Google News Sitemap XML for WordPress: Setup and Submission

A Google News sitemap is an XML file that lists the articles you published in the last two days. Each entry carries a few extra news tags. In WordPress, you build one with a plugin: Rank Math PRO, Yoast News SEO (both paid) or the free XML Sitemap & Google News. You then submit it once in Google Search Console or list it in robots.txt.

It is optional. Google says publishers don’t need to submit their site to be eligible for Google News. A news sitemap helps Google find new articles faster; it does not earn you a place there.

What a Google News sitemap is and who needs one

A news sitemap is a normal XML sitemap with an extra namespace and a <news:news> block for each article. That block gives the publication name, language, first publish date and headline. Google’s news sitemap documentation lets you add these tags to an existing sitemap or keep a separate file.

Google News help says it can “help improve how quickly our crawler finds your content.” That matters most when stories go stale within hours.

• You need one if you run a news site, or a news section that publishes timely articles most days.
• You don’t need one if you run a business blog, a service site or a store. A file that only holds the last two days would sit empty most of the time.

Sitemaps are only one way Google finds pages, as I explain in how Google crawls, indexes and decides priority.

The required tags, Google’s rules and an XML example

Each article sits in a normal <url> element, with its full address in <loc>. The <urlset> declares the standard sitemap namespace and Google’s news namespace, http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-news/0.9. Google requires these six tags.

Google’s current page lists only these six tags, so plugin extras such as stock tickers are optional.

A correct news sitemap example

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"
        xmlns:news="http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-news/0.9">
  <url>
    <loc>https://www.example.com/city/council-approves-new-budget/</loc>
    <news:news>
      <news:publication>
        <news:name>The Example Times</news:name>
        <news:language>en</news:language>
      </news:publication>
      <news:publication_date>2026-10-31T09:30:00+05:30</news:publication_date>
      <news:title>City Council Approves New Budget</news:title>
    </news:news>
  </url>
</urlset>

A real file repeats the <url> block for every article from the last two days. The date uses India’s +05:30 offset, so change it to your own time zone.

The rules Google states

• Two days only. Include only “articles that were created in the last two days.” After that, remove the URL or just its <news:news> block.
• Update one file. Add articles as you publish them. Google says, “Don’t create a new sitemap with each update.”
• 1,000 per sitemap. If you publish more than 1,000 articles in two days, split them across several news sitemaps.
• Empty is fine. Search Console may show an Empty Sitemap warning on quiet days, but Google says an empty file won’t harm you in Search.
• General sitemap rules apply. Google’s guide to building a sitemap requires UTF-8 encoding and full, absolute URLs.

How to create a news sitemap in WordPress: three ways

WordPress has produced a basic sitemap at /wp-sitemap.xml since version 5.5. The core team stated that news, image and video sitemaps are not covered by it, so you need a plugin.

Option 1: Rank Math (PRO, paid)

Rank Math’s News Sitemap guide says the feature “is available only in Rank Math PRO.” It suits sites already on Rank Math.

1. Check that the Sitemap module is on. News Sitemap can only be enabled after it.
2. Go to Rank Math SEO > Dashboard and switch on News Sitemap.
3. Open Rank Math SEO > Sitemap Settings > News Sitemap. Enter your Google News Publication Name exactly as Google shows it.
4. Under News Post Type, select only post types that carry news. Use Exclude Post Terms to drop non-news categories or tags.
5. Save, then copy the address from the read-only Sitemap URL field.

Rank Math includes only posts from the last two days. Each post also gets a Googlebot-News Index option in its Advanced tab, which affects Google News only.

Option 2: Yoast News SEO (paid)

Yoast’s News SEO page lists it as included in Yoast SEO Premium, Yoast WooCommerce SEO and Yoast SEO AI+, all paid plans. It also adds NewsArticle schema and a per-post choice to include an article or not.

1. Install News SEO through your Yoast plan.
2. Go to Yoast SEO > News SEO and enter the Google News Publication Name. Yoast’s configuration guide says it must match news.google.com exactly.
3. Select only the post types that contain news, then save.
4. Choose any categories to exclude from the news sitemap.
5. Use the “view sitemap” link on the settings screen to copy the sitemap URL.

Yoast notes the plugin “won’t submit your site to Google News for you.” Submission is your job.

Option 3: XML Sitemap & Google News (free)

XML Sitemap & Google News by Rolf Allard van Hagen is free on wordpress.org, with 100,000+ active installations. Version 5.7.7 came out in June 2026 and is tested up to WordPress 7.0.

1. Install it, go to Settings > Reading and enable the Google News sitemap.
2. Open Settings > Google News, as the developer’s FAQ describes. Set the publication name, which defaults to your site name.
3. Choose the news post type and exclude any categories you don’t want listed.

The plugin lists URLs of the selected news post type from the last 48 hours. More than one post type in the same news sitemap needs the paid Google News Advanced add-on. Its changelog mentions Rank Math incompatibility warnings, so don’t run two sitemap plugins side by side.

How to submit your news sitemap to Google

The two simple routes are Search Console and robots.txt, and you can use both. Google calls a submitted sitemap “merely a hint,” not a promise to crawl every URL.

Submit it in Google Search Console

1. Open the sitemap in your browser. Make sure it loads and lists your latest articles.
2. Run a live URL Inspection test on the sitemap URL to confirm Googlebot can reach it.
3. Open the Sitemaps report, paste the URL into “Add a new sitemap” and submit it.
4. Check the status. “Success” means Google processed it. For “Has errors” or “Couldn’t fetch”, click the row to see why.

You need owner permissions on the property to submit there. Submit once, and let your plugin keep the same file up to date.

Add it to robots.txt

Add this line anywhere in robots.txt, using the full URL your plugin shows:

Sitemap: https://www.example.com/your-news-sitemap.xml

This works without owner access to Search Console. You still need Search Console to see errors.

Is Publisher Center required for Google News?

No. Google says content that follows its policies is “automatically eligible for consideration in Google News.” There is no application.

On April 25, 2024, Google stopped letting publishers set up new Google News publications in Publisher Center. It then moved to automatically generated publication pages, with the full switch planned for late March 2025. Guides that tell you to “submit your site to Google News” are out of date.

What matters for a WordPress publisher is following the Google News policies, including transparency about bylines, authors and contact details.

How to check that your news sitemap is working

In my audits, I check the technical basics first, and Search Console is my main tool when I have access. For a news sitemap, four checks cover it.

1. Sitemaps report. Look for “Success” and a recent “Last read” date. Google notes this report doesn’t currently show data for news URLs, so treat it as a fetch and error check.
2. URL Inspection on a new article. The URL Inspection tool shows whether the URL is on Google, its last crawl and the sitemaps that point to it.
3. The file itself. Publish an article and reload the sitemap. The new URL should appear with its original publish date, then drop out two days later.
4. Performance data. The Google News performance report covers news.google.com and the Google News app. The News tab in Google Search is a search type in the Search results report.

Common news sitemap mistakes

• Old articles left in. Anything older than two days should leave the file or lose its news tags.
• The wrong date. Google wants the date the article was first published, not the date it entered the sitemap. Editing a story should not change it.
• A publication name that doesn’t match. Yoast documents an “Unexpected publication name” error for this. Copy the name Google News shows for your site exactly.
• More than 1,000 entries. Search Console reports “Too many News URLs.” Split the file.
• A missing publication block. Every URL needs <news:publication>, or you get a “Missing <publication> tag” error.
• A blocked or missing file. A robots.txt block, a wrong URL or a server problem can cause “Couldn’t fetch.”
• Two plugins, two sitemaps. Running news sitemaps from two tools gives Google conflicting files. Keep one.

Frequently asked questions

Is there an official Google News sitemap validator?

No. Google’s old “Validate a News sitemap” help link now redirects to its news sitemap documentation. Submit the file in Search Console and read the Sitemaps report for errors. A generic XML validator confirms the file is well formed, but it won’t check Google’s rules.

Should news tags go in my main sitemap or a separate file?

Google accepts both. Its documentation says a separate file can make tracking in Search Console easier, and Google News help recommends one. All three plugins above create their own news sitemap.

Does a news sitemap guarantee my articles appear in Google News?

No. Google says it “algorithmically discovers news content,” and a sitemap is only a hint. It helps Google find articles faster. Whether they show depends on Google’s policies and ranking.

What to do next

If you publish news on WordPress, use the news sitemap from the SEO plugin you already run, or the free plugin. Set the publication name, limit it to news post types and submit it once. A day later, check the Sitemaps report and inspect one fresh article.

If you don’t publish news, get your regular sitemap and indexing right instead. My SEO checklist for new websites covers those basics. If you want a second pair of eyes on your sitemaps, indexing and technical setup, look at my website SEO audit.