The noindex-in-sitemap contradiction
A URL in your sitemap says "index me." A noindex tag on that URL says "don't." Google logs the conflict and trusts neither signal cleanly.
Run this audit:
Step 1 — Crawl every URL listed in the sitemap.
Step 2 — Flag any returning X-Robots-Tag: noindex or <meta name="robots" content="noindex">.
Step 3 — Decide per URL: keep it indexable OR remove it from the sitemap. Never both states at once.
Pass criteria:
— ✅ Zero sitemap URLs carry noindex.
— ✅ Zero sitemap URLs are blocked in robots.txt (blocked = Google can't even read the noindex).
Threshold: in GSC, "Submitted URL marked noindex" count = 0.
Definition of done: every URL in the file is one you genuinely want in the index, confirmed by live header check.
The Sitemap SOP
@SitemapSOP
The noindex-in-sitemap contradiction
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