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    Data Study · Technical SEO

    WordPress Attachment Pages: Only 5.1% of Sites List Them in Sitemaps

    Of 1,270 WordPress sites with a readable sitemap, 5.1% (65) reference an attachment sitemap, and the attachment sitemaps that loaded list a median of 474 image pages.

    • 1,270 WordPress sites
    • PageSpeed Matters, Oct 2026

    Matt Suffoletto

    Founder, PageSpeed MattersPublished 3 min read

    5.1%
    Share of WordPress sites listing an attachment sitemap, by sitemap size
    Under 500 URLs (800 sites)3.5%
    500 to 4,999 (367)7.6%
    5,000+ (103)8.7%

    Source: PageSpeed Matters. Sitemaps of 1,270 ranking WordPress sites, Oct 2026.

    Size groups are small, so read the trend as directional.

    In this study

    WordPress sites whose sitemap lists attachment pages

    GroupSites with a sitemapAttachment sitemap listedShare
    All1,270655.1%
    WordPress core sitemap340216.2%
    SEO-plugin sitemap index744445.9%
    Under 500 sitemap URLs800283.5%
    500 to 4,999 sitemap URLs367287.6%
    5,000+ sitemap URLs10398.7%

    Source: PageSpeed Matters, Oct 2026. Counts sites whose sitemap references an attachment sitemap; a floor, since attachment pages can also be linked without a sitemap.

    Summary

    Every image uploaded to WordPress can get its own attachment page: a thin page that shows little more than the image. When a sitemap lists those pages, it hands crawlers a long list of low-value URLs alongside the posts and pages that matter.

    We read the sitemaps of WordPress sites to see how often that happens. Of 1,270 sites with a readable sitemap, 5.1% (65) reference an attachment sitemap, and the attachment sitemaps that loaded list a median of 474 image pages.

    What we measured

    We took about 1,500 random WordPress homepages from sites that rank in Google and read their sitemaps in October 2026, including sitemap index files in both the SEO-plugin and core WordPress formats. 1,270 of 1,487 homepages (85.4%) had a sitemap we could read.

    An attachment sitemap is any sitemap file or index entry with "attachment" in its address. Sites can expose attachment pages through links without listing them in a sitemap, so 5.1% is a floor. This study does not test whether attachment pages are indexable.

    Few sitemaps list attachments, but those that do list many

    5.1% of the 1,270 sites (65) reference an attachment sitemap, and 3.5% (44) had one we could actually fetch. Most sitemaps in the sample do not reference one at all.

    The ones that loaded are large. Across 42 sites, the median attachment sitemap lists 474 URLs, and the middle half list between 166 and 2,329 attachment URLs.

    Bigger sitemaps are more likely to include attachments: 3.5% of 800 sites with under 500 sitemap URLs, 7.6% of 367 sites with 500 to 4,999 and 8.7% of 103 sites with 5,000 or more. Sites with large media libraries likely have more attachments to list in the first place.

    The sitemap type makes little difference. Sites on the WordPress core sitemap (wp-sitemap.xml) list attachments about as often as sites on an SEO-plugin sitemap index: 6.2% of 340 against 5.9% of 744.

    5.1%

    Share of 1,270 WordPress sites with a readable sitemap that reference an attachment sitemap.

    What this means for your site

    Open your sitemap index, usually at /sitemap_index.xml or /wp-sitemap.xml, and look for an entry with "attachment" in its address. If there is one, open it and see how many image pages it lists.

    • If your SEO plugin has a setting for attachment or media pages, turn off their inclusion in the sitemap and redirect attachment pages to the file or parent post.
    • Check sites with large media libraries first, since bigger sitemaps were the most likely to list attachments.
    • Remember that removing the sitemap entry does not remove the pages: check whether your theme still links to them.

    Sources

    • PageSpeed Matters sitemap check of random WordPress sites that rank in Google, October 2026
    • Google Search Central, Build and submit a sitemap: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/build-sitemap

    Embed this research

    Paste this on your site to embed the chart. It links back to the source automatically.

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<script>window.addEventListener("message",function(e){if(e&&e.data&&e.data.psmEmbed==="wordpress-attachment-pages"&&e.data.height){var f=document.getElementById("psm-wordpress-attachment-pages");if(f){f.style.height=e.data.height+"px";}}});</script>
<p style="font:14px/1.5 system-ui,sans-serif">Source: <a href="https://www.pagespeedmatters.com/resources/data-studies/wordpress-attachment-pages">WordPress Attachment Pages: Only 5.1% of Sites List Them in Sitemaps - PageSpeed Matters</a></p>

    Frequently asked questions

    Do WordPress sites include attachment pages in their sitemaps?

    Rarely. Of 1,270 WordPress sites with a readable sitemap, 5.1% (65) reference an attachment sitemap, and 3.5% (44) had one we could fetch.

    How many URLs does a WordPress attachment sitemap list?

    The attachment sitemaps that loaded list a median of 474 URLs across 42 sites, and the middle half list between 166 and 2,329 attachment URLs.

    How do I check if my sitemap lists attachment pages?

    Open your sitemap index and look for an entry with "attachment" in its address. Bigger sitemaps were more likely to have one: 8.7% of sites with 5,000 or more sitemap URLs did.

    Attachment pages are usually one plugin setting away from leaving your sitemap, which keeps crawlers focused on the content you want found. Need help with this? See our technical SEO services.

    Share

    How we measured

    Methodology & Source

    Data source
    Sitemaps of random WordPress sites that rank in Google
    Collection date
    October 2026
    Sample
    1,270 WordPress sites
    Release
    PageSpeed Matters, Oct 2026

    Sitemaps of 1,487 random WordPress homepages were checked in October 2026, including index files in SEO-plugin and core WordPress formats; 1,270 had a readable sitemap. An attachment sitemap is any sitemap file or index entry with 'attachment' in its address. Not every child sitemap was opened, so 65 sites reference one and 44 had one that loaded. Sites can expose attachment pages through links without listing them in a sitemap, so 5.1% is a floor. The study does not test whether attachment pages are indexable.

    Using this data?

    Cite this study

    Link back to the study when you cite it.

    APA

    Matt Suffoletto. (2026). WordPress Attachment Pages: Only 5.1% of Sites List Them in Sitemaps. PageSpeed Matters. https://www.pagespeedmatters.com/resources/data-studies/wordpress-attachment-pages

    Plain link

    WordPress Attachment Pages: Only 5.1% of Sites List Them in Sitemaps - PageSpeed Matters - https://www.pagespeedmatters.com/resources/data-studies/wordpress-attachment-pages

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