Glossary · Technical
Canonical URL
The single, preferred URL a site owner designates for a piece of content when the same or similar content is reachable at multiple addresses.
Why it matters
When the same content is technically reachable through more than one URL (with and without tracking parameters, for example), a canonical tag tells crawlers which version is the authoritative one to index and cite.
Relevance to AI citations
A clear canonical signal helps ensure that when a source gets cited, it's cited via the correct, intended URL — rather than a duplicate or parameter-laden variant that fragments authority across multiple addresses.
See more terms in the full glossary, or read the AI Visibility 101 guide for the full picture.