Hello,
We apologize for the issue you are facing with the /sitemap_index.xml file returning a 404 error. Since you’ve already followed all the troubleshooting steps outlined in our article, here are a few additional suggestions you might consider:
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Flush the Sitemap Cache: Ensure that you have flushed the sitemap cache after making any changes. You can do this by navigating to Rank Math SEO → Sitemap Settings and adjusting the Links Per Sitemap setting, then saving changes.
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Check Permalink Settings: Sometimes, simply saving the permalink settings can help. Go to Settings → Permalinks in your WordPress admin area and click Save Changes without making any modifications.

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Server Configuration: If you are using NGINX or Apache, ensure that the correct rewrite rules are in place as mentioned in our article. If you’re unsure about this, it might be best to consult with your hosting provider.
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Caching Plugins: If you are using a caching plugin, make sure that the sitemap files are excluded from caching. This is crucial as caching can prevent the sitemap from updating correctly.
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Check Robots Meta Tags: Ensure that your pages are set to index in the robots meta tag. Pages set to noindex will not appear in the sitemap and could lead to errors.

If these steps do not resolve the issue, please reply to this ticket with your site URL so that a human agent from our support team can assist you further. 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. Your ticket has been assigned to a human agent and we will get back to you shortly.
Hello,
We’ve checked your sitemap, and it is working fine.
In this case, please follow these steps to flush your sitemap cache:
1. Flush the Sitemap cache by following this video screencast:
https://i.rankmath.com/pipRDp
2. Exclude the Sitemap files of the Rank Math plugin in your caching plugin. The cache could be via a plugin or from the server. For plugins or Cloudflare, please follow this article:
https://rankmath.com/kb/exclude-sitemaps-from-caching/
3. Disable the transient cache for the sitemap by applying this filter. This will make sure that your XML sitemap always reflects the latest changes on your site:
/**
* Filter if XML sitemap transient cache is enabled.
*
* @param boolean $unsigned Enable cache or not, defaults to true
*/
add_filter( 'rank_math/sitemap/enable_caching', '__return_false');
If you’re not sure how to add this code, you can follow this guide:
https://rankmath.com/kb/wordpress-hooks-actions-filters/
Looking forward to helping you.