---
title: "XML Sitemap Errors: 1 in 4 Sampled Sites List URLs Google Shouldn't Index - PageSpeed Matters"
url: https://www.pagespeedmatters.com/resources/data-studies/xml-sitemap-errors
description: "In a sample of 187 ranking sites, 25.1% listed at least one sitemap URL that redirects, is gone or canonicalises elsewhere, and 4.6% of the 6,004 sitemap URLs we checked shouldn't have been listed."
lang: en
---

XML Sitemap Errors: 1 in 4 Sampled Sites List URLs Google Shouldn't Index (https://www.pagespeedmatters.com/resources/data-studies/xml-sitemap-errors)

In a sample of 187 ranking sites, 25.1% listed at least one sitemap URL that redirects, is gone or canonicalises elsewhere, and 4.6% of the 6,004 sitemap URLs we checked shouldn't have been listed.

Share of sampled sitemap URLs that should not be listed

All 187 sites 4.6%

Business sites (78) 5.2%

WordPress sites (82) 4.5%

Source: PageSpeed Matters. Up to 35 sitemap URLs per site checked live, Oct 2026.

Small sample of ranking sites; stores are mostly missing because store platforms blocked most checks.

Source: XML Sitemap Errors: 1 in 4 Sampled Sites List URLs Google Shouldn't Index - PageSpeed Matters (https://www.pagespeedmatters.com/resources/data-studies/xml-sitemap-errors)