Checks
Canonical pointing at a noindexed page
Flags a canonical URL that points at a page carrying a noindex directive, a contradiction that leaves search engines with conflicting instructions.
What this check looks for
This site-wide check first builds the set of noindexed pages across the crawl, then checks every other page's canonical target against that set. If a page's canonical (and it isn't self-referencing) points at a URL in the noindexed set, it fails. No canonical pointing at a noindexed target passes.
Why it matters
A canonical tag says "index this other URL instead of me," while a noindex directive on that target URL says "don't index this page at all" — together, they tell search engines to consolidate ranking signal onto a page that has explicitly opted out of being indexed, which usually means neither URL ends up properly represented in results. This combination almost always indicates a configuration bug rather than an intentional choice: a template that sets a default canonical without checking whether the target still has an active noindex flag from an earlier draft state, for instance. AI systems parsing canonical and robots signals together read this contradiction the same way search engines do — as a page whose indexing intent is unclear, which discourages confident citation.
How to fix it
Resolve the contradiction by removing the noindex from the canonical target, or repointing the canonical at a page that's actually indexable:
<!-- Page A's canonical -->
<link rel="canonical" href="https://www.acme.com/products/wireless-nc">
<!-- Page B (the canonical target) still carries noindex -->
<meta name="robots" content="noindex"><!-- Fixed: remove noindex from the canonical target -->
<meta name="robots" content="index, follow">Audit any pages recently promoted out of draft status — this contradiction often appears when a noindex flag set during development isn't cleared on launch.
See how your site scores on this check