Sitemap diff

What this tool checks

A sitemap diff compares two XML sitemaps and lists exactly which URLs were added and which were removed between them. It matters because your set of public URLs is what search crawlers and AI answer engines index and quote — a silent drop of pages after a botched deploy, or a competitor launching a new content cluster, changes what can be cited long before it surfaces in your analytics.

What it looks at

Added URLs

Pages present in the second sitemap but absent from the first — new content, new sections, or a competitor's expansion you should know about.

Removed URLs

Pages in the first sitemap that are gone from the second — pruned, redirected, or accidentally dropped addresses that risk 404s and lost citations.

Net URL-count delta

The overall change in total addresses between the two sitemaps; a sudden drop usually signals a deploy regression or an accidental noindex.

Cosmetic URL differences

A trailing slash, protocol, or case difference can make one page look like two; unless those are reconciled, the same URL may show up as both added and removed — so check before trusting the counts.

Comparison baseline

Which two sitemaps you diff — one site over time, staging vs production, or you vs a competitor — which defines what the result means.

CSV export

The added and removed URL lists as a downloadable file for tracking, tickets, or feeding into other tools.

How to use it

1. Point the tool at the two sitemaps you want to compare — an older and newer snapshot, staging and production, or your site and a competitor's.
2. Review the added and removed URL lists to spot new pages, accidental drops, or content gaps.
3. Act on it: restore or redirect any wrongly removed URLs, ship the missing pages, or plan content for the competitor URLs you lack — and export the CSV to track it.

Frequently asked questions