Sitemap
The /sitemap.xml URL provides the complete BigCommerce sitemap, which includes canonical URLs for all channels associated with Catalyst.
These URLs correspond to the permanent URLs used when making requests to the GraphQL Storefront API. The URLs correspond to a specific channel, and when accessed, returns the relevant sitemap for that channel.
For an example, see the sitemap for the demo version of Catalyst https://catalyst-demo.site/sitemap.xml.
Proxying the sitemap
Catalyst acts as an intermediary when handling requests to /sitemap.xml. When a request is made, Catalyst fetches the sitemap index from BigCommerce by making a request to the canonical URL of the channel.
Catalyst then returns the XML response, allowing the sitemap to appear as though it’s served directly from Catalyst.
You can find the implementation for the route in the Catalyst Monorepo.
Why the sitemap index uses the permanent URL
The sitemap index at /sitemap.xml is served from your storefront domain, but the <loc> entries inside it point to the channel’s BigCommerce permanent URL, such as store-{store_hash}-{channel_id}.mybigcommerce.com. This is expected and does not affect SEO.
A sitemap index does not list page URLs. It lists the locations of other sitemaps, and the page URLs live one layer in, inside those:
Crawlers read and index the page URLs in the third row, which are on your own domain when the channel has a custom domain configured. The permanent URL in the index is only a pointer to the next file, and sitemaps are read by crawlers rather than shoppers.
Seeing mybigcommerce.com in the sitemap index does not mean your pages are indexed on that domain. To confirm, open one of the <loc> URLs from the index and check the page URLs inside it.
Flexibility and limitations
The sitemaps don’t need to reside on the same domain as the website they represent, providing flexibility in managing your site’s structure.
For your convenience, BigCommerce automatically redirects any requests for the legacy Stencil sitemap /xmlsitemap.php to /sitemap.xml on Catalyst storefronts.
Catalyst’s sitemap solution works seamlessly with BigCommerce-managed URLs (such as products, brands, and categories). However, if your storefront also uses third-party systems that generate content with different URLs, you will need to submit multiple sitemaps to cover the URLs from various sources.