Submit the index, not every child

Submit the index, not every child

In GSC you submit ONE thing: the index file. Submitting each child individually clutters the report and gains nothing.

SOP:
Step 1 — Submit sitemap_index.xml only.
Step 2 — Let Google discover children from the index.
Step 3 — Read coverage — GSC still breaks stats down per child automatically.

Rules:
— ✅ One index submitted.
— ✅ Children referenced with absolute URLs inside the index.
— ❌ Don't submit children AND the index — duplicate reporting.
— ❌ Don't delete a submitted sitemap to "reset" stats; it drops the data history.

Threshold: GSC "Sitemaps" list shows your index, status "Success."

Definition of done: one index submitted, children auto-discovered, per-child stats visible.