XML Sitemap Monitor & Change Detector BR

Detect new URLs, removed URLs, child sitemap changes, and lastmod updates from public XML sitemaps — with persistent snapshots and structured JSON diffs.

Use this Actor to monitor client, competitor, publisher, e-commerce, SaaS, and Brazilian business websites through their XML sitemaps. Run it on a schedule, compare against the previous snapshot, and send the clean diff to Slack, Make, n8n, Zapier, dashboards, crawlers, or SEO reports.

Why use it?

Pain	What this Actor gives you
“Did my client accidentally remove important URLs?”	Added/removed URL counts and exact diff lines.
“Did a competitor publish new pages?”	New sitemap URLs detected automatically.
“Did content freshness change?”	lastmod changes captured in the normalized snapshot.
“I need this in automation, not spreadsheets.”	Dataset/API output ready for webhooks and workflows.
“I need low cost at scale.”	HTTP-first sitemap parsing; browser/proxy disabled by default.

Best for

User	Use case
SEO agencies	Monitor multiple client and competitor sitemaps daily.
Technical SEO consultants	Detect crawl/indexation signals without manually opening XML files.
Content teams	Track new blog posts, docs, categories, landing pages, and removals.
SaaS founders	Watch competitor launches through sitemap activity.
Automation builders	Trigger crawlers, Slack alerts, Sheets, Airtable, BI, or indexing workflows.
Brazilian agencies	Monitor .com.br, Gov/portal, SaaS, marketplace, and local-business websites.

How it works

Sitemap URL
  → XML fetch
  → urlset / sitemapindex parser
  → normalized snapshot
  → compare with previous run
  → structured Dataset/API diff

What it detects

Sitemap feature	Supported
XML <urlset>	✅
XML <sitemapindex>	✅
URL count	✅
child sitemap count	✅
added URLs	✅
removed URLs	✅
added/removed child sitemaps	✅
lastmod changes	✅
changefreq and priority in snapshot	✅
item-level errors without failing the whole run	✅
private/internal URL blocking	✅

Quick start

1. Add one or more public XML sitemap URLs.
2. Run once to create the baseline snapshot.
3. Run again later, or create an Apify Schedule.
4. Use emitMode: "CHANGES_ONLY" for alert-style automations.
5. Connect Dataset results to Apify API, webhooks, Make, n8n, Zapier, Slack, Sheets, Airtable, or your own backend.

Minimal input

{
  "startUrls": [
    { "url": "https://apify.com/sitemap.xml" }
  ],
  "extractionMode": "SITEMAP_XML",
  "maxItems": 10,
  "emitMode": "ALL"
}

Recommended scheduled input

{
  "startUrls": [
    { "url": "https://example.com/sitemap.xml" },
    { "url": "https://example.com/post-sitemap.xml" }
  ],
  "snapshotStoreName": "my-client-sitemap-monitor",
  "extractionMode": "SITEMAP_XML",
  "emitMode": "CHANGES_ONLY",
  "useBrowser": false,
  "proxy": { "useApifyProxy": false }
}

Example output

{
  "url": "https://example.com/sitemap.xml",
  "finalUrl": "https://example.com/sitemap.xml",
  "title": "Sitemap: 152 URLs",
  "statusCode": 200,
  "changeType": "CHANGED",
  "severity": "MEDIUM",
  "isSignificant": true,
  "changeRatio": 0.08,
  "sitemapType": "urlset",
  "urlCount": 152,
  "sitemapCount": 0,
  "addedUrlCount": 3,
  "removedUrlCount": 1,
  "currentUrls": ["https://example.com/", "https://example.com/pricing"],
  "currentSitemaps": [],
  "addedText": "URL https://example.com/new-page LASTMOD 2026-07-08",
  "removedText": "URL https://example.com/old-page LASTMOD 2026-06-01",
  "previousFetchedAt": "2026-07-07T08:00:00.000Z",
  "currentFetchedAt": "2026-07-08T08:00:00.000Z",
  "snapshotKey": "SNAPSHOT_...",
  "source": "http",
  "error": null
}

Dataset views

View	Purpose
Sitemap overview	Change status, sitemap type, URL counts, added/removed counts, and errors.
Current URLs	Current extracted URLs and child sitemap URLs.
Diff details	Added/removed sitemap lines and timestamps.
Technical details	Final URL, status, hashes, snapshot key, source mode, and errors.

Common workflows

Daily client SEO monitoring

1. Add all client sitemap URLs.
2. Save input as an Apify Task.
3. Schedule daily or weekly runs.
4. Send only changed rows to Slack/Sheets/Looker Studio.

Competitor publishing monitor

1. Add competitor sitemap or sitemap index URLs.
2. Run once to create a baseline.
3. Use CHANGES_ONLY mode.
4. Alert when new product, pricing, docs, category, or blog URLs appear.

Brazil-focused agency reporting

Use it to track Brazilian client and competitor websites, including institutional sites, SaaS, marketplaces, content portals, local businesses, and public websites that expose standard XML sitemaps.

Accuracy notes

• This Actor expects valid public XML sitemaps.
• It supports normal sitemap namespaces, sitemap indexes, escaped XML entities, relative URLs, lastmod, changefreq, and priority.
• It intentionally does not recursively crawl child sitemaps yet. If you need URL-level diffs for each child sitemap, add those child sitemap URLs directly as inputs.
• If a server blocks public requests with 403 or returns 404, the Actor records an item-level error and continues.

Cost controls

• HTTP mode is default and cheapest.
• Proxy is disabled by default.
• Browser rendering is unnecessary for normal XML sitemaps.
• maxContentBytes, maxItems, maxConcurrency, retries, and per-item errors protect cost and memory.
• Private/internal URLs are blocked by default for SSRF protection.

API usage

Run this Actor through Apify API, CLI, Tasks, Schedules, webhooks, Make, n8n, Zapier, or your own backend.

Pricing guidance

Keep regular platform usage while validating real-world demand and cost. After representative runs, consider Pay Per Event only for successful useful outputs, for example:

• sitemap-checked
• sitemap-change-detected
• url-added-or-removed

FAQ

Does this Actor require login?

No. It is designed for public XML sitemaps.

Does it recursively crawl sitemap indexes?

Not yet. It detects child sitemap URLs in sitemap indexes and reports when the index changes. Add child sitemap URLs directly when you want detailed URL-level monitoring for each child sitemap.

Does it use browser automation?

Not by default. XML sitemaps should be fetched through cheap HTTP mode.

Can it detect updated pages?

Yes, when the sitemap exposes changed lastmod values. A changed lastmod line changes the snapshot and can trigger a diff.

Can I schedule it?

Yes. Save your input as an Apify Task and attach an Apify Schedule.

Can I use the output in automations?

Yes. Results are written to an Apify Dataset and can be consumed by API, webhooks, Make, n8n, Zapier, Slack, Airtable, Sheets, BI tools, crawlers, or internal workflows.

Search terms

sitemap change detector, sitemap monitor, XML sitemap monitor, SEO sitemap tracker, sitemap diff API, new URLs detector, removed URLs monitor, sitemap index parser, SEO automation, Brazil SEO tools, monitorar sitemap, monitor de sitemap, auditoria SEO Brasil, sitemap XML, URLs removidas, URLs novas

Support

If you need a custom version, open an issue or contact the Actor maintainer through Apify.