Short answer
Keep an XML sitemap of every indexable page, update lastmod only when content changes, submit it in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools, and reference it in robots.txt.
Checklist
- Only canonical, indexable URLs
- Real lastmod dates
- Split large sitemaps (max 50,000 URLs each)
- Sitemap line in robots.txt
Questions
Does lastmod affect ranking?
It helps discovery, not ranking.
Facts checked against the sources below on 12 October 2026. Platforms change quickly: if something here no longer matches what you see, tell us and we will update it.
