Canonical Tag Check
How FreeScan verifies a page's preferred index URL and detects missing, conflicting, or invalid canonical tags.
Check your websiteWhy this check matters
A clear canonical consolidates ranking signals when multiple URLs show substantially the same page. It also helps crawlers spend less time deciding which version belongs in search.
Passing evidence
<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/pricing" />Common failing evidence
<link rel="canonical" href="/old-pricing?ref=nav" />Possible false positives
- A deliberately cross-domain canonical can be valid for syndicated content.
- JavaScript-injected canonicals may not appear in raw HTML and are less reliable for crawlers.
How to fix it safely
- Choose the single public URL that should rank.
- Add one absolute, indexable canonical URL in the document head.
- Make internal links and sitemap entries point to that same URL.
How to verify the fix
- View the rendered head and confirm there is exactly one canonical.
- Request the canonical URL and confirm it returns a successful HTML response without a redirect chain.
Related SEO / AEO / GEO checks
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