<b>Stop pinging the sitemap endpoint</b>

<b>Stop pinging the sitemap endpoint</b>

Google retired the <code>/ping?sitemap=</code> endpoint. If your deploy still calls it, you're hitting a dead URL and assuming it worked.

What replaced it:
— ✅ GSC submission (one-time per sitemap; Google re-checks on its own schedule).
— ✅ The robots.txt <code>Sitemap:</code> directive for discovery.
— ✅ Accurate <code>&lt;lastmod&gt;</code> so Google knows what changed since last fetch.

SOP:
Step 1 — Grep your deploy scripts for <code>google.com/ping</code> and remove it.
Step 2 — Confirm the sitemap is in robots.txt and submitted in GSC once.
Step 3 — Rely on lastmod accuracy, not pings, to signal freshness.

Threshold: zero ping calls in CI/CD; lastmod doing the work instead.

Definition of done: discovery rests on GSC + robots.txt + lastmod — no deprecated ping anywhere.