How to fix a canonical mismatch
To fix a canonical mismatch, compare the canonical you declared with the one Google chose in URL Inspection, then align your canonical tag, internal links, sitemap and redirects on the single URL you want indexed.
Spot the mismatch
Open Google's URL Inspection tool for an important page. It shows both the canonical you declared and the one Google actually selected. When they differ, your ranking and citation signals are pooling on a URL you didn't intend, and AI may quote that version instead of your optimised one.
Align every signal
Decide which URL should be canonical, then make everything agree: the canonical tag, your internal links, the sitemap entry, and any redirects. Google treats your tag as a strong hint, not a command, and inconsistent internal links are the most common reason it overrides you.
Confirm the fix
Re-inspect the URL after the changes propagate. When Google's chosen canonical matches yours, your signals consolidate correctly and the page you actually optimised becomes the one eligible to rank and be cited.
Frequently asked
When the canonical URL your page declares differs from the one the search engine selects, so your signals consolidate on the engine's choice rather than yours, often without any visible error.
AI engines retrieve and quote a specific URL. If the engine settled on the wrong canonical, your optimised content on the correct URL never gets considered for a citation.
It weighs other signals too, especially internal links and sitemaps. If those point at a different URL, Google may override your declared canonical, so make them all agree.
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