Does Google use priority and changefreq?

A sitemap crawlers trust.

Spec-conformant sitemap.xml with lastmod, priority and validation, built in your browser.

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seowise

XML Sitemap Generator

Generated in your browser with seowise

Runs in your browser · nothing uploaded · unlimited

2 URLs

URL	Last modified	Change frequency	Priority

changefreq and priority are part of the sitemap protocol, but Google has publicly stated it ignores both for ranking purposes — set them for other crawlers if you like, or leave blank.

Sitemap health

100

URLs

File

353 B

Size

Spec-conformant

●
At least one URL*
●
No duplicate URLs*
●
All URLs are absolute (http/https)*
Relative paths aren't valid per the sitemap protocol — every <loc> needs a full https://... URL.
●
Single consistent protocol
Mixing http and https URLs usually means your site hasn't fully migrated — pick one.
●
Single consistent host
A sitemap should only list URLs from one host you're authorized to submit for.
●
Valid lastmod dates
lastmod must be W3C Datetime format (YYYY-MM-DD or full ISO 8601).
●
Within 50,000 URLs per file

Submit in Search Console ↗

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
  <url>
    <loc>https://yoursite.com/</loc>
    <changefreq>weekly</changefreq>
    <priority>1.0</priority>
  </url>
  <url>
    <loc>https://yoursite.com/about</loc>
    <changefreq>monthly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.8</priority>
  </url>
</urlset>

Generated with seowise. Results reflect the page as fetched at the time shown; speed is measured from our server, not a lab test.

Ready for ChatGPT, Geminiand Perplexity?

Accurate lastmod dates help search and AI crawlers prioritise fresh content over stale pages.

How it works

01
What you get
A sitemap.xml that follows the sitemaps.org protocol, with validation for duplicate, malformed and off-domain URLs.
02
Where it goes
Upload it to your site root and reference it in robots.txt with a Sitemap: line. Submit it in Google Search Console.

Questions, answered

Google has said it largely ignores them; lastmod matters more when it is accurate. We include them because other engines may read them.

Pairs well with

Every tool

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