Hello,
We apologize for the issue you are facing with your sitemap not being read in Google Search Console (GSC). Since your sitemap loads fine on the validator and you’ve already purged the website cache, here are a few additional steps you can take to troubleshoot this issue:
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Flush Permalinks: Sometimes, simply flushing permalinks can resolve issues with sitemaps. Go to your WordPress dashboard, navigate to Settings → Permalinks, and click Save Changes without making any changes. This can help refresh the permalink structure.
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Check Sitemap URL: Ensure that the sitemap URL you are submitting to GSC is correct. It should typically look like this: `https://rankmath.com/kb/fix-sitemap-issues/.
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Rename the Sitemap File: If the issue persists, try renaming your sitemap file in GSC. Go to Indexing → Sitemaps in GSC and submit a new sitemap URL like https://yourdomain.com/?sitemap=1.
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Validate Your Sitemap: Although you mentioned it passes validation, double-check using the Validate XML Sitemap tool to ensure there are no hidden issues.
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Check Server Configuration: If you’re using Apache, ensure that your .htaccess file has the correct rewrite rules for the sitemap. You can refer to our guide on adding rewrite rules if needed.
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Exclude Sitemap from Caching: Make sure that your caching plugin is not caching the sitemap. You can find instructions on how to exclude sitemaps from caching in our guide.
If you’ve tried all these steps and the issue still persists, 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 raising this concern!
Sources:
Rank Math Sitemap Issues and Their Fixes » Rank Math
Troubleshooting the “Couldn’t Fetch” Error in Google Search Console » Rank Math
Why the Sitemap_Index.xml is Throwing a 404 Error » Rank Math
How To Exclude Rank Math Sitemaps from Caching » Rank Math
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.
1. I did already
2. The sitemap URL example you provided doesn’t look right. I am submitting is correct:
/sitemap_index.xml (https://speedyhomebuyer.co.uk/sitemap_index.xml)
3. I am unable to rename my sitemap as it was generated by you and you don’t offer that functionality.
4. Already checked it using Validate XML Sitemap tool
5. Done
6. Done
Hello,
Thank you for contacting us. We apologize for any inconvenience this issue may have caused.
Please follow the steps below:
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. Apply the following filter code to your site.
add_filter( 'rank_math/sitemap/enable_caching', '__return_false');
Here’s how you can add filter to your WordPress site:https://rankmath.com/kb/wordpress-hooks-actions-filters/
4. Remove all your sitemaps from your Google Search Console and re-submit only the main sitemap (https://website.com/sitemap_index.xml)
5. If the issue persists, please try removing all your sitemaps from your GSC account again and try submitting the following: https://website.com/?sitemap=1.
Let us know how that goes. Looking forward to helping you.
I have completed all the above and still no luck. Please can you do some investigating to help figure out what is causing this?
As previously stated, I can’t submit /?sitemap=1 as an alternative as when I ran this through a vaildator it failed.
I understand that Rank Math (and many SEO systems) often set X-Robots-Tag: noindex on sitemap files by default, as a measure to prevent the sitemap itself from being indexed. That is typically considered acceptable behaviour, and many documentation threads from your team affirm this.
However, in my case, this noindex header appears to be interfering with Google Search Console’s ability to discover child URLs. My GSC report currently shows “0 discovered URLs”—which is not consistent with a sitemap that is properly readable.
The server error logs show that Rank Math is trying to query a missing database table called rank_math_analytics_objects, which is part of its Analytics module. This means the Analytics feature isn’t fully installed or has become corrupted, causing repeated database errors every time a page loads. While it may not directly affect normal SEO output, it can interfere with how Rank Math generates data—potentially including sitemaps or headers—so it should be repaired or the Analytics module disabled until fixed.
Please help me investigate these issues further.
Hello,
We checked your sitemap but were not able to find any issues there. In this case, please allow Google some time after submitting the sitemap on GSC to crawl and update the status.
You can monitor the “Last read/crawl date” column in the sitemap index, as it will update the date when Google crawls your sitemap.
Please note that each time Google uses a sitemap to find a URL, the count of the Discovered URLs increases by one. Sitemaps are only one of the few methods Google uses to discover your URLs.
When the count of the Discovered URLs is zero or does not match your actual sitemap in your Google Search Console, it means Google didn’t use the sitemap to find the URLs.
Here’s a link for more information: https://rankmath.com/kb/zero-discovered-urls-through-sitemap/
Regarding the missing database table, please head over to your WordPress Dashboard > Rank Math > Status & Tools > Database tools and click on the button “Re-create Tables”.
You may also refer to this guide as well: https://rankmath.com/kb/recreate-missing-database-tables/
Hope this helps, and please do not hesitate to let us know if you need our assistance with anything else.
Thank you.
