Make the sitemap reachable
Why it matters
The sitemap address that robots.txt names, or the default one, cannot be fetched, so crawlers cannot use it. The address may be wrong, or the file may be blocked or failing.
The fix
- Open each Sitemap address from robots.txt in a browser and note the status. A 404 means the address or the file is wrong (often an old domain, http instead of https, or a moved file); a 5xx means a server fault; a 403 means a firewall or access rule.
- Correct the Sitemap line in robots.txt or restore the file, and make sure no firewall, password or login rule sits in front of it.
- Check the file again and resubmit it in Google Search Console.
Related
- Reported by the robots.txt and sitemap check
- Add a robots.txt file
- Fix the server error on robots.txt
- Fix the syntax of robots.txt
- Shrink the robots.txt file
- Allow search engines in robots.txt
- Publish an XML sitemap
- List the sitemap in robots.txt
- Fix the sitemap format
- Put URLs into the sitemap
- Split the sitemap into several files
- Remove URLs from other domains in the sitemap
Scan your domain to see whether this applies to you.