Hreflang return link is missing or has the wrong language value
In the reportHreflang return link missing
hreflang_missing_return_link · Issue
A page declares an alternate, but that alternate does not return to it correctly. Compare the exact language value, including its region, and add or correct the reciprocal declaration.
Severity: High. Resolve the incompatible alternate relationship soon.
Why it matters
A broken reciprocal relationship can prevent the intended localized pair from being understood.
What to do
- Find the declaring page and alternate in the finding.
- Add the declaring page to the alternate’s HTML, HTTP Link header or own sitemap with the declaring page’s self-reference value.
- Keep exact region values consistent; a fallback entry alone does not assert a concrete language.
What we read
The audit reuses this run’s admitted page and canonical-target captures, then selects at most 20 additional distinct HTTPS alternates across internal and external hosts. Requests use the shared robots, safety, pacing and redirect controls. A probe is not a billed page. The captured terminal document is parsed once; JavaScript and foreign sitemaps are not read.
The return set combines the alternate’s HTML and HTTP Link declarations and, for an internal alternate, its own entries in the site’s sitemaps. A matching concrete return is sufficient for clean even when another channel is unread.
Without that match, a verdict requires every return channel complete, well-formed declarations and agreeing admitted aliases. No return fires; only x-default is clean; x-default together with a wrong concrete value fires as a mismatch. de-AT and de-CH differ.
A foreign alternate’s sitemap is always unread: a matching concrete HTML or Link return can be clean; a visible wrong value, x-default-only or no visible return remains unknown. Disagreeing self labels on the declaring page remain with the cross-method owner.
Example & evidence
Illustrative example — declared addresses and responses, not a live audit.
A declares B with de-AT as A’s self value; B returns to A only with de-CH.
Correction: B returns to A with de-AT.
Confirm & check again
Check for yourself: Compare A’s self-reference values with every complete return channel on B; inspect the gap reason before treating an absent visible return as a defect.
Check again: Full audit — Run another audit of the same declared target and its declaring pages. A sufficient clean check can fix the same target finding. If the declaration disappears, every previously affected page needs complete HTML, HTTP Link and own-sitemap coverage, a well-formed target set and agreeing admitted aliases. Missing, malformed or unread evidence carries the finding.
Limits & sources
The check compares exact annotations, not the actual language of the text. Without a self-reference on A, only a missing return can be decided. Redirected alternates use their final document for this return check.
A refused, over-budget, failed or unread target remains unknown. Different or unread admitted aliases qualify declaration completeness; their declarations are never merged into the representative page. These observations do not establish Google’s indexing or chosen canonical.
Confidence: High High for the retained response or declarations that directly establish this defect. Coverage gaps remain separate and never count as a clean result.
Sources
- Google, Tell Google about localized versions of your page — Describes reciprocal links between localized versions and consistent alternate URLs. Checked 3 November 2026.
Editorial review: 3 November 2026