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Duplicate, Google chose different canonical than user

Duplicate, Google chose different canonical

You declared a canonical and Google picked another URL anyway.

Google compared the pages and trusted a different URL more than the one in your tag. The tag is a hint. Stronger signals are redirects, internal links, the sitemap, and which URL has the unique copy.

This often happens when the canonical target is thin, blocked, or slower, and another copy is the one people link to.

Make one URL obviously primary: redirect the others, link only to the winner, and put the full content on that URL.

What to check

  • Compare Google’s chosen canonical with yours in URL Inspection.
  • Align links, the sitemap, and redirects with the URL you want.
  • Do not keep two full copies and hope the tag wins.

Fix prompt

Example prompt

Google chose a different canonical than the one on this page. Put the full content on the URL you want indexed, redirect the copies, and point internal links and the sitemap at that URL. Do not call an indexing API.

Check a URL · Crawlers · Glossary

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