SitemapKit
Sitemap Glossary

What is <urlset>?

The root XML element in a sitemap file that contains all URL entries.

Written by SitemapKit Editorial TeamUpdated: Jul 21, 2026

Key takeaways

  • Interpret <urlset> in its sitemap XML context; the detailed definition below explains its role and constraints.
  • Validate <urlset> against a real XML example instead of relying on the field or tag name alone.

The `<urlset>` element is the root (enclosing) tag in an XML sitemap file. It must include the Sitemaps.org namespace declaration and wraps all `<url>` entries in the sitemap.

The namespace is required: `xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"`. Without it, search engines may not parse the sitemap correctly. Additional namespaces can be added for extensions like image sitemaps (`xmlns:image`) or video sitemaps (`xmlns:video`).

XML example

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/</loc>
  </url>
</urlset>

Continue with SitemapKit

Check an XML sitemap

Inspect urlset in a real sitemap.

Extract sitemap URLs

Turn XML sitemap fields into structured, exportable URL data.

API documentation

See how this concept appears in SitemapKit API responses.

Practical sitemap workflows

Apply sitemap concepts to SEO, monitoring, and data pipelines.

Sources and further reading

Work with sitemaps programmatically

SitemapKit's API discovers and parses XML sitemaps into structured JSON, including fields such as urlset.

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Related terms

sitemap.xml<loc>Sitemap XML Namespace