You might be wondering why the sitemap status still appears to be ‘couldn’t fetch’ even after checking the sitemap’s availability through TEST LIVE URL in Google Search Console. However, the same sitemap was submitted to Bing Webmaster Tools, and it could be fetched properly.
You are not the only one facing this issue; many people are dealing with it as well. Some of them could get a ‘success’ outcome for sitemap status after trying out the suggestions they found on the internet.
You may have tried the following methods. However, none of these works.
- Check the availability of the sitemap through TEST LIVE URL in Google Search Console.
- Add a slash ( / ) to the beginning of the sitemap URL path segment in Google Search Console.
- Add a slash ( / ) to the end of the sitemap URL path segment in Google Search Console.
- Check the format of the sitemap.
- Wait for the status to change after submitting the sitemap to Google Search Console.
Factors
So, what’s the problem? If you hosted your website on a subdomain of a numeric .xyz domain and the submitted sitemap consistently shows the status ‘couldn’t fetch’, this article might be useful for you. It is actually not necessary to wait for several days until the status of the sitemap changes in Google Search Console.
In fact, Google Search Console (GSC) does not accept any sitemap from subdomain of a numeric .xyz domain name. This is because GSC does not recognize numeric domain names as reputable, treating them less favorably than domains with full alphabetic names.
Paul Lennie (2025) talked about the issues of using .xyz domain extension in the article published by SILICON.NYC. Many companies utilized .xyz domain in their business as a substitute for conventional domain extensions such as .com, .io, or .net. Websites using .xyz domain extensions reportedly experienced low online visibility in Google Search Engine, mainly due to the low indexing rate (Lennie, 2025).
Paul Lennie (2025) pointed out several concerns regarding the use of .xyz domain extension. This extension is often associated with cybercriminal activities, such as broadcasting malware and hosting phishing site. .xyz domains are sometimes perceived as less professional or unreliable; as a result, legitimate businesses using .xyz domains can significantly undermine the overall credibility and reputation of a company (Lennie, 2025). Emails sent from .xyz domains are often considered less credible and are more likely to be flagged as spam (Lennie, 2025). Besides, websites with this extension often struggle to gain recognition and trust among customers and other businesses (Lennie, 2025).
Therefore, search engines tend to be cautious about indexing numeric .xyz domains. This challenge is especially common for websites hosted on subdomains of such domains, which frequently struggle to gain proper indexing.
Trial and Error
We have tried two scenarios. The sitemap URL from the subdomain was first submitted to Google Search Console, followed by the sitemap URL from the main domain. The results indicate that the sitemap URL from the subdomain could not be fetched, while the sitemap from the main domain was fetched successfully.
Potential Solution
Option 1: Register a domain name with a popular extension (Recommend Solution)
If you have enough budget to own a domain name with a popular extension like .com, .net, or .io, you may consider purchasing a new domain with any one of these popular extensions through a domain registrar platform (e.g. spaceship.com, hostinger.com, namecheap.com, godaddy.com, or name.com)
Option 2: Continue using your original domain extension (.xyz) (Unlikely a good solution)
What you can do is to map the main domain to the subdomain, so that the sitemap can be accessed on both main domain and subdomain.
Conclusion
Google Search Console does not accept the sitemap URL from the subdomain of a numeric .xyz domain extension.
Reference
Lennie, P. (2025, April 27). Should your company use .xyz domain as a substitute for traditional domain extensions such as .com, .net or .io? Let’s find out. SILICON NYC, https://silicon.nyc/xyz-domain-problems-spam/