Page indexing report · Search Console
Alternate page with proper canonical tag
This URL is a variant of another page, it points to that page with a canonical tag, and Google indexed the page it points to. Google says “there is nothing you need to do”.1 Here’s how to confirm that, and the few cases where it does need a fix.
Check the URL first
The checker reads the URL’s canonical tag and tests that the target loads. That’s usually all you need to confirm this status is fine.
In 30 seconds
- This is the expected result of a canonical tag that works.1
- Google calls a page marked alternate usually a good thing: it found and indexed the main version.1
- It’s not about hreflang. Search Console doesn’t detect alternate language pages.1
- Act only if a page you want ranked is here, or its canonical points to the wrong page.
What the status means
Google’s definition names three kinds of alternate: an AMP page with a desktop canonical, a mobile page with a desktop canonical, and a desktop page with a mobile canonical. The page points correctly to its canonical, and the canonical is indexed.1 In practice the row also fills with other variants that carry a canonical tag to a main page, such as tracking and filter URLs.
“Proper” means Google agreed with your tag. When Google disagrees, the URL goes to “Duplicate, Google chose different canonical than user” instead.1
The status is set at the indexing stage, when Google picks one URL from each group of duplicates.
Discover
Google learns that a URL exists, mostly from links on pages it already knows and from XML sitemaps.
What goes wrong: Nothing links to the page and it isn’t in a sitemap, so Google never hears about it.
Report statuses at this stage
- URL is unknown to Google (shown in URL Inspection, not in the report)
Crawl
Googlebot checks robots.txt, then requests the URL. It spaces requests out so it doesn’t overload the server.
What goes wrong: The URL is blocked, returns an error, or the server is slow, so Google backs off and crawls less.
Report statuses at this stage
Render
Google runs the page’s JavaScript in a recent version of Chrome to see the finished page.
What goes wrong: Content only appears after a click or scroll, or the scripts fail, so the rendered page is nearly empty.
Report statuses at this stage
- No status of its own. Problems show up at the next stage as thin pages or soft 404s.
Index
Google decides which version of the page to keep and whether it is worth storing at all.
- Group duplicates. Pages with the same or very similar content go into one group.
- Pick a canonical. One URL represents each group. Canonical tags, redirects and sitemaps are hints, not commands.
- Select for the index. Google decides whether the canonical page is worth keeping. Google says this largely depends on quality.
What goes wrong: The page duplicates another, is marked noindex, or Google decides it adds too little to keep.
Report statuses at this stage
- Crawled – currently not indexed
- Duplicate without user-selected canonical
- Duplicate, Google chose different canonical than user
- Alternate page with proper canonical tag (this page)
- Page with redirect
- Soft 404
- Excluded by ‘noindex’ tag
Serve
Indexed pages can appear in search results. Being indexed is not the same as ranking; an indexed page can still get no clicks.
What goes wrong: The page is indexed but doesn’t match what people search for, or other pages answer it better.
Report statuses at this stage
Is it a problem?
Usually fine
- Tracking, sort and filter parameter URLs
- AMP and separate mobile URLs
- Platform-generated variants, like Shopify collection paths or Blogger ?m=1
- A large count, if the canonicals point to the right pages
Worth fixing
- A page you want in search is listed here
- The canonical points to the homepage, a category or page 1
- The canonical target is broken or redirects
- Your own internal links create the parameter URLs
John Mueller and Martin Splitt have described the report as a way to spot patterns you didn’t expect, not a list of errors to clear.5
Check yours
In URL Inspection, the “Google-selected canonical” should be the URL you expect.2 Then answer a few questions.
A variant pointing at its main page
The common case. Google groups pages with the same main content and indexes one.3 Your tag told Google which one, and Google agreed.
A real page pointing at the wrong target
A canonical tag that names another page tells Google this page shouldn’t be indexed on its own. If the pages differ, the tag is a mistake, often in a template that applies it to many pages. Paginated lists pointing to page 1 are a known case Google advises against.7
Links creating extra URLs
A big row can mean your own links create the variants. Google asks you to link to the canonical URL, not a duplicate.4 On very large sites, duplicates also take crawl time away from other pages.6
URL patterns that land here
Select a pattern to see whether it needs action.
Tracking and filter parameters
?utm_source=, ?ref=, ?sort=price, ?color=green. Google lists sorting and filtering among the normal sources of duplicates.3 If they carry a canonical to the clean URL, this status is the expected result.
Act if: your own internal links add the parameters. Google asks you to link to the canonical URL.4
AMP pages
An AMP page that points to its non-AMP canonical is one of the cases Google’s definition names.1 URL Inspection reports it as an alternate version; Google says there’s generally nothing to do beyond checking the canonical is the one you expect.2
Separate mobile URLs (m.example.com)
A mobile version pointing to its desktop canonical, or the other way round, is also in Google’s definition.1 Search can still show the mobile URL to mobile users even though the desktop page is canonical.3
Shopify /collections/…/products/…
A Shopify product can also load under a collection path, like /collections/shoes/products/runner. Stores normally set the canonical to /products/runner, and some redirect instead. Either way, the collection URL landing here is expected.
Act if: the canonical on the collection URL points to the collection path rather than /products/.
Blogger ?m=1
Blogger serves a mobile view at the same address with ?m=1 added, and its canonical tag points to the URL without it. Those ?m=1 URLs landing in this row is normal.
Canonical to the wrong page
A real page whose canonical points to the homepage, a category or page 1 of a list. Google followed the tag, so the page isn’t indexed on its own. For pagination, Google says not to use page 1 as the canonical for the others.7
Act: point the canonical at the page itself, and fix the template or plugin that set it.
When and how to fix it
- Spot-check a few URLs: the canonical target should load with a 200 status and have the same main content.
- If a page you want ranked is listed, give it a self-referencing canonical and fix the template or plugin that set the wrong one.
- Remove tracking parameters from internal links and link to canonical URLs.4
- Keep only canonical URLs in your XML sitemap. Google warns against naming one URL in the sitemap and another in the canonical tag.4
- Don’t block alternates with robots.txt or noindex to tidy the report. Google advises against both for canonicalization.4
What other guides get wrong
| Often said | What’s actually true |
|---|---|
| It’s about hreflang or language versions | Google’s definition covers AMP and mobile or desktop alternates, and says Search Console doesn’t detect alternate language pages.1 |
| The alternate pages are still indexed | They aren’t. Google indexed the canonical instead.1 |
| Block the URLs in robots.txt | Google says not to use robots.txt for canonicalization, and a blocked URL can still be indexed without its content.4 |
| Click Validate fix | There’s nothing to validate. Google says there is nothing you need to do.1 |
How long it takes
Google gives no timing for this status, because nothing needs to happen. If you change a canonical tag to make a page rank on its own:
- Days to weeksfor Google to recrawl the page.8
Compared with the duplicate statuses
| Status | Your canonical | Google’s choice |
|---|---|---|
| Alternate page with proper canonical tag | Points to another URL | Agreed with you1 |
| Duplicate, Google chose different canonical than user | Declared | Picked a different URL1 |
| Duplicate without user-selected canonical | None | Picked on its own1 |
Questions
Is “Alternate page with proper canonical tag” bad?
No. It means Google followed your canonical tag and indexed the main version of the page. Google says there is nothing you need to do.
Should I fix or validate these URLs?
Only if a page you want ranked is in the row, or the canonical points to the wrong page. Validating an expected status changes nothing.
Are these pages indexed?
No. The alternate URL isn’t indexed on its own. The page its canonical points to is indexed, and that’s the one Google shows in search.
Is this status about hreflang language versions?
No. Google’s definition covers AMP and mobile or desktop alternates, and it says Search Console doesn’t detect alternate language pages. Language versions of a page should each be indexed.
Why are my Blogger ?m=1 URLs in this row?
Blogger serves its mobile view with ?m=1 added to the address and a canonical tag pointing to the normal URL. Google follows that tag, so those URLs land here. It’s expected.
Should I block these URLs in robots.txt?
Usually not. Google can’t read a canonical tag on a URL it can’t crawl, and it advises against using robots.txt for canonicalization. Only very large sites with crawl traps such as endless filter combinations need to consider it.
Sources
- Google, “Page indexing report”, Search Console Help
- Google, “URL Inspection tool”, Search Console Help
- Google, “What is URL canonicalization”, Search Central, updated August 2026
- Google, “How to specify a canonical URL with rel=“canonical” and other methods”, Search Central, updated July 2026
- John Mueller and Martin Splitt (Google), Search Off the Record episode 112, “How to read the Indexing Report”, July 2026 (transcript)
- Google, “Large site owner’s guide to managing your crawl budget”, Search Central, updated July 2026
- Google, “Pagination, incremental page loading, and their impact on Google Search”, Search Central, updated December 2025
- Google, “Ask Google to recrawl your URLs”, Search Central, updated December 2025