Hreflang
Hreflang is a tag in a page's code, server headers or sitemap that tells Google the page has other versions for different languages or regions. Google's guide says it helps Search send each person to the right version, and that if two versions don't link to each other, Google ignores the tags.
Source: Google Search Central, Tell Google about localized versions of your page, checked October 29, 2026
What Hreflang means for your business
If your site has one version in one language, you don't need hreflang. It's for sites that run the same pages for different places or languages, like an English page for the US and another for Canada with different prices, or English and French copies of each page. Google's own examples include English pages aimed at the US, Britain and Ireland.
Google says it works out what language a page is in on its own, and doesn't read hreflang or the page's lang setting to do it. Hreflang only tells Google which pages are versions of each other. Google also says translated pages aren't treated as duplicates; only pages whose main text is left untranslated are.
We'd look for three small mistakes: a page that names its sister page but gets no link back, addresses missing the full https:// start, which Google asks for, and no fallback page (Google calls it x-default) for people whose language isn't on your list. If buyers in one country keep landing on the page meant for another, we'd untangle which page Google shows where.
Last reviewed October 29, 2026. All terms
How AI answers it today
On October 29, 2026, Google's AI Overview cited SEO tool blogs, an agency blog and YouTube, not Google's own guide, and listed stopping duplicate content as a main purpose. ChatGPT cited nothing, and neither said Google works out a page's language without hreflang.
Our run through ChatGPT and Google's AI Overview, October 29, 2026. A sample, not what every buyer sees.
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