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I am using Rails sitemap_generator gem https://github.com/kjvarga/sitemap_generator#pinging-search-engines to ping google about an updated sitemap but the submitted date doesn't change in the Google Search Console.

sitemap_generator gem uses the 'http://www.google.com/ping?sitemap=URL/of/file` method described here: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/guides/submit-URLs

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Paul Odeon
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  • Can you share the screenshot of your search console's sitemap page? https://search.google.com/u/1/search-console/sitemaps – Anuvesh Dec 04 '19 at 11:08
  • You should be aware of the limitations of sitemaps for SEO. They don't help much in getting your content indexed and they don't help rankings at all. It is almost always far better to make sure your pages link to each other compared to generating sitemaps. See The Sitemap Paradox – Stephen Ostermiller Dec 04 '19 at 14:48
  • Thanks for that link @StephenOstermiller, some useful info there! It looks like the principal benefit of sitemaps is improved crawling speed, and in general you should prioritise other factors – Paul Odeon Dec 05 '19 at 14:39

2 Answers2

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In my experience - yes.

But this isn't tied to the indexing of sitemap urls.

Submitting of the sitemap into GSC helps you just to monitor your sitemap urls. However the sitemap can be discovered by Googlebot independently of GSC submission. And Google is able to index your sitemap urls independently of the fact the sitemap was submitted into GSC or not. This is true until your site doesn't have millions of urls.

Evgeniy
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  • Looking at the panel again that section is titled "Submitted Sitemaps" which does point to sitemaps that have been submitted through the panel. – Paul Odeon Dec 05 '19 at 14:35
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No, the search console also displays sitemaps that are referenced in the robots.txt file. As well as maps submitted though the GSC.

Conor Grocock
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