SOP: Build an image sitemap that actually gets images indexed

SOP: Build an image sitemap that actually gets images indexed
For sites where Google Images is a traffic channel.

Step 1 — Add the namespace to your sitemap root: xmlns:image="http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-image/1.1"

Step 2 — Nest <image:image> blocks inside the parent page's <url> entry, not in their own file.

Step 3 — Per page limit: ✅ Max 1,000 images per URL entry.

Step 4 — Use absolute image URLs (full https). ✅ Only images that return 200 and are NOT blocked in robots.txt.

Step 5 — List the canonical page that hosts the image, not a CDN hotlink page.

Step 6 — Skip decorative images (icons, spacers). Only index content images worth ranking.

Definition of done: GSC accepts the file, each page lists ≤1,000 reachable images, and a sample of 10 image URLs all return 200 unblocked.