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SEO & AEO

Canonical tag

Also known as: rel=canonical

Definition

A canonical tag tells search engines which URL is the preferred version of a page when duplicate or near-duplicate content exists at multiple addresses, consolidating ranking signals onto one URL.

Duplication arises constantly without anyone intending it — tracking parameters, filter combinations, pagination, HTTP and HTTPS variants, trailing slashes. Canonical tags consolidate these so authority accumulates on one URL rather than being split.

They are a hint rather than a directive, and they are frequently misapplied: canonicalising every page to the homepage, or canonicalising across genuinely different content, both cause pages to disappear from the index.

More in SEO & AEO

AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation)

AEO is the practice of structuring content and data so AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews cite a business as a source when answering questions, including when no click follows.

AI visibility

How often a brand is named or cited in answers from AI assistants for the prompts its buyers actually use. The emerging equivalent of rank tracking, measured by prompting at scale and counting mentions.

Backlink

A backlink is a hyperlink from another website to yours, treated by search engines as a signal of credibility. Value depends on the linking site's authority and topical relevance, not on link count.

Content cluster

A content cluster is a comprehensive pillar page on a broad topic surrounded by interlinked supporting pages covering specific subtopics, structured so internal links consolidate relevance signals.

Core Web Vitals

Core Web Vitals are Google's user-experience metrics: Largest Contentful Paint (loading), Interaction to Next Paint (responsiveness) and Cumulative Layout Shift (visual stability), measured on real user traffic.

Crawl budget

Crawl budget is the number of pages a search engine will crawl on a site within a given period, determined by the site's authority, server responsiveness and the perceived value of its URLs.

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