Sitemap is not working

Hello,

We apologize for the issue you are facing with your sitemap not generating. Here are some steps you can take to troubleshoot the problem:

1. Check if the Sitemap is Accessible: First, try accessing your sitemap directly by visiting https://yourdomainname.com/sitemap_index.xml`. If it returns a 404 error or a blank page, we need to investigate further.

2. Flush Permalinks: Sometimes, flushing permalinks can resolve sitemap issues. To do this, go to your WordPress dashboard, navigate to Settings → Permalinks, and simply click Save Changes without making any changes. This can help refresh the permalink structure.

3. Validate Your Sitemap: Use the Validate XML Sitemap tool to check if your sitemap is correctly configured. Enter your sitemap URL and click VALIDATE SITEMAP.

4. Check Server Configuration: If you are using an Apache server, ensure that your .htaccess file has the correct rewrite rules for Rank Math sitemaps. You can add the following code:

   # START of Rank Math Sitemap Rewrite Rules
   RewriteEngine On
   RewriteBase /
   RewriteRule ^sitemap_index.xml$ /index.php?sitemap=1 [L]
   RewriteRule ^([^/]+?)-sitemap([0-9]+)?.xml$ /index.php?sitemap=$1&sitemap_n=$2 [L]
   RewriteRule ^([a-z]+)?-?sitemap.xsl$ /index.php?xsl=$1 [L]
   # END of Rank Math Sitemap Rewrite Rules

   If you are using Nginx, you will need to add the following rules to your Nginx config file:

   # START Nginx Rewrites for Rank Math Sitemaps
   rewrite ^/sitemap_index.xml$ /index.php?sitemap=1 last;
   rewrite ^/([^/]+?)-sitemap([0-9]+)?.xml$ /index.php?sitemap=$1&sitemap_n=$2 last;
   rewrite ^/([a-z]+)?-sitemap.xsl$ /index.php?xsl=$1 last;
   # END Nginx Rewrites for Rank Math Sitemaps

5. Check for Caching Issues: Ensure that your sitemap is not being cached by any caching plugins. You may need to exclude your sitemap from caching. We have a tutorial on how to exclude sitemaps from caching.

If these steps do not resolve the issue, please reply to this ticket, and a human agent from our support team will assist you further. Thank you for bringing this concern to our attention!

Sources:
Rank Math Sitemap Issues and Their Fixes » Rank Math
Troubleshooting the “Couldn’t Fetch” Error in Google Search Console » Rank Math