---
title: Hreflang Validator Reciprocal
category: product
entity_type: skill
price: $15
canonical: https://forgehouse.ai/skills/hreflang-validator-reciprocal/
lang: en
hreflang_alt: https://forgehouse.ai/tr/skiller/hreflang-validator-reciprocal/
last_updated: 2026-06-20
---

# Hreflang Validator Reciprocal

> Reciprocal hreflang validator

Validates hreflang setup on multilingual sites by building a directed graph of every language tag and catching the issues Google silently rejects: missing reciprocal links, missing x-default fallback, broken ISO/BCP 47 codes, missing self-references, and cross-language canonical conflicts. It parses sitemap blocks, HTML head tags, and crawl exports so the right user sees the right language version.

## Use cases
- Technical SEO audit of a multilingual site (Next.js i18n, WordPress WPML, Webflow)
- Hreflang regression check after a relaunch or URL migration
- Investigating a Search Console International Targeting warning
- Deciding between sitemap hreflang blocks and HTML head tags at scale
- Finding reciprocal gaps where A points to B but B never points back
- Cleaning up unnecessary hreflang tags on a single-language site

## Benefits
- Stop Google from ignoring an entire language cluster because one reciprocal link is missing
- Keep mismatched-locale users from landing on the wrong language version via x-default
- Catch the catastrophic cross-language canonical that drops pages from the index
- Recover lost international organic traffic by fixing tags Google was silently discarding

## What’s included
- Reciprocal graph validator that lists every A-to-B edge missing its B-to-A return
- x-default coverage check per language cluster
- BCP 47 / ISO code format validation (hyphen vs underscore, language vs country, self-reference)
- Sitemap XML, Next.js App Router metadata, and crawl-export parsers, all XXE-safe
- Canonical-versus-hreflang conflict detection per page
- Eleven documented anti-patterns plus a client-friendly findings report and integration checklist

## Who it’s for
SEO specialists and developers running multilingual sites who need hreflang verified correctly so international pages rank and route to the right audience.

## How it runs
One missing return link and Google quietly discards your entire language cluster. The validator graphs every hreflang edge, hunts non-reciprocal pairs, and checks each code against the format Google actually accepts.
1. Parses the sitemap's hreflang blocks (with an XXE-safe XML parser) or the HTML head tags into a directed graph, where every hreflang annotation is an edge from one URL to another.
2. Hunts missing reciprocals: page A points at B but B never points back. It is the single most common error and the one that makes Google discard the entire language cluster.
3. Validates that every cluster has an x-default fallback and that every page self-references its own URL, both hard requirements Google checks.
4. Verifies each language code against BCP 47 format: tr-TR with a hyphen passes, while tr_TR with an underscore, a bare country code or wrong casing gets silently ignored by Google.
5. Catches canonical conflicts, because a page whose canonical points at another language version drops out of the index entirely and takes its hreflang signals with it.
6. Cross-reads Search Console country-impression data for anomalies (a Turkish page earning most of its impressions from the US means the setup is wrong) and outputs the prioritized fix list.

## FAQ
### Our site is WordPress with WPML, not Next.js. Can it still validate our hreflang?
Yes. The validator is source-agnostic: it parses sitemap XML blocks, HTML head tags, and crawl exports, so it reads the tags wherever they live, whether that's Next.js i18n, WPML, or Webflow.

### How does it catch reciprocity gaps that Search Console never shows me?
It builds a directed graph of every language tag and lists each A-to-B edge that has no B-to-A return. On top of that it checks x-default coverage per language cluster, validates BCP 47 code formats, and flags canonical-versus-hreflang conflicts per page.

### Will it fix the broken tags automatically?
No. It's a validator: it finds the issues, produces a findings report, and gives you an integration checklist. Applying the fixes in your codebase or CMS is your step.

## Price
$15, one-time, no subscription. VAT included.

Related guide: [How to automate SEO and AEO with Claude](https://forgehouse.ai/guides/automate-seo-claude/)