needs

Shopify Plus allows `robots.txt.liquid` editing, which lets you reference additional sitemaps — useful when content lives on a subdomain or a separate platform.

If your documentation or blog is hosted separately, it has its own sitemap and must be submitted separately.

## Related

* [URL redirects and migrations](/shopify/redirects)
* [Crawl budget](/concepts/crawl-budget)
* [Large catalogue automation](/shopify/large-catalogs)