Canonical URL Checker
Enter a URL and confirm its canonical tag points where you expect it to.
Frequently asked questions
What happens if my canonical tag points to the wrong URL?
Search engines may consolidate ranking signals onto the wrong page, effectively telling them to ignore the page you actually want indexed — a common, easy-to-miss cause of a page mysteriously not ranking despite good content.
Should every page have a self-referencing canonical tag?
Yes, as a default best practice — even a page with no duplicate-content risk should canonical to itself, since it removes ambiguity and protects against future duplication from URL parameters or tracking tags.
Can a canonical tag fix duplicate content across two entirely different domains?
Yes, cross-domain canonical tags are valid and commonly used — for syndicated content, this tells search engines which domain is the original source.
Does a wrong canonical tag affect AI-engine citations too?
Potentially — if a canonical points away from the page an AI crawler actually fetched, that can create the same signal confusion it causes for search indexing, making it less clear which URL is authoritative.