Find canonical chains and loops

Prompt that finds canonical chains and loops and proposes direct final targets. Paste it into an AI tool of your choice, which then finds canonical chains.

Topic: SEO & website copy
Type: Prompt
Level: Intermediate
Time: about 15 min

Results depend on the tool, the model and what you enter.

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WebsiteWhat is checked?

FindingWhat stands out?

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Your prompt

Help me find canonical references that do not point straight at the final address.
Website: [Website]
Finding: [Finding]
System: [System]
Steps: 1. Read a crawl export with canonical targets, status codes and redirects. 2. Find chains where A points to B and B to C, and loops where references cycle. 3. Check whether the canonical target itself redirects, is an error page or carries noindex. 4. For each chain propose the direct final URL and whether parameter or HTTP/HTTPS variants should be merged. 5. Check templates and plugins that set the reference so chains do not return. 6. Describe how crawl and index reports are checked after the fix.
Output: list of chains and loops, target URLs, template causes and a check plan.

Take particular care to always point canonical at the address that finally applies.

Before you answer, check: Are all instructions met? If key information is missing or a placeholder in square brackets is still in the text, ask instead of guessing. Mark assumptions as assumptions.

Help me find canonical references that do not point straight at the final address.
Website: [Website]
Finding: [Finding]
System: [System]
Steps: 1. Read a crawl export with canonical targets, status codes and redirects. 2. Find chains where A points to B and B to C, and loops where references cycle. 3. Check whether the canonical target itself redirects, is an error page or carries noindex. 4. For each chain propose the direct final URL and whether parameter or HTTP/HTTPS variants should be merged. 5. Check templates and plugins that set the reference so chains do not return. 6. Describe how crawl and index reports are checked after the fix.
Output: list of chains and loops, target URLs, template causes and a check plan.

Take particular care to always point canonical at the address that finally applies.

Before you answer, check: Are all instructions met? If key information is missing or a placeholder in square brackets is still in the text, ask instead of guessing. Mark assumptions as assumptions.

This is an instruction for an AI, not the result itself.

Where this prompt works

These AI tools are a good fit for this prompt:

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How to use it

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Copy the finished prompt into an AI tool of your choice.
Paste a crawl export with canonical targets and redirects and examples of affected URLs.

Why does this work?

If page A points to B and B redirects to C, the index can stick on B. The canonical reference must name the address that is finally served.

Tips

Change templates on a test system first and crawl again before going live.

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Find canonical chains and loops

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