News Sitemap Generator: Create a Google News XML Sitemap
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This news sitemap generator builds a Google News XML sitemap from a list of article URLs, titles and publish dates, plus your publication name and language. It is for news publishers, local news sites and blogs that cover timely stories and want Google to find new articles quickly. Paste your recent articles, click Generate news sitemap, and download a valid file.
The tool flags lines it cannot read and warns about any article older than two days, since those do not belong in a news sitemap.
What a News Sitemap Contains
A news sitemap is a special XML sitemap for recent articles. It uses Google’s news extension to add details that help Google identify fresh news content.
Required news tags
Each article sits in a <url> block with its <loc>. Inside, a <news:news> element holds three required parts. <news:publication> contains <news:name>, your publication’s name, and <news:language>, a language code such as en or ur. <news:publication_date> gives the article’s original publish date in W3C format, such as 2026-10-26 or 2026-10-26T09:30:00+05:00. <news:title> holds the article headline. The generator writes all of these with the correct namespace and escapes special characters in titles and URLs.
How it differs from a normal sitemap
A regular XML sitemap lists every page you want indexed and can include articles from years ago. A news sitemap should only list articles published in the last two days, and it can hold up to 1,000 <news:news> entries. Older articles stay in your regular sitemap. Many publishers run both: a full sitemap for the archive and a small, frequently updated news sitemap for the latest stories.
How to Generate a News Sitemap
You need your recent article list and the exact name of your publication.
Step 1: Enter publication name and language
Type your publication name exactly as it appears on your articles and in Google News, for example “FHSEO News”. Enter the language code for the articles, such as en for English or ur for Urdu. Use one consistent name for every sitemap you publish.
Step 2: Add article URLs and titles
Paste one article per line in the format URL | Title | Publish date. Use the canonical article URL and the headline as it appears on the page. Lines without a valid URL or title are counted as invalid and left out of the file.
Step 3: Set publication dates
Add the original publish date at the end of each line, as YYYY-MM-DD or a full ISO date with time and time zone. If you leave a date out, the tool uses today’s date. The stats show how many articles are older than two days, with a warning to remove them.
Step 4: Generate and submit
Click Generate news sitemap, review the XML, and download news-sitemap.xml. Upload it to your site, then submit the URL in Search Console under Sitemaps. Add a Sitemap: line for it in robots.txt as well.
The Two-Day Freshness Rule
Google’s guidance is to include only articles published in the last two days. This keeps the file focused on what is new.
Rolling updates
A news sitemap works best as a rolling list. When you publish a story, add it. Once it is more than two days old, remove it. Google re-reads the sitemap regularly, so new entries signal fresh content worth crawling. Articles you remove do not drop out of Google’s index. They stay discoverable through your regular sitemap and internal links. Updating the file several times a day suits busy newsrooms, while smaller sites may update once or twice a day.
Automating removal of old URLs
This generator produces a static file, which is fine for occasional use, small publishers or testing a format. For daily publishing, automate the rolling list. WordPress SEO plugins with news sitemap features and most news CMS platforms generate the file on the fly from posts in the last 48 hours. Use the generator’s output as a reference to check that your automated file has the right structure.
Google News Eligibility and Policies
A news sitemap helps discovery, but it does not decide whether your content appears in Google News.
Publisher Center setup
You do not need to apply or use Publisher Center for your articles to appear in Google News or Top Stories. Google considers content automatically based on its policies. Publisher Center is useful for managing how your publication appears, such as its name, logo and sections in the Google News app.
Content policies
Google News content must meet Google’s content policies, which cover areas like transparency, dangerous content, deceptive practices and manipulated media. Clear bylines, publish dates, author information and contact details help readers and Google trust your site.
News Sitemap Plus NewsArticle Schema
Sitemaps and structured data work together. The sitemap helps Google find articles fast. Schema helps it understand them.
Dates that match
Use the same publish date in the news sitemap, the visible byline and the datePublished property of your NewsArticle or Article schema. Mismatched dates confuse Google about freshness. Build article markup with the Article Schema Generator.
Top Stories signals
Top Stories is not limited to sitemap or schema users, but clear dates, headlines, high-quality images and fast pages all help Google present your story well.
News Sitemap Mistakes
These errors are the most common reasons news sitemaps underperform.
Old articles left in
Static news sitemaps quickly fill with stale stories. Remove anything older than two days.
Wrong date format
Dates must follow W3C format. Values like “26/10/2026” or “Oct 26” are invalid.
Mismatched publication names
Use the same publication name on every entry and match how your publication appears in Google News.
Get Fresh Stories Crawled Faster
Paste your latest articles above and download a valid news sitemap in seconds. Keep your archive in a full sitemap with the XML Sitemap Generator, add photo discovery using the Image Sitemap Generator, and point crawlers to both with the Robots.txt Generator. Find every free tool on FHSEO Hub.