Canonical is self-referencing

canonical_self_ref

Checks that the canonical tag points to the page itself.

What does this rule check?

A self-referencing canonical tag confirms to search engines that this is the preferred version of the content. Every page should canonicalize to itself unless it's intentionally pointing to another page (e.g., pagination).

Why is this important?

If the canonical points to a different URL unintentionally, search engines may de-index the current page in favor of the canonical target. This is a common configuration mistake.

How to fix

Ensure the canonical URL matches the current page's URL. If it intentionally points elsewhere, verify that's correct.

Examples

<!-- On page https://example.com/blog/post-1 -->
<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/blog" />
<!-- Points to the wrong page! -->

<!-- On page https://example.com/blog/post-1 -->
<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/blog/post-1" />
<!-- Points to itself -->

Agent fix snippet

Copy this snippet and paste it into your AI coding agent to fix this issue automatically.

Verify the canonical URL matches the current page URL.
If mismatched, update it to point to the current page:

<link rel="canonical" href="https://yourdomain.com/current-page" />