A page tagged with meta robots noindex should not appear in sitemap.xml. It is a logical contradiction: the sitemap says "crawl and index this", the noindex says "do not index this". Conflicting signals erode Google's trust in the entire sitemap.
Why this matters
The sitemap is your declaration to Google: "these pages I want in search". When a noindexed URL sits in the sitemap, Google reads inconsistency - and reduces the weight it gives to the entire sitemap. In practice, Google crawls the sitemap less often and ignores "submitted via sitemap" hints.
Secondary impact: wasted crawl budget. Google allocates each site a finite number of URLs per crawl pass. Time spent on noindexed pages (which it knows it will not index) is time stolen from new content you actually want indexed. On large sites this delays discovery of fresh content by days or weeks.
Third impact: noisy reporting. In Google Search Console > Pages, URLs land in "Excluded by 'noindex' tag" with the explanation "submitted to sitemap" - a screen that misleads operators into thinking there is an active issue, when in fact it is a deliberate but uncoordinated decision.
How to detect
In Google Search Console > Pages > Not indexed look for "Excluded by 'noindex' tag". If the listed URLs also appear in your sitemap, you have a conflict. Click into the bucket to see the list.
Complementary check: use Screaming Frog SEO Spider in List mode. Load the sitemap.xml, crawl, and look at the Directives tab - it shows every URL with its meta robots. Filter for "noindex" to get the conflict list.
Manual check: open sitemap.xml in the browser (https://example.com/sitemap.xml), pick a URL, view its source, and search for noindex in the robots meta tag.
How to fix
For every conflicting URL, decide what you actually want: appear in search, or not. If yes - remove the noindex. If no - remove from the sitemap.
Pages you want in search: open the post or page, scroll to the SEO plugin box, and flip the visibility. In Yoast: change "Allow search engines to show this Post in search results?" to Yes. In Rank Math: set Robots Meta to Index.
Pages you do not want in search: keep noindex but remove from the sitemap.
- Yoast: SEO > Search Appearance > Content Types > pick the post type and toggle "Show in search results?" to No - this both noindexes and removes from sitemap. The sitemap regenerates immediately.
- Rank Math: Titles & Meta > pick the post type > set Index to noindex - also removes from sitemap automatically.
- RankPlus: in the post editor, tick the noindex box and confirm the option also removes from sitemap.
After changing, resubmit the sitemap in Google Search Console > Sitemaps. To accelerate index update, hit Resubmit on the sitemap or use URL Inspection on individual URLs.
Common mistakes
First mistake: applying noindex without removing from the sitemap. SEO plugins usually exclude noindexed pages from sitemap by default, but if you added noindex via a custom filter or meta box, the URL may still be listed. Verify.
Second mistake: removing noindex but forgetting to confirm Google can reach the page. If the URL is blocked in robots.txt, it cannot enter the index even after noindex is gone. Check both signals.
Third mistake: leaving system pages (login, register, account, cart, checkout) in the sitemap with noindex. These pages serve a different function and should never be in search results. Confirm your SEO plugin auto-excludes them.
Fourth mistake: noindex from one plugin and sitemap from another. If Yoast manages the sitemap while RankPlus controls noindex, they will not coordinate. Pick a single plugin to own both.
Verifying the fix
Watch Search Console > Pages - the count under "Excluded by 'noindex' tag with submitted sitemap" should drop to zero over 4-6 weeks. Re-run Screaming Frog and confirm zero matches. In Sitemaps, verify the URL count dropped (if you removed pages).
/?s=), empty category and tag archives, author archives, attachment pages. Audit this list quarterly.