hreflang
An annotation that tells Google which of your pages are versions of the same content for different languages or regions, so Search can show people the right one.
If you have versions of a page for different languages or regions, Google asks you to tell it about them so Google Search can “point users to the most appropriate version of your page by language or region” (Google Search Central). You do that with hreflang. Google’s examples include English pages with small regional differences for the US, Great Britain and Ireland, and a site with German and English versions of each page.
Google might find the other versions on its own, but says it’s usually best to point them out. It doesn’t use hreflang to work out what language a page is in; its algorithms do that. It counts localized versions as duplicates only if the main content stays untranslated.
How to add it
Google accepts three methods and treats them as equivalent: <link> elements in each page’s <head>, HTTP headers, or your sitemap. Pick whichever suits your site, since using all three brings no benefit in Search. With any of them:
- Each version lists itself and every other version. If two pages don’t both point to each other, Google ignores the tags.
- Each code starts with a language, optionally followed by a region, as in
en-US. A country code on its own isn’t valid, and Google saysUKandEUhave no effect in Search: English for the UK isen-GB. - Add
x-defaultfor a fallback page, such as a language selector, for visitors whose language settings match none of your versions.
Do you need it?
Only if you have more than one version of a page for different languages or regions, which is the case Google’s advice covers. To check your annotations, Google lists a few third-party tools, but says they “are not maintained or checked by Google.”
Related terms
Tools for it
Sources
Updated Oct 12, 2026.