A page names a page on another site as the main one
In the reportCross-domain canonical
cross_domain_canonical · Review item
This appears when a page names, as its only canonical, an address on a different host, including another subdomain of your own domain. That can be right, for example for content published first elsewhere, so it is kept for review. Confirm that the other host should be treated as the main version.
Severity: Medium. Review it in your next round of site changes; if the canonical is a mistake, such as a leftover staging address, it may lead Google to prefer that host's page.
Why it matters
A canonical is a strong hint that the named address should be shown instead of this one. The canonical link standard allows a canonical on a different host or domain, and search engines may then index only the named address.
What to do
- Look at the finding: it shows the canonical, this page's host and the canonical's host.
- If the other host is not meant to own this page, such as a staging or old domain, change the canonical to this page's own address.
- If it is meant to, for example a partner site that published the article first, leave it as it is.
When to leave it as it is: if the content is syndicated and the other host is the intended main version, the canonical is doing its job.
What we read
We read each crawled page's canonical from the <link rel="canonical"> in its head and its Link header, without running JavaScript. A page with exactly one canonical is reported when that canonical's host differs from your site's host, ignoring one leading www. and the port and protocol.
So www.bakery.example counts as your own site, while shop.bakery.example or staging.bakery.example count as other hosts. The other host is not fetched. Pages with two or more canonicals are left to their own check.
Example & evidence
Illustrative example — one page, not a live audit.
https://bakery.example/recipes/rye-bread/ declares:
<link rel="canonical" href="https://staging.bakery.example/recipes/rye-bread/">The canonical's host, staging.bakery.example, differs from the site's host, bakery.example, so the page is reported with both hosts.
A possible correction: <link rel="canonical" href="https://bakery.example/recipes/rye-bread/">; a www.bakery.example address would also count as the same site.
Confirm & check again
Check for yourself: view the page source, find rel="canonical" and compare its host with the address in your browser.
Check again: Full audit — run a new audit of the site. The finding closes when the page is crawled again as a complete HTML page, not only a frame for scripts, with no canonical or one on your own host; two different canonicals do not confirm it. It can also close when the page answers directly with 200 and a file that is not HTML, or starts with a permanent redirect within your site. A page that answers 404 or 410 cannot be confirmed.
Limits & sources
The check does not know who owns the other host or whether the content is shared there, and it does not test whether the named page works. A subdomain of your own domain counts as another host.
Confidence: Medium because a canonical on another host is often intended; the finding records both hosts so you can judge.
Sources
- Google, How to specify a canonical URL with rel="canonical" and other methods — calls rel="canonical" a strong signal that the named URL should become canonical. Checked 25 September 2026.
- IETF, The Canonical Link Relation (RFC 6596) — allows a canonical on a different hostname or domain, and lets search engines index only the named address. Checked 25 September 2026.
Editorial review: 29 September 2026