Free SEO Chrome Extensions

Canonical Chain Tracer

Find canonical chains and loops, free, right in your browser.

A free Chrome extension that checks your canonical tags and finds the ones pointing in circles.

Download free (zip)How to install

Version 1.0.1 for Chrome, Edge and Brave. No account needed.

Canonical Chain Tracer showing the results of a scan
Canonical Chain Tracer after a scan of an example site.

Why this matters

A canonical tag should point straight to the real version of a page. Sometimes it points to another page, and that page points somewhere else too. That is called a chain. When a chain loops back to where it started, search engines get confused about which page to actually show in results. This tool finds those problems before Google does.

What it does

  • Checks the page you are on right away, no setup needed
  • Scans your whole site in one click, up to 5,000 pages
  • Reads your sitemap.xml automatically and includes those pages too
  • Shows a clear breakdown: no canonical tag, self canonical, chain, or loop
  • Flags loops separately and shows you the exact path, so you know what to fix
  • Catches pages with more than one canonical tag, which is a common mistake
  • Lets you export a PDF report or an Excel file with everything found
  • Works in English
  • Everything stays in your browser. Nothing is sent to any server

How to install Canonical Chain Tracer

It takes about a minute. You only do this once.

  1. Download the zip file with the button on this page and unzip it. You will get a folder called canonical-chain-tracer.
  2. Open the extensions page. In Chrome, type chrome://extensions in the address bar and press Enter. In Edge use edge://extensions, in Brave brave://extensions.
  3. Turn on Developer mode with the switch in the top right corner.
  4. Click Load unpacked and choose the unzipped folder (the one that contains manifest.json).
  5. Pin the icon from the puzzle piece menu in your toolbar, so it is always one click away.

Download Canonical Chain Tracer

Good to know

  • A normal scan covers up to 5,000 pages. Very large sites only get a partial map.
  • Only pages on the same domain are checked. Subdomains and outside links are noted but not followed.
  • If you close the browser mid scan, your progress is saved. Just open the popup again to pick up where you left off.

What the permissions are for

Chrome shows these when you install. Here is what each one is used for.

storageSave your settings and scan results in your browser.
downloadsSave Excel and PDF reports to your computer.
tabsRead the address of the tab you have open, so it knows which site to scan.
scriptingRead links on pages that need JavaScript to show them.
Access to websitesLoad the pages of the site you scan, the same way a crawler does.

Questions

Is Canonical Chain Tracer free?

Yes. It is free to download and use, and the code is open source under the MIT license. You do not need an account, a subscription or an activation code.

Where are my results stored?

Your scan results and settings are saved in your own browser. The extension does not ask you to sign in, and you can delete everything by removing the extension.

Which browsers does it work in?

Google Chrome, and other browsers built on Chromium such as Microsoft Edge and Brave.

What is a canonical chain?

A chain is when page A says page B is the real version, but page B points to page C. A loop is when the chain comes back to where it started. Both make it harder for search engines to pick the right page.

How do I update it?

Download the latest zip from this page, replace the old folder with the new one, and click the reload button on the extensions page.

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