Overview
The GeoAI_Sitemaps class generates XML sitemaps to help search engines discover and crawl your content. It creates sitemap index files and individual sitemaps for different post types, with support for images.
Namespace: GeoAI\Core
Location: includes/class-geoai-sitemaps.php
Key Features
- XML sitemap generation
- Sitemap index support
- Multiple post type sitemaps
- Image sitemap integration
- Dynamic URL rewriting
- Configurable post types
- Last modified dates
- Priority and change frequency hints
Public Methods
get_instance()
Returns the singleton instance of the sitemaps class.
public static function get_instance()
GeoAI_Sitemaps - The singleton instance
Example:
$sitemaps = \GeoAI\Core\GeoAI_Sitemaps::get_instance();
add_rewrite_rules()
Adds URL rewrite rules for sitemap access.
public function add_rewrite_rules()
init
Registered URLs:
/sitemap.xml - Main sitemap index/sitemap-{type}.xml - Individual post type sitemaps
Examples:
https://example.com/sitemap.xmlhttps://example.com/sitemap-post.xmlhttps://example.com/sitemap-page.xml
serve_sitemap()
Serves the requested sitemap as XML.
public function serve_sitemap()
template_redirect
Behavior:
- Sets
Content-Type: application/xml header
- Generates sitemap index or individual sitemap
- Exits after output
Sitemap Types
Sitemap Index
The main sitemap at /sitemap.xml lists all available sitemaps:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<sitemapindex xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
<sitemap>
<loc>https://example.com/sitemap-post.xml</loc>
<lastmod>2026-03-04T10:30:00+00:00</lastmod>
</sitemap>
<sitemap>
<loc>https://example.com/sitemap-page.xml</loc>
<lastmod>2026-03-04T10:30:00+00:00</lastmod>
</sitemap>
</sitemapindex>
Individual Sitemaps
Each post type gets its own sitemap:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"
xmlns:image="http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-image/1.1">
<url>
<loc>https://example.com/post-slug/</loc>
<lastmod>2026-03-04T10:30:00+00:00</lastmod>
<changefreq>weekly</changefreq>
<priority>0.8</priority>
<image:image>
<image:loc>https://example.com/image.jpg</image:loc>
</image:image>
</url>
</urlset>
Configuration
Enable Sitemaps
$settings = array(
'enabled' => true, // Enable sitemap generation
'images' => true, // Include images in sitemaps
'post_types' => array( // Post types to include
'post',
'page',
'custom_post_type'
)
);
update_option( 'geoai_sitemaps', $settings );
Settings Reference
Enable or disable sitemap generation
Include featured images in sitemap URLs
post_types
array
default:"['post', 'page']"
Array of post types to include in sitemaps
Sitemap Parameters
URL Priority
All URLs use a default priority of 0.8:
This can be customized per URL using WordPress filters.
Change Frequency
All URLs use weekly as the default change frequency:
<changefreq>weekly</changefreq>
Last Modified
Uses the post’s last modified date:
<lastmod>2026-03-04T14:30:00+00:00</lastmod>
Usage Examples
Basic Setup
// Enable sitemaps with images
update_option( 'geoai_sitemaps', array(
'enabled' => true,
'images' => true
));
// Flush rewrite rules
flush_rewrite_rules();
Add Custom Post Type
$settings = get_option( 'geoai_sitemaps', array() );
$settings['post_types'] = array( 'post', 'page', 'portfolio' );
update_option( 'geoai_sitemaps', $settings );
// Flush rewrite rules to activate
flush_rewrite_rules();
Disable Image Sitemaps
$settings = get_option( 'geoai_sitemaps', array() );
$settings['images'] = false;
update_option( 'geoai_sitemaps', $settings );
Submit to Google Search Console
// Get sitemap URL
$sitemap_url = home_url( '/sitemap.xml' );
// Submit via HTTP (requires Google Search Console API)
$api_url = 'https://www.google.com/ping?sitemap=' . urlencode( $sitemap_url );
wp_remote_get( $api_url );
Verify Sitemap Output
// Test sitemap generation
$sitemaps = \GeoAI\Core\GeoAI_Sitemaps::get_instance();
$url = home_url( '/sitemap.xml' );
$response = wp_remote_get( $url );
if ( ! is_wp_error( $response ) ) {
$body = wp_remote_retrieve_body( $response );
$xml = simplexml_load_string( $body );
if ( $xml ) {
echo 'Valid XML sitemap with ' . count( $xml->sitemap ) . ' sitemaps';
}
}
Sitemap Limits
Posts Per Sitemap
Each sitemap includes up to 1,000 posts:
For sites with more content, consider implementing sitemap pagination.
XML Size Limit
Sitemaps should stay under 50MB (uncompressed) and 50,000 URLs per Google’s guidelines.
Rewrite Rules
After enabling sitemaps or changing settings, flush rewrite rules:
Or use WP-CLI:
Search Engine Submission
Google Search Console
- Go to Google Search Console
- Navigate to Sitemaps section
- Submit:
https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml
- Go to Bing Webmaster Tools
- Navigate to Sitemaps section
- Submit:
https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml
robots.txt Entry
Add sitemap location to robots.txt:
User-agent: *
Allow: /
Sitemap: https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml
Troubleshooting
Sitemap Returns 404
Solution: Flush rewrite rules
Missing Posts in Sitemap
Check post status (only published posts are included):
$posts = get_posts( array(
'post_type' => 'post',
'post_status' => 'publish',
'posts_per_page' => -1
));
echo 'Found ' . count( $posts ) . ' published posts';
Images Not Appearing
Verify image sitemap setting:
$settings = get_option( 'geoai_sitemaps', array() );
var_dump( $settings['images'] ); // Should be true
Invalid XML
Validate XML output:
curl https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml | xmllint --format -
Caching Sitemaps
For large sites, cache sitemap output:
add_action( 'template_redirect', function() {
if ( get_query_var( 'geoai_sitemap' ) ) {
header( 'Cache-Control: public, max-age=3600' );
}
});
Query Optimization
The class uses optimized queries:
array(
'post_type' => $type,
'post_status' => 'publish',
'posts_per_page' => 1000,
'orderby' => 'modified',
'order' => 'DESC'
)