Audit Standard / 2026.4

Rule explorer: Audit Standard 2026.4

Every check that defines technical readiness in MaxiMarket Audit Standard 2026.4, exactly as the audit applies it. Open a rule to see what it checks, why it matters, how to fix it, where its authority comes from and how much it counts.

Guides by topic: technical SEO audit rules, AI readiness, structured data and ecommerce product data.

Version: 2026.4
Status: Current
Published: 2026-10-01
Rules: 94
Scored: 74
Observations: 34

Authority levels

Official search-engine requirement: A search engine documents it as required for a specific outcome, such as Google eligibility.; Strongest external authority
Open standard / Schema.org: Defined by an open standard or vocabulary: HTML, WCAG, IETF RFCs, Schema.org, Sitemaps, Open Graph.
Official platform recommendation: Recommended in official platform documentation, such as Google Search Central or an AI platform.
Accepted best practice: Widely accepted practice with a cited source, but no official requirement.
MaxiMarket recommendation: MaxiMarket’s own advice. Never presented as a search engine or platform requirement.; MaxiMarket methodology

Filter

Showing 35 rules and 0 observations.

Rules

Rules pass or fail. A failed rule becomes a finding in your report; scored rules also count toward the Technical Score.

Document metadata

SEO-DESCRIPTION-001Official platform recommendation · RecommendedMeta description is presentDocumentWarning when failedWeight 1Technical Search

What this checks: Whether the returned HTML declares a meta description.
Why it matters: Google sometimes uses the meta description for the search snippet when it describes the page more accurately than on-page text, and recommends page-level descriptions, prioritizing important pages.
How to fix: Add a <meta name="description" content="..."> that accurately summarizes this specific page.

Expected: The page declares <meta name="description"> with a page-specific summary.
Applies to: Every retrieved page.
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedGoogle Search recommendation for snippets; not required for indexing.
Technical Score: Weight 1 of 3Google uses the meta description only sometimes for snippets. Missing and empty descriptions are mutually exclusive checks with the same weight.
How MaxiMarket detects it: Reports when no meta element named description is found in the returned HTML.
Sources: Control your snippets in search results — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

SEO-DESCRIPTION-002Official platform recommendation · RecommendedMeta description is not emptyDocumentWarning when failedWeight 1Technical Search

What this checks: Whether the first meta description has content.
Why it matters: An empty description cannot serve as a snippet source, so it provides none of the benefit Google describes for meta descriptions.
How to fix: Fill the content attribute with an accurate summary of the page, or remove the empty tag.

Expected: The meta description content attribute contains a page-specific summary.
Applies to: Pages with a meta description.
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedGoogle Search recommendation for snippets; not required for indexing.
Technical Score: Weight 1 of 3Same weight as a missing description; only one of SEO-DESCRIPTION-001 and -002 can apply.
How MaxiMarket detects it: Reports when the first meta description is present but its content is empty after whitespace normalization.
Sources: Control your snippets in search results — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

Canonicalization

SEO-CANONICAL-001Official platform recommendation · RecommendedCanonical URL is declaredDocumentWarning when failedWeight 1Technical SearchAI Discovery

What this checks: Whether the returned HTML declares a rel="canonical" link.
Why it matters: Google treats rel="canonical" as a strong canonicalization signal. Declaring one is optional: without it, Google selects a canonical URL itself.
How to fix: Add <link rel="canonical" href="..."> with the absolute preferred URL of this page.

Expected: The page declares a <link rel="canonical"> pointing to its preferred URL.
Applies to: Every retrieved page.
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedGoogle encourages canonical declarations but states that none of the methods are required.
Technical Score: Weight 1 of 3Google treats an explicit canonical as optional; declaring one is a helpful signal.
How MaxiMarket detects it: Reports when the returned HTML has no link element whose rel includes canonical, or the first such link has an empty href. The target is neither validated nor fetched.
Sources: How to specify a canonical URL — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

RFC 6596: The Canonical Link Relation — IETF, verified 2026-09-26

SEO-CANONICAL-004Official platform recommendation · RecommendedCanonical URL is absoluteDocumentInfo when failedNot scoredTechnical SearchAI Discovery

What this checks: Whether the declared canonical href is an absolute URL.
Why it matters: Google recommends absolute rather than relative paths for rel="canonical". RFC 6596 allows relative references, so a relative canonical is not invalid.
How to fix: Use the full URL, such as https://www.example.com/page, in the canonical link.

Expected: The canonical link uses an absolute URL, including the scheme.
Applies to: Pages that declare a non-empty canonical URL.
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedGoogle canonicalization recommendation; relative canonicals are valid under RFC 6596.
Technical Score: Not scoredRelative canonicals are valid under RFC 6596 and resolve correctly; Google's preference for absolute URLs is advisory only.
How MaxiMarket detects it: Reports when the first canonical href does not start with a URL scheme (for example /page, page or //host/page).
Sources: How to specify a canonical URL — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

RFC 6596: The Canonical Link Relation — IETF, verified 2026-09-26

SEO-CANONICAL-005Official platform recommendation · RecommendedCanonical URL has no fragmentDocumentWarning when failedWeight 1Technical SearchAI Discovery

What this checks: Whether the declared canonical URL includes a fragment.
Why it matters: Google advises against specifying URL fragments as canonical URLs.
How to fix: Remove the #fragment from the canonical URL.

Expected: The canonical URL has no #fragment.
Applies to: Pages that declare a non-empty canonical URL.
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedGoogle canonicalization recommendation.
Technical Score: Weight 1 of 3Google advises against fragment canonicals; the fragment is normally dropped, so the effect is limited.
How MaxiMarket detects it: Reports when the first canonical href contains a # character.
Sources: How to specify a canonical URL — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

SEO-CANONICAL-008Official platform recommendation · RecommendedCanonical signals agree across methodsDocumentWarning when failedWeight 2Technical SearchAI Discovery

What this checks: Whether the canonical in the HTTP Link header and in the HTML link element point to the same URL.
Why it matters: Google asks not to specify different canonical URLs through different techniques.
How to fix: Declare the same canonical URL in the Link header and the link element, or use only one method.

Expected: The same canonical URL in every method.
Applies to: Pages that declare a canonical both in an HTTP Link header and in a link element.
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedGoogle canonicalization recommendation.
Technical Score: Weight 2 of 3Conflicting canonicals across methods may make search engines ignore both.
How MaxiMarket detects it: Resolves the first canonical Link header entry and the first canonical link element against the final URL, ignoring fragments, and reports when they differ. Sitemap inclusion is not compared.
Sources: How to specify a canonical URL — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

HTTP-ORIGIN-001Official platform recommendation · RecommendedSite variants redirect to one preferred originIndexingWarning when failedWeight 2Technical SearchAI Discovery

What this checks: Whether the other scheme (http or https) and the other host (with or without a leading "www.") of the audited origin serve the page themselves instead of redirecting to one origin.
Why it matters: Google treats a redirect as the strongest signal of which URL is canonical. When the same page is served on several origins, links and signals are split between the copies and Google chooses a canonical itself, which may not be the one you prefer. The page can still be indexed: this is a consolidation recommendation, not an eligibility requirement.
How to fix: Choose one origin (for example https://example.com) and configure the web server so that every other variant (http://, and the host with or without "www.") answers with a 301 or 308 redirect to the same path on that origin.

Expected: One HTTPS origin serves the page, and every other variant that answers redirects to it permanently. A variant that does not exist, for example no "www." host, is fine.
Applies to: Pages on a registrable domain or its "www." host, on the default port, where at least one alternate variant answered. Variants that do not resolve or answer, other subdomains, IP addresses and localhost are not probed or are skipped.
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedGoogle canonicalization recommendation.
Technical Score: Weight 2 of 3Every page of a duplicated origin splits its signals between copies; Google can still choose a canonical itself, so the page is not ineligible.
How MaxiMarket detects it: Probes up to three alternate variants of the final URL's origin for the audited path and query: the other scheme, and, only on a registrable domain or its "www." host, the host with or without a leading "www." (the registrable domain follows the Public Suffix List). IP addresses, localhost, non-default ports and the "www." variant of other subdomains are not probed. Each probe uses the audit's destination checks (public addresses only), follows at most 5 redirects and gets at most 4 seconds; a variant that does not resolve, refuses the connection, times out or answers an error is skipped. Reports when a variant ends with HTTP 200 on an origin of the same site other than the audited one and has the same title, first h1 or canonical as the audited page. A variant with different content (another site) is not counted.
Sources: How to specify a canonical URL — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

Redirects and Google Search — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

HTTP-ORIGIN-002Official platform recommendation · RecommendedOrigin redirects keep the pathIndexingWarning when failedWeight 1Technical SearchAI Discovery

What this checks: Whether each alternate variant that redirects to the preferred origin keeps the requested path and query.
Why it matters: Redirecting every alternate URL to the home page loses the page it referred to. Google says not to redirect many URLs to one irrelevant destination such as the home page, which might be treated as a soft 404.
How to fix: Redirect each alternate URL to the same path and query on the preferred origin, for example return 301 https://example.com$request_uri; in Nginx.

Expected: The redirect ends at the same path and query on the preferred origin (a trailing slash difference is accepted).
Applies to: Pages where at least one alternate variant redirects to the audited origin.
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedGoogle redirect and site-move recommendation.
Technical Score: Weight 1 of 3Visitors and crawlers of the alternate URL land on another page. Excluded from the score when HTTP-ORIGIN-001 fails, the same unconsolidated origin.
How MaxiMarket detects it: Compares the path and query of each probed variant URL (see HTTP-ORIGIN-001) with the URL it finally reaches on the preferred origin, ignoring a trailing slash difference.
Sources: Site moves with URL changes — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-30

Redirects and Google Search — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

HTTP-ORIGIN-003Official platform recommendation · RecommendedSite variants redirect in one hopIndexingInfo when failedNot scoredTechnical SearchAI Discovery

What this checks: How many redirects each alternate variant needs to reach the preferred origin.
Why it matters: Google advises redirecting to the final destination directly: chains add latency and not every client follows long chains. Googlebot follows up to 10 hops, so a short chain is reported for review and does not affect the score.
How to fix: Redirect every variant straight to the final URL, for example http://www.example.com/page directly to https://example.com/page rather than via https://www.example.com/page.

Expected: One redirect, directly to the final URL.
Applies to: Pages where at least one alternate variant redirects to the audited origin.
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedGoogle redirect and site-move recommendation.
Technical Score: Not scoredGooglebot follows up to 10 hops, so a short chain still consolidates the origin; not scored, to avoid penalizing the same redirect setup twice.
How MaxiMarket detects it: Counts the redirect hops recorded for each probed variant (see HTTP-ORIGIN-001) that reaches the preferred origin, and reports more than one.
Sources: Site moves with URL changes — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-30

SEO-CANONICAL-010Official platform recommendation · RecommendedCanonical URL uses the preferred originDocumentWarning when failedWeight 1Technical SearchAI Discovery

What this checks: Whether the declared canonical URL uses the origin that the site's other variants redirect to.
Why it matters: Redirects that consolidate the site on one origin and a canonical that names another are conflicting canonical signals, and Google may then choose either.
How to fix: Declare canonical URLs on the preferred origin: the one every other variant redirects to.

Expected: The canonical URL is on the preferred origin.
Applies to: Pages with a parseable canonical, where at least one alternate variant redirects to the audited origin and none serves the page itself.
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedGoogle canonicalization recommendation.
Technical Score: Weight 1 of 3Mixed canonical signals may make Google choose another origin; the page is still reached.
How MaxiMarket detects it: Resolves the first canonical link element against the final URL. Evaluated when at least one probed variant (see HTTP-ORIGIN-001) redirects to the audited origin and none serves the page itself; reports when the canonical's origin is one of those alternate variants rather than the audited origin.
Sources: How to specify a canonical URL — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

HTTP and retrieval

HTTP-HTTPS-001Official platform recommendation · RecommendedPage is served over HTTPSDocumentWarning when failedWeight 2Technical Search

What this checks: The scheme of the final URL.
Why it matters: Google lists secure (HTTPS) serving among page-experience considerations.
How to fix: Serve the page over HTTPS and redirect the HTTP version to it.

Expected: https.
Applies to: Every retrieved page.
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedGoogle Search page-experience consideration; not a requirement for indexing.
Technical Score: Weight 2 of 3Secure serving is a stated page-experience consideration and affects every visitor, but it does not block indexing.
How MaxiMarket detects it: Reports when the final URL of an available page uses http rather than https.
Sources: Understanding page experience in Google Search results — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

HTTP-REDIRECT-003Official platform recommendation · RecommendedProtocol and host normalization redirects are permanentIndexingWarning when failedWeight 1Technical SearchAI Discovery

What this checks: The status of scheme and host normalization redirects: hops in the audited URL's own redirect chain that change only the scheme and/or a leading "www." label, and every redirect an alternate variant answers on its way to the preferred origin.
Why it matters: Google recommends permanent server-side redirects for permanent moves, and treats permanent redirects as a strong canonical signal. Moving to HTTPS or to the preferred host variant is permanent.
How to fix: Answer requests for the other scheme or host variant with a 301 or 308 redirect to the preferred URL.

Expected: Such redirects use 301 or 308.
Applies to: Audited URLs whose own redirect chain includes a scheme or "www." normalization hop, or with at least one alternate variant that redirects to the audited origin; other pages are not applicable.
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedGoogle redirect recommendation.
Technical Score: Weight 1 of 3A temporary normalization redirect weakens a canonical signal; the page is still reached.
How MaxiMarket detects it: Inspects the redirect hops the fetch followed for the audited URL (up to 5) and every redirect of the alternate variants probed by HTTP-ORIGIN-001 that reach the preferred origin. In the audited URL's chain, a hop is a normalization redirect when path and query stay the same and only the scheme changes and/or the host gains or loses a leading "www." label. Reports when such a hop, or a variant redirect, answers 302, 303 or 307. In browser audits the audited URL's hops come from the navigation's redirect chain; variants are always probed over HTTP.
Sources: Redirects and Google Search — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

Site moves with URL changes — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-30

HTTP-REDIRECT-004Official platform recommendation · RecommendedPage does not redirect with meta refreshIndexingWarning when failedWeight 1Technical SearchAI Discovery

What this checks: Whether the page declares <meta http-equiv="refresh"> with a URL of another page.
Why it matters: Google recommends server-side redirects; a meta refresh redirect is only seen when the page is retrieved and parsed, and other consumers may not follow it.
How to fix: Replace the meta refresh with a server-side 301 or 308 redirect.

Expected: Redirects are server-side (HTTP 301 or 308 for permanent moves).
Applies to: Every retrieved (available) page.
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedGoogle redirect recommendation.
Technical Score: Weight 1 of 3A meta refresh still redirects; it is a weaker, slower signal than a server-side redirect.
How MaxiMarket detects it: Reports when a meta http-equiv="refresh" element has a url= value that resolves to a different URL than the page (ignoring fragments). A refresh without a URL (a reload) passes. JavaScript redirects are not detected: they cannot be observed without executing scripts.
Sources: Redirects and Google Search — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

Links and discoverability

LINK-IMAGE-ALT-001Official platform recommendation · RecommendedImage links have alt textDocumentWarning when failedWeight 1Technical SearchAI DiscoveryMachine Readability

What this checks: Links whose only content is one or more images.
Why it matters: Google uses the alt text of a linked image as the link's anchor text, and WCAG requires that link purpose can be determined.
How to fix: Give the image inside the link an alt attribute that describes the link destination.

Expected: At least one image in such a link has non-empty alt text.
Applies to: Pages with at least one link whose only content is one or more images.
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedGoogle link recommendation (WCAG 2.4.4).
Technical Score: Weight 1 of 3Image links without alt text lose their anchor text. Excluded from the score when MEDIA-IMG-ALT-001 fails, because the same missing alt attribute would otherwise be penalized twice.
How MaxiMarket detects it: Reports when an a element with href contains no text and only img elements (optionally inside picture or plain wrappers), none of which has non-empty alt. Links with other content, such as SVG, are not applicable.
Sources: Link best practices for Google — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

WCAG 2.2 Understanding SC 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) — W3C, verified 2026-09-26

LINK-CRAWLABLE-002Official platform recommendation · RecommendedLink elements declare an hrefDocumentInfo when failedWeight 1Technical SearchAI Discovery

What this checks: a elements that contain text or an image but have no href attribute.
Why it matters: Google can only crawl a link that is an <a> element with an href attribute. An <a> without href may be a deliberate placeholder, such as the current page in a navigation list, so this is a low-weight recommendation rather than an indexing requirement.
How to fix: Give each link an href with its destination, or use a non-link element such as <span> or <button> for text that is not meant as a link.

Expected: Every link is an <a> element with an href attribute.
Applies to: Every retrieved (available) page.
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedGoogle link crawlability guidance, applied as a recommendation.
Technical Score: Weight 1 of 3A link without href hides its destination from crawlers, but it may be a deliberate placeholder; lowest weight.
How MaxiMarket detects it: Counts a elements without an href attribute that contain text or an img, except those with a name or id attribute (fragment targets) and those with a routerlink attribute (reported by LINK-CRAWLABLE-001). SVG and MathML content is excluded; script behavior is not inferred.
Sources: Link best practices for Google — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

Images and media

MEDIA-IMG-SRC-001Official platform recommendation · RecommendedResponsive images keep a src fallbackDocumentWarning when failedWeight 1Technical Search

What this checks: img elements that declare srcset or a lazy-loading data attribute but no src.
Why it matters: Google finds images through img src and asks for a src fallback with srcset; images that only load through scripts may not be seen.
How to fix: Give every img a src attribute, even when srcset or a lazy-loading library is used.

Expected: Every such img has a src.
Applies to: Pages with at least one img element.
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedGoogle image recommendation.
Technical Score: Weight 1 of 3Images without a src fallback may not be discovered; the rest of the page is unaffected.
How MaxiMarket detects it: Reports when an img element has srcset, data-src or data-srcset but no non-empty src attribute. A placeholder src counts as present.
Sources: Google image SEO best practices — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

Mobile site and mobile-first indexing best practices — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

Indexing and snippet directives

INDEX-NOINDEX-CANONICAL-001Official platform recommendation · Recommendednoindex is not combined with a canonical URL pointing elsewhereIndexingWarning when failedNot scoredTechnical SearchAI Discovery

What this checks: Whether a page declares noindex for all crawlers and a canonical URL for a different page.
Why it matters: Google does not recommend using noindex to prevent selection of a canonical page within a single site; the two signals conflict.
How to fix: If this page duplicates another, keep the canonical URL and remove noindex. If the page should stay out of search, keep noindex and make the canonical point to the page itself or remove it.

Expected: The page uses one signal: a canonical URL pointing to the preferred page, or noindex.
Applies to: Pages that declare noindex for all crawlers and a non-empty canonical URL; indexable pages and crawler-specific noindex are not applicable.
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedGoogle canonicalization recommendation.
Technical Score: Not scoredDepends on noindex, an intent-dependent state that is itself not scored.
How MaxiMarket detects it: Reports when INDEX-NOINDEX-001 applies (noindex or none for all crawlers) and the declared canonical, resolved against the final URL and ignoring any fragment, is a different URL. Unparseable canonical values are not applicable.
Sources: How to specify a canonical URL — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

Entity and site identity

STRUCTURED-ORG-001Official platform recommendation · RecommendedHome page describes the organizationStructured dataInfo when failedWeight 1Technical SearchAI DiscoveryMachine Readability

What this checks: Organization structured data (or a subtype, such as OnlineStore) on the home page.
Why it matters: Google recommends Organization structured data on the home page (or an about page) to understand the organization behind the site.
How to fix: Add an Organization (or the most specific subtype) with name, url and logo to the home page.

Expected: At least one top-level Organization entity.
Applies to: Home pages (final URL path "/"); other pages are not applicable.
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedGoogle Organization structured data recommendation.
Technical Score: Weight 1 of 3Recommended on the home page to identify the organization.
How MaxiMarket detects it: The home page is the page whose final URL path is "/". Reports when its inspected JSON-LD has no top-level entity typed Organization or one of its Schema.org subtypes. Not evaluated when JSON-LD inspection hit its limits.
Sources: Organization structured data — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

STRUCTURED-ORG-002Official platform recommendation · RecommendedOrganization declares name, url and logoStructured dataInfo when failedWeight 1Technical SearchAI DiscoveryMachine Readability

What this checks: name, url and logo on each top-level Organization entity.
Why it matters: Google recommends these core identity properties for Organization structured data (none are required).
How to fix: Add name, url and logo to the Organization.

Expected: All three present.
Applies to: Pages with at least one top-level Organization entity (Organization or a subtype).
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedGoogle Organization structured data recommendation.
Technical Score: Weight 1 of 3Recommended core identity properties; none is required.
How MaxiMarket detects it: Reports when a top-level entity typed Organization or a subtype lacks a non-empty name, url or logo. Organizations nested in other entities (for example a seller or publisher) are not checked.
Sources: Organization structured data — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

STRUCTURED-ORG-004Official platform recommendation · RecommendedOrganization logo meets minimum sizeStructured dataInfo when failedWeight 1Technical SearchAI DiscoveryMachine Readability

What this checks: The pixel dimensions of the logo of the first top-level Organization.
Why it matters: Google's Organization logo guideline sets a minimum of 112x112 pixels.
How to fix: Use a logo image of at least 112x112 pixels.

Expected: At least 112x112 pixels.
Applies to: Pages with a top-level Organization entity that declares a logo URL.
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedGoogle Organization structured data recommendation.
Technical Score: Weight 1 of 3A logo below Google's minimum size may not be used.
How MaxiMarket detects it: One bounded request for the logo URL (up to 256 KiB, same destination checks as the audit). Dimensions are read from PNG, GIF, JPEG, WebP and BMP headers. Reports when either dimension is below 112. SVG logos, unreadable formats and unavailable responses are not evaluated.
Sources: Organization structured data — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

Articles, authorship and dates

STRUCTURED-ARTICLE-001Official platform recommendation · RecommendedArticle declares headline, image, dates and authorStructured dataInfo when failedWeight 1Technical SearchAI DiscoveryMachine Readability

What this checks: headline, image, datePublished, dateModified and author on each top-level Article entity.
Why it matters: Google recommends these properties for Article structured data (none are required); they describe the article for search features.
How to fix: Add headline, image, datePublished, dateModified and author to the Article.

Expected: All five present.
Applies to: Pages with at least one top-level Article entity (Article or a subtype, such as BlogPosting or NewsArticle).
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedGoogle Article structured data recommendation.
Technical Score: Weight 1 of 3Recommended properties; Article has no required properties.
How MaxiMarket detects it: Reports when a top-level entity typed Article or a Schema.org subtype (for example BlogPosting or NewsArticle) lacks a non-empty headline, image, datePublished, dateModified or author.
Sources: Article structured data — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

STRUCTURED-AUTHOR-001Official platform recommendation · RecommendedAuthor entities have a nameStructured dataWarning when failedWeight 1Technical SearchAI DiscoveryMachine Readability

What this checks: The name of each declared author.
Why it matters: Google documents the author name for articles and requires a valid author name for reviews.
How to fix: Give each author a name, for example {"@type": "Person", "name": "…"}.

Expected: Every author is a non-empty name or an entity with one.
Applies to: Pages whose structured data declares at least one author.
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedGoogle Article and review snippet guidance.
Technical Score: Weight 1 of 3Author names are recommended for articles and required for reviews.
How MaxiMarket detects it: Checks author values in the inspected JSON-LD. A non-empty string, or an object with a non-empty name, passes; an @id reference is resolved within the page. Reports when an author object has no name. Unresolvable references are not evaluated.
Sources: Article structured data — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

Review snippet structured data — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

STRUCTURED-DATE-001Official platform recommendation · RecommendedStructured dates use ISO 8601 with time zoneStructured dataWarning when failedWeight 1Technical SearchAI DiscoveryMachine Readability

What this checks: The format of datePublished and dateModified values.
Why it matters: Google asks for ISO 8601 dates and correct time zones; a time without a zone is ambiguous.
How to fix: Use values such as 2026-09-26 or 2026-09-26T08:00:00+02:00.

Expected: An ISO 8601 date, or a date and time with a time zone.
Applies to: Pages whose structured data declares datePublished or dateModified.
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedGoogle Article and publication date guidance.
Technical Score: Weight 1 of 3Dates in another format or without a time zone may be misread.
How MaxiMarket detects it: Reports when a datePublished or dateModified in the inspected JSON-LD is not an ISO 8601 calendar date (YYYY-MM-DD) or date-time with hours and minutes, or gives a time without Z or an offset.
Sources: Article structured data — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

Influence the byline dates in Google Search — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

STRUCTURED-DATE-002Official platform recommendation · RecommendedDates are plausibleStructured dataWarning when failedWeight 1Technical SearchAI DiscoveryMachine Readability

What this checks: Future datePublished or dateModified values, and dateModified earlier than datePublished.
Why it matters: Google asks not to specify future dates, and a modification before publication is contradictory.
How to fix: Correct the dates or their time zones.

Expected: No future dates, and dateModified not earlier than datePublished.
Applies to: Pages whose structured data declares a datePublished or dateModified in ISO 8601 form.
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedGoogle publication date guidance.
Technical Score: Weight 1 of 3Implausible dates are recommended against; they do not break parsing.
How MaxiMarket detects it: Compares ISO 8601 values with the audit time and with each other. A date without a time spans that whole day in every time zone, and a time without a zone spans all offsets, so only dates that are in the future (by more than one hour) or out of order under every interpretation are reported.
Sources: Influence the byline dates in Google Search — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

Product and Offer data

STRUCTURED-PRODUCT-004Official platform recommendation · RecommendedProduct has a product identifierProductWarning when failedWeight 1Technical SearchAI DiscoveryCommerceMachine Readability

What this checks: Whether each inspected Product entity has a recognized product identifier: GTIN, MPN, SKU or ISBN.
Why it matters: Google recommends GTIN, MPN or SKU identifiers for merchant listings to identify the product.
How to fix: Add the applicable identifier, such as "gtin13", "mpn" or "sku", to each Product entity.

Expected: Every Product entity has a GTIN, MPN, SKU or ISBN.
Applies to: Pages with at least one fully inspected Product entity; not applicable otherwise.
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedGoogle recommendation for merchant listings.
Technical Score: Weight 1 of 3Identifiers are recommended, not required.
How MaxiMarket detects it: Reports when at least one fully inspected Product entity has none of sku, gtin, gtin8, gtin12, gtin13, gtin14, isbn or mpn with a non-empty value. Identifier formats and check digits are not validated.
Sources: Merchant listing structured data — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

Schema.org Product — Schema.org, verified 2026-09-26

STRUCTURED-PRODUCT-005Official platform recommendation · RecommendedProduct declares a brandProductInfo when failedWeight 1Technical SearchAI DiscoveryCommerceMachine Readability

What this checks: Whether each inspected Product entity has a brand with a name.
Why it matters: Google recommends brand for merchant listings; it identifies the product's maker.
How to fix: Add brand, for example {"@type": "Brand", "name": "…"}.

Expected: Every Product has a brand name.
Applies to: Pages with at least one fully inspected Product entity; not applicable otherwise.
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedFully inspected Product entities (at most 20 per page).
Technical Score: Weight 1 of 3Brand is a recommended property.
How MaxiMarket detects it: Reports when a fully inspected Product entity has no brand that is a non-empty string or an object with a non-empty name.
Sources: Merchant listing structured data — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

Schema.org Product — Schema.org, verified 2026-09-26

STRUCTURED-PRODUCT-006Official platform recommendation · RecommendedProduct has a descriptionProductInfo when failedWeight 1Technical SearchAI DiscoveryCommerceMachine Readability

What this checks: Whether each inspected Product entity has a description.
Why it matters: Google recommends a description for merchant listings.
How to fix: Add a description to each Product.

Expected: Every Product has a non-empty description.
Applies to: Pages with at least one fully inspected Product entity; not applicable otherwise.
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedFully inspected Product entities (at most 20 per page).
Technical Score: Weight 1 of 3Description is a recommended property.
How MaxiMarket detects it: Reports when a fully inspected Product entity has no non-empty description string.
Sources: Merchant listing structured data — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

STRUCTURED-OFFER-004Official platform recommendation · RecommendedOffer states its availabilityOfferWarning when failedWeight 1Technical SearchAI DiscoveryCommerceMachine Readability

What this checks: Whether each inspected Offer states a valid Schema.org availability value.
Why it matters: Google recommends availability on Offer for Product snippets and merchant listings.
How to fix: Add an "availability" property with a Schema.org ItemAvailability value to each Offer.

Expected: Every Offer has an availability that is a Schema.org ItemAvailability value, such as https://schema.org/InStock.
Applies to: Pages with at least one inspected Offer linked from a fully inspected Product.
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedGoogle recommendation for Product snippets and merchant listings.
Technical Score: Weight 1 of 3Availability is recommended.
How MaxiMarket detects it: Reports when at least one inspected Offer linked from a fully inspected Product has no availability naming an ItemAvailability member, either as a schema.org URL, a bare member name or an @id reference. AggregateOffer is not checked.
Sources: Merchant listing structured data — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

Schema.org Offer — Schema.org, verified 2026-09-26

Schema.org ItemAvailability — Schema.org, verified 2026-09-26

STRUCTURED-OFFER-007Official platform recommendation · RecommendedOffer declares item conditionOfferInfo when failedWeight 1Technical SearchCommerceMachine Readability

What this checks: itemCondition on each inspected Offer.
Why it matters: Google recommends itemCondition for merchant listings.
How to fix: Add itemCondition, for example https://schema.org/NewCondition.

Expected: An OfferItemCondition value: NewCondition, UsedCondition, RefurbishedCondition or DamagedCondition.
Applies to: Pages with at least one inspected Offer linked from a fully inspected Product.
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedGoogle merchant listing recommendation.
Technical Score: Weight 1 of 3Item condition is recommended.
How MaxiMarket detects it: Reports when an inspected Offer has no itemCondition naming an OfferItemCondition member (as a schema.org URL, a bare name or an @id reference). AggregateOffer is not checked.
Sources: Merchant listing structured data — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

Schema.org Offer — Schema.org, verified 2026-09-26

STRUCTURED-OFFER-009Official platform recommendation · RecommendedOffer declares shipping detailsOfferInfo when failedNot scoredTechnical SearchCommerceMachine Readability

What this checks: shippingDetails on each inspected Offer, or a shipping policy (hasShippingService) on an Organization on the page.
Why it matters: Google recommends shipping details for merchant listings; they can also come from Merchant Center or an Organization-level policy.
How to fix: Add shippingDetails to the Offer, or an Organization-level shipping policy.

Expected: Shipping details are declared.
Applies to: Pages with at least one inspected Offer linked from a fully inspected Product.
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedGoogle merchant listing recommendation.
Technical Score: Not scoredShipping can be configured in Merchant Center or on another page, so its absence here is not reliably a defect.
How MaxiMarket detects it: Reports when an inspected Offer has no shippingDetails value and no entity on the page typed Organization (or subtype) declares hasShippingService. Settings configured only in Merchant Center or on another page are not visible.
Sources: Merchant listing structured data — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

Organization structured data — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

STRUCTURED-OFFER-010Official platform recommendation · RecommendedReturn policy is declaredOfferInfo when failedNot scoredTechnical SearchCommerceMachine Readability

What this checks: hasMerchantReturnPolicy on each inspected Offer, or on an Organization on the page.
Why it matters: Google recommends a return policy for merchant listings; it can also come from Merchant Center or an Organization-level policy.
How to fix: Add hasMerchantReturnPolicy to the Offer or the Organization.

Expected: A return policy is declared.
Applies to: Pages with at least one inspected Offer linked from a fully inspected Product.
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedGoogle merchant listing recommendation.
Technical Score: Not scoredReturn policies can be configured in Merchant Center or on another page, so their absence here is not reliably a defect.
How MaxiMarket detects it: Reports when an inspected Offer has no hasMerchantReturnPolicy value and no entity on the page typed Organization (or subtype) declares one. Policies configured only in Merchant Center or on another page are not visible.
Sources: Merchant listing structured data — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

Organization structured data — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

STRUCTURED-OFFER-012Official platform recommendation · RecommendedAggregateOffer states its price rangeOfferInfo when failedWeight 1Technical SearchCommerceMachine Readability

What this checks: highPrice and offerCount on each inspected AggregateOffer.
Why it matters: Google recommends highPrice and offerCount for AggregateOffer in Product snippets.
How to fix: Add highPrice and offerCount to the AggregateOffer.

Expected: Both present.
Applies to: Pages with at least one inspected AggregateOffer linked from a fully inspected Product.
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedGoogle Product snippet recommendation.
Technical Score: Weight 1 of 3highPrice and offerCount are recommended.
How MaxiMarket detects it: Reports when an inspected AggregateOffer lacks a usable highPrice or offerCount.
Sources: Product snippet structured data — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-26

Performance and mobile

SEO-VIEWPORT-001Official platform recommendation · RecommendedPage declares a responsive viewportDocumentWarning when failedWeight 1Technical Search

What this checks: The first meta element named viewport.
Why it matters: Google lists the viewport meta tag among the tags it supports: it tells the browser how to render the page on a mobile device, and its presence indicates to Google that the page is mobile friendly. It is a signal, not a requirement for indexing.
How to fix: Add <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> to the head, and make sure the layout adapts to narrow screens.

Expected: A viewport meta element whose content includes width=device-width, for example <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">.
Applies to: Every retrieved (available) page.
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedGoogle-supported meta tag (mobile-friendliness signal).
Technical Score: Weight 1 of 3A signal of mobile friendliness for Google, not a requirement for indexing; lowest weight.
How MaxiMarket detects it: Reads the first meta element named viewport and passes when its content includes width=device-width (case-insensitive, spaces ignored). A missing tag, an empty one or a fixed width is reported; zoom and scaling settings are not judged.
Sources: Meta tags and attributes that Google supports — Google Search Central, verified 2026-09-30

CSS Viewport Module Level 1 — W3C (CSS WG), verified 2026-09-26

Crawl control and crawler access

CRAWL-ACCESS-004Official platform recommendation · RecommendedAudited URL is not disallowed for BingbotIndexingWarning when failedWeight 2Technical SearchAI Discovery

What this checks: The robots.txt policy that applies to Bingbot for the audited URL.
Why it matters: Bing advises sites that want their content indexed not to block Bingbot: "no crawling means no indexing". Bingbot follows robots.txt, so a Disallow that applies to it is a declared crawl restriction: Bing does not crawl the page. This is Bing's published guidance rather than a stated Bing requirement; it counts toward the Technical Score with a small weight, and an intended exclusion can be accepted in the findings workflow.
How to fix: Remove or narrow the Disallow rules that match this URL in the bingbot section, or in the * section when there is no bingbot (or msnbot) section, unless the exclusion is intended.

Expected: Allowed, unless excluding the page from Bing is intended.
Applies to: Every retrieved page whose origin returned robots.txt or 404/410 for it; not evaluated when robots.txt is unavailable, returns a server error or exceeds the inspection limits.
Authority: Official platform recommendation · RecommendedOfficial Bing platform recommendation (Bing Webmaster Blog guidance), not a stated Bing requirement.
Technical Score: Weight 2 of 3Bing does not crawl, and so does not index, a page that robots.txt disallows for Bingbot. Conservatively below Googlebot's 3: Bing states this as blog guidance rather than a technical requirement. An intended exclusion can be accepted in the findings workflow.
How MaxiMarket detects it: Bing honors one robots.txt section: the bingbot section, else the msnbot section, else the * section. Within it, the longest matching allow or disallow path wins, allow on ties, with * and $ wildcards. Not evaluated when robots.txt is unavailable, answers 5xx, or exceeds the inspection limits; a 404/410 robots.txt allows everything.
Sources: Indexing issues? Let's examine the most common problems. — Microsoft Bing (Bing Webmaster Blog), verified 2026-10-01

To crawl or not to crawl, that is BingBot's question — Microsoft Bing (Bing Webmaster Blog), verified 2026-10-01

Announcing user-agent change for Bing crawler bingbot — Microsoft Bing (Bing Webmaster Blog), verified 2026-10-01

RFC 9309: Robots Exclusion Protocol — IETF, verified 2026-09-26