LAN Media

Free SEO tool

Canonical URL checker

Paste one URL or a short list. We fetch the page, read HTML and HTTP canonical signals, and tell you when the canonical setup is missing, conflicting, or pointing somewhere you probably did not mean.

Up to 10 public http(s) URLs. We fetch the page, read HTML and HTTP canonical signals, and sample canonical targets for redirects or 4xx/5xx.

What this checker reports

A canonical is a hint about the preferred URL for a page. The mistake is rarely “tag missing” alone. More often it is a canonical that points at the wrong place, competes with a header signal, or sits next to a noindex.

  • HTML and HTTP canonical signals. <link rel="canonical"> and HTTP Link headers.
  • Missing or multiple canonicals. One signal is enough. Two different ones usually are not.
  • Relative canonicals. Flagged so you can switch to full absolute URLs.
  • Cross-canonical targets. Clear when a page points somewhere else.
  • Target health. Warns when the canonical target redirects or returns 4xx/5xx.
  • Indexability conflicts. meta robots, meta googlebot, and X-Robots-Tag noindex alongside canonical signals.

How a check works

Paste one URL or a short list. We fetch each page, read the canonical signals in the HTML and in response headers, then sample the declared canonical targets. Bookmark a check with ?url=.

Limits, on purpose

We do not render JavaScript, we do not ask Search Console which canonical Google selected, and we do not crawl the whole site. Each run is rate-limited so the next person gets a turn.

Frequently asked questions

What does a canonical tag checker test?

It fetches the page, reads rel=canonical from HTML and HTTP Link headers, then reports missing canonicals, multiple signals, relative canonicals, cross-canonicals, noindex conflicts, and canonical targets that redirect or fail.

Can a canonical come from an HTTP header?

Yes. Canonical signals can be sent in an HTTP Link header as well as in the HTML head. This checker looks for both.

Is a self-referencing canonical normal?

Yes. A self-referencing canonical is common and usually the safest default when the page should index at its own final URL.

What if a page is noindex and canonical too?

That is a mixed signal. Search engines can treat noindex as stronger than canonical, so we warn when both appear together.

Does this show Google’s selected canonical?

No. It shows the declared canonical signals on the page and in headers. Google’s selected canonical requires Search Console.

This tool is free and logs the requesting IP only to enforce the rate limit. URLs you submit are fetched so we can build the report. See the privacy policy.