Sitemap extractor for URLs from XML sitemaps and sitemap index files

What this robot does

XML sitemaps are the definitive map of a website's content. Every well-maintained site publishes a sitemap.xml (or a sitemap index that references multiple sub-sitemaps) listing every URL the site wants search engines to index. Sitemap index files take this further - they list multiple sitemaps, each potentially containing thousands of URLs, organized by content type or section.

For SEO professionals auditing site structure, competitive analysts mapping competitor content, and developers verifying deployment coverage, sitemaps are the fastest way to understand exactly what a site contains. This robot extracts the position, full URL (loc), and last modified date from sitemap XML files and sitemap index files into a flat, structured dataset.

What sitemap extraction delivers:

• ✓ Complete URL inventory: A sitemap lists every page a site wants indexed. Extract every URL with its position and last modified date - no crawling required.
• ✓ Content structure revelation: URL patterns in sitemaps reveal site architecture. Extract URLs and analyze path patterns to understand how a site organizes its content.
• ✓ Freshness assessment: Last modified dates show which pages are actively maintained and which are stale. Extract dates to identify outdated content needing attention.
• ✓ Indexation coverage analysis: Compare sitemap URLs against what's actually indexed in search engines. Gaps indicate pages that aren't being crawled or indexed properly.

How to extract URLs from a sitemap in 4 steps

No special access needed. The robot reads publicly accessible XML sitemap files and delivers structured URL data.

• A free Browse AI account (no credit card required).
• A sitemap.xml or sitemap index URL (typically at domain.com/sitemap.xml).

What can you do with sitemap data?

Extracted sitemap data is foundational for SEO audits and competitive analysis:

• SEO site audit: Extract your own sitemap to verify all important pages are included. Compare against actual indexed pages in Google Search Console to find gaps.
• Competitor content mapping: Extract a competitor's sitemap to see every page they publish. Understand their content strategy, URL structure, and site scope without crawling.
• Content freshness audit: Extract last modified dates across your sitemap. Identify stale pages that haven't been updated and may need content refreshes.
• Migration planning: Before a site migration, extract the full sitemap. Use the URL list as your redirect mapping checklist to ensure no pages get lost.
• Content volume benchmarking: Compare sitemap sizes across competitors. Page counts by section (blog, product, docs) reveal where competitors invest content effort.
• Orphan page detection: Cross-reference sitemap URLs with internal link analysis. Pages in the sitemap but not linked from anywhere may have discoverability issues.

What data does this sitemap extractor pull?

Each sitemap entry provides three structured fields:

Sitemaps provide the URL inventory. For page-level data like titles, meta descriptions, and content, combine sitemap extraction with individual page scraping.

Frequently asked questions

Where do I find a site's sitemap?
Most sites use /sitemap.xml. If that doesn't work, check the site's robots.txt file - it typically contains a Sitemap: directive with the exact URL.

What's a sitemap index vs. a regular sitemap?
A sitemap index file lists multiple sub-sitemaps. The robot handles both - extracting the position, loc (URL), and lastmod for each entry.

Do all websites have sitemaps?
Most well-maintained websites publish XML sitemaps. Some smaller or older sites may not. If no sitemap exists, you'll need a crawler to discover pages.

Can I use this for large sitemaps with thousands of URLs?
Yes. Sitemaps can contain up to 50,000 URLs each. The robot extracts the position, URL, and last modified date for all listed entries regardless of sitemap size.

Is this sitemap extractor free?
Browse AI's free plan includes credits to run this robot. No credit card required.

Get more data by pairing with these robots

Sitemaps show what a site publishes - combine with page-level and search data for full SEO intelligence:

• Google search results scraper - Combine sitemap URL inventories with Google search data to verify which sitemap pages actually appear in search results.
• Webpage content extractor - Pull page headings, paragraphs, and content structure from any webpage for analysis.
• HTML and screenshot extractor - Extract raw HTML code and capture screenshots for comprehensive page analysis.