Why it matters
When all signals point to the same URL Google follows the site owner, and when they point in different directions it cannot tell what the owner wants. Redirects and rel=canonical are strong signals, sitemap inclusion is a weak one, and combining them makes them more effective; links to duplicates are consolidated once the preferred URL becomes canonical.
How to meet it
Generate canonical tags, sitemap entries, hreflang URLs and internal links from one URL-building function so they cannot drift apart, and check every signal against the preferred URL before a migration or template change.
How to test it
A crawl finds zero internal links to non-canonical URLs, zero sitemap URLs that are not self-canonical and zero hreflang targets that redirect or canonicalise elsewhere; sampled URLs in URL Inspection show matching user-declared and Google-selected canonicals.
How Regensbot covers it
Decided automatically once Regensbot crawls your verified site.
The crawl is polite: sitemap first, one request per second per host. A problem it finds is definite, and “none found” passes only on a complete crawl.
Sources
Google documents02
- 01How to specify a canonical URL with rel="canonical" and other methodsGoogle Search Central (opens in a new tab)
- 02What is canonicalizationGoogle Search Central (opens in a new tab)
Claims in the knowledge base06
- D2-C399ConsistentHandling web duplicationSaid on stage
- D2-C391SourceHandling web duplicationGoogle's documentation
- D2-C430SourceLightning session E: Managing Duplicates and Site MovesGoogle's documentation
- D2-C390ConsistentHandling web duplicationShown on screen
- D2-C400n/aHandling web duplicationThe author's interpretation
- D2-C431n/aLightning session E: Managing Duplicates and Site MovesThe author's interpretation
Claim IDs refer to the Search Central Live 2026 knowledge base. The knowledge base (opens in a new tab)
- Consistent
- Google's documentation supports it without stating it.
- Source
- The claim is the cited document itself.
- n/a
- Nothing to verify: a quotation, framing, opinion or analysis.