Persistent X-Robots-Tag: noindex Header on Sitemap Despite Full Troubleshooting

#1120543
  • Hi Rank Math Team,

    I’m experiencing an issue where the X-Robots-Tag: noindex header is being applied to my sitemap (https://justkidsngr.com/sitemap_index.xml), and I’ve exhausted all recommended troubleshooting steps without success.

    Here’s everything I’ve done so far:

    – Added the recommended filter:
    add_filter( ‘rank_math/sitemap/x_robots_tag’, ‘__return_false’ );
    – Tried the anonymous function version of the filter
    – Added .htaccess rules to unset the header
    – Cleared LiteSpeed cache (currently disabled to eliminate caching interference)
    – Confirmed with my host (DomainKing) that no server-level headers are being injected
    – Enabled Troubleshooting Mode via the Health Check plugin
    – Tested with only Rank Math active and a default WordPress theme (Twenty Twenty-Five)

    Despite all this, the X-Robots-Tag: noindex header still appears on the sitemap. I’ve verified this using tools like httpstatus.io .

    Could you please confirm whether this is a known issue or bug, and advise if there’s another way to disable the header? I’d appreciate any guidance or backend fix you can offer.

    Thanks so much,
    Justkids

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  • Hello,

    We apologize for the issue you are facing with the X-Robots-Tag: noindex header on your sitemap. Thank you for providing detailed information about the troubleshooting steps you’ve already taken; it helps us understand your situation better.

    Since you’ve already tried several methods without success, we recommend checking a few additional things:

    1. Check Robots.txt: Ensure that there are no rules in your robots.txt file that might be affecting the sitemap. You can check this by navigating to Rank Math SEO → General Settings → robots.txt.

    2. Custom Canonicals: If you have set custom canonical URLs for your posts, it might affect how they appear in the sitemap. Consider removing any custom canonicals to see if that resolves the issue.

    3. Server Configuration: Although your host has confirmed that no server-level headers are being injected, it might be worth double-checking if there are any security plugins or server settings that could be interfering with the headers.

    4. Debugging: You can enable debugging in WordPress to see if any errors are being logged that might give us more insight into the issue.

    If none of these suggestions resolve the problem, we recommend replying to this ticket so a human agent from our support team can take a closer look at your specific setup and provide further assistance. Please include any additional details or changes you make in your reply.

    Thank you for your patience, and we look forward to helping you resolve this issue!

    This is an automated reply from Rank Math Support Bot. If you need further assistance, please reply to this topic and a human support agent will reply to you shortly.

Viewing 1 replies (of 1 total)

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