# Why does my sitemap show errors after a migration? > Your sitemap shows errors after a migration because it usually still describes the old site, not the new one. The common causes are: the sitemap lists old URLs that now redirect or return 404, so search engines flag those entries; the sitemap was not regenerated, so it points at a structure that no longer exists; it includes URLs that are now noindex or non canonical, which contradicts what the pages say; or the new platform generates the sitemap at a different location, so the old submitted one is stale. A sitemap is meant to list only your live, canonical pages that return a 200 response, so any entry that redirects, errors, or is blocked is reported as a problem. The fix is to regenerate the sitemap from the new site so it contains only current, indexable URLs, remove the stale entries, confirm it is not blocked, and resubmit it. The errors are a symptom of a sitemap describing the past, not a deeper penalty. WPBuildAI scans your site and returns the full list of live URLs, so you can confirm your sitemap matches the pages that actually exist. Source: https://wpbuildai.com/why-sitemap-errors-after-migration/ By lawrence-arya ยท 2026-06-13 --- Your sitemap shows errors after a migration because it usually still describes the old site, not the new one, and the mismatch is what search engines report. The common causes are straightforward. The sitemap lists old URLs that now redirect or return 404, so search engines flag those entries. The sitemap was not regenerated, so it points at a structure that no longer exists. It includes URLs that are now noindex or non canonical, which contradicts what the pages themselves say. Or the new platform generates the sitemap at a different location, so the old submitted one is stale. A sitemap is meant to list only your live, canonical pages that return a 200 response, so any entry that redirects, errors, or is blocked is reported as a problem. The fix is to regenerate the sitemap from the new site so it contains only current, indexable URLs, remove the stale entries, confirm it is not blocked, and resubmit it. WPBuildAI scans your site and returns the full list of live URLs, so you can confirm your sitemap matches the pages that actually exist. ## What a sitemap is supposed to contain The errors make sense once you know the rule a sitemap is held to. As the [sitemaps overview](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/overview) describes, a sitemap is a list of the URLs you want search engines to know about, and the expectation is that those URLs are live, canonical pages that return a 200 response and are meant to be indexed. It is an index of your real, current pages. So anything in the sitemap that does not meet that bar, a URL that redirects, one that 404s, one marked noindex, or a non canonical duplicate, is by definition out of place, and search engines report it as such. The errors are not mysterious; they are the gap between what the sitemap claims exists and what actually does. ## Cause one: it still lists old URLs The most common cause is the simplest. If the sitemap was carried over or not regenerated, it still lists the old site's URLs. After the migration, those addresses either redirect to new ones or return 404, and a sitemap is not supposed to contain redirecting or erroring URLs. So every old entry becomes a flagged error: this URL you told us about now redirects, or now does not exist. The sitemap is doing its job of describing a set of pages; the problem is that it is describing the previous set. This ties directly to your redirect work, because the same URL change that needs a 301, covered in the [site move guide](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/site-move-with-url-changes), also makes the old sitemap entry stale. ## Cause two: it was never regenerated Closely related is a sitemap that simply was not rebuilt for the new site. A migration changes which pages exist and where they live, so the sitemap has to be generated fresh from the new structure. If the new platform was launched without regenerating it, or if an old static sitemap file was left in place, the sitemap reflects a site that no longer exists. The remedy is to produce a new sitemap from the live site, so it lists the current URLs rather than the historical ones. Web Almanac 2024 ([HTTP Archive](https://almanac.httparchive.org/en/2024/)) is a reminder of how many URLs a site has, so a regenerated sitemap is the only reliable way to capture them all accurately rather than editing the old one by hand. ## Cause three: it includes noindex or non-canonical URLs A subtler cause is contradiction. Sometimes the new sitemap is generated but includes URLs that the pages themselves say should not be indexed, such as noindex pages, or URLs that are not the canonical version, such as parameter or duplicate variants. Now the sitemap says index this while the page says do not, or the sitemap lists a duplicate while the canonical points elsewhere. Search engines flag this conflict because your signals disagree. The fix is to make the sitemap include only canonical, indexable URLs, so it agrees with the pages, the redirects, and the canonicals. A sitemap that contradicts your other signals is worse than a smaller one that is consistent. ## Cause four: the sitemap moved location Finally, the new platform may generate its sitemap at a different path than your old one, or split it into multiple files. If you previously submitted a specific sitemap URL, that old location may now be stale or itself return an error, while the real sitemap sits somewhere else. The fix is to find where the new platform actually publishes the sitemap, submit that location, and remove the old submitted entry so search is not pointed at a file that no longer represents the site. This is part of resubmitting after a move, covered in [submit a new sitemap after a redesign](/submit-new-sitemap-after-redesigning-website), and it is easy to miss because the sitemap exists, just not where you told search to look. ## How to fix sitemap errors The repair is the same regardless of which cause you have: make the sitemap an accurate list of live, canonical, indexable URLs, then resubmit it. Regenerate it from the new site, confirm it excludes redirecting URLs, 404s, noindex pages, and non canonical duplicates, and check that the sitemap file itself is reachable and not blocked by robots rules. Then submit the correct location in Search Console and remove any stale submission. To verify the sitemap matches reality, compare it against an independent list of your live URLs, which is what [find and extract all URLs](/find-extract-all-urls-website-301-redirects) provides. When the sitemap and the real site agree, the errors clear. ## Steps to fix a sitemap after migration 1. **Regenerate the sitemap** from the new live site, not the old one. 2. **Include only canonical, indexable URLs** that return 200. 3. **Exclude** redirecting URLs, 404s, noindex pages, and duplicates. 4. **Confirm the sitemap file** is reachable and not blocked by robots. 5. **Submit the correct location** in Search Console and remove stale submissions. 6. **Compare against a live URL list** to confirm the sitemap matches reality. ## Worked example: clearing a wave of sitemap errors Imagine a site that migrates and soon sees hundreds of sitemap errors in Search Console. The team checks and finds two causes: the old sitemap was still submitted and listed the previous URL structure, all of which now redirects, and the newly generated sitemap included a batch of tag pages that are set to noindex. They regenerate the sitemap from the new site, configure it to exclude the noindex tag pages and any non canonical variants, and confirm it lists only live, canonical URLs returning 200. They submit the new sitemap location and remove the old submission. Then they compare the sitemap against an independent list of live URLs to confirm nothing is missing or stale. The errors clear over the following recrawls, because the sitemap now describes the site that exists rather than the one that did, much like resolving [404 errors in Search Console](/google-search-console-404-errors-after-website-redesign). ## Limitation: a clean sitemap aids discovery, it does not rank It is fair to keep expectations honest. A correct sitemap helps search engines discover and reconcile your URLs efficiently, but it is not a ranking factor and it does not guarantee indexing of every listed page. So fixing sitemap errors removes confusion and speeds discovery; it does not lift rankings on its own, and a page listed in a perfect sitemap can still be left unindexed if it is thin or duplicative. Treat the sitemap as accurate signposting that helps your real new URLs be found, not as a lever for ranking. And remember that a sitemap problem is about discovery, while a total disappearance from search points elsewhere, to the causes in [why a site is deindexed after a migration](/why-is-my-site-deindexed-after-migration). ## Common mistakes - Leaving the old sitemap submitted so it lists redirecting or 404 URLs. - Launching without regenerating the sitemap for the new structure. - Including noindex or non canonical URLs that contradict the pages. - Submitting the wrong location when the new platform moved the sitemap. - Never comparing the sitemap against a list of the live URLs. ## Key points Your sitemap shows errors after a migration because it usually still describes the old site: it lists old URLs that now redirect or 404, was not regenerated, includes noindex or non canonical URLs, or sits at a new location while the stale one stays submitted. A sitemap should list only live, canonical pages that return 200, so any other entry is flagged. Regenerate it from the new site, exclude redirecting, erroring, noindex, and duplicate URLs, confirm the file is reachable, and resubmit the correct location while removing the stale one. Verify it against an independent list of your live URLs so the sitemap matches reality. This is discovery hygiene that pairs with [submitting a new sitemap after a redesign](/submit-new-sitemap-after-redesigning-website), not a ranking lever. WPBuildAI scans your site and returns the full list of live URLs, so you can confirm your sitemap matches the pages that actually exist. Send your web address for a free analysis. Not affiliated with WordPress, Lovable, Webflow, Shopify, Wix, or Squarespace.