Find duplicate content issues
Canonical tags tell search engines which URL is the authoritative version. A missing or wrong canonical splits link equity across duplicates and can suppress rankings.
Canonical Checker
Check any URL's canonical tag, redirect chain, and indexability. Catch canonical mismatches before they split your link equity.
Why check canonical tags?
Audit redirect chains
Each redirect hop dilutes link equity and slows page load. See the full chain from your input URL to the final destination in one view.
Verify indexability
Combines canonical, noindex meta, robots.txt, and HTTP status into a single indexability verdict — so you know exactly what Google sees.
What is a canonical tag and why does it matter?
A canonical tag is the HTML link element with rel="canonical". It tells search engines which version of a URL is the original. Without it, duplicate content — from URL parameters, trailing slashes, HTTP/HTTPS, or syndication — splits your ranking signals across multiple addresses.
How canonical tags work
When Google crawls a page with a canonical tag, it consolidates ranking signals (links, content) toward the canonical URL. The non-canonical versions may still be crawled but are typically excluded from the index. Self-referencing canonicals on every page are recommended best practice.
Canonical vs. 301 redirect
A 301 redirect physically sends users and bots to a new URL. A canonical tag is a hint — Google may choose to ignore it if it conflicts with other signals. For truly duplicate pages that should never be visited on the old URL, prefer a redirect. For content that legitimately exists at multiple URLs (pagination, parameters), use canonical.
Common canonical mistakes
Canonicalizing to a noindex page, pointing to a URL that returns a redirect (canonical should always point to the final URL), using relative URLs that resolve incorrectly, or having conflicting canonical signals in HTTP headers vs. HTML.
How this checker works
Enter any URL and we follow the full redirect chain, read the HTML canonical tag, check the noindex meta tag, and probe robots.txt — then combine everything into a single indexability verdict with per-signal details.
Also validate Open Graph tags for the same URL with our Open Graph scanner.
Canonical FAQ
Enter a URL above to check a live canonical, or read the sections below for setup and troubleshooting tips.
Yes. A self-referencing canonical on every page is SEO best practice. It removes ambiguity when crawlers encounter the same page via different URL variations (parameters, trailing slashes, protocols).