# x-default explained: the hreflang fallback for unmatched visitors > x-default names the page Google shows when no language or region in your hreflang set matches the searcher. Learn when to use it, which page it should point at, and how to write it correctly. Updated 2026-09-25 · Technical SEO · HTML version: https://getreport.app/guides/hreflang-x-default-explained A visitor in Brazil searches for your product. Your hreflang set has English, German and Croatian; none of them is Portuguese. Which page does Google show? Without `x-default`, whichever it estimates is best, which is often the German page because it was crawled most recently. With `x-default`, the page you chose. This guide explains what `x-default` is, which page it should point at, how it fits into language-only and language-region sets, and the redirect mistake that makes the whole set useless. It takes about 20 minutes to add and one report to verify. ## Quick answer - `x-default` is one more `hreflang` entry whose value is the literal string `x-default`. It names the URL to show when **no other entry matches** the searcher's language and region. - Point it at the page that makes sense for a stranger: the global English page, or a language selector page that answers 200. - It can be the same URL as an existing entry (`en` and `x-default` both pointing at `/en/` is normal). - One `x-default` per set, on every version of the page, reciprocal like every other entry. - Do not redirect visitors by IP to a language version. Show a banner instead; the redirect breaks hreflang for Googlebot. - Run the [hreflang checker](https://getreport.app/tools/hreflang-checker) on one page per template; the first finding flags a missing or doubled `x-default`. ## Why x-default matters hreflang is a lookup table: the searcher's language and country on one side, a URL on the other. Tables need a default row. When the searcher's settings match nothing (a Portuguese speaker on a site with three European languages, or a Swiss visitor on a site with `de-DE` and `de-AT` but no `de-CH`), Google falls back to its own guess. That guess is not random; it leans on which version it crawled first, which has more links and which language it detected from the content. It is still a guess, and the visible symptom is a wrong-language page ranking in a country you never targeted. `x-default` replaces the guess. It is not required ([hreflang basics](https://getreport.app/learn/hreflang)), and a site with one language per country and no international traffic may never need it. It is cheap, and Google's own documentation recommends it, so most multilingual sites should have it. There is a second use. Many sites have a page that exists only to route people: a country picker at `/`, or a language selector. That page is not any language, so no `hreflang="en"` or `hreflang="de"` fits it. `x-default` is exactly its role: "if you are not sure, send them here". ## How getReport checks it > **Free tool:** [Hreflang checker](https://getreport.app/tools/hreflang-checker): Validate the hreflang tags of a page and fetch every alternate to confirm it links back. Invalid codes, missing self-reference, dead alternates and broken return links, in one table. The checker reads every `` on the page, validates the set as written, then fetches up to 50 of the alternates and reads their tags to confirm each one links back. `x-default` is treated as an ordinary member: it must appear at most once, its URL is fetched, and its return link is checked like the others. > **Check: hreflang tags are complete and valid.** hreflang tells Google which language or country version to show each searcher. A missing self-reference or an invalid code makes the whole set ignored, so visitors land on the wrong version. > > 1. Use valid codes (language, optionally a region; for example "en", "en-GB", "de-AT") and at most one "x-default". > 2. Include this page's own URL in its hreflang set, and list the same set on every version. > **Check: Every hreflang alternate links back to this page.** hreflang only works when every version lists every other version, including itself. An alternate that does not point back makes Google ignore the pair, so visitors get the wrong language. > > 1. On each alternate page, add a for this page and for itself. > 2. Generate the tags from one list (CMS, plugin or the XML sitemap with xhtml:link) so every page carries the same set. The `` attribute is read for the page and for every alternate, and reported both in the table and as its own finding, because a language selector page that declares `lang="en"` while showing six languages, or an alternate whose `lang` contradicts its hreflang code, is a clue that the URLs are pointing at the wrong pages: > **Check: The element declares its language.** The lang attribute tells search engines and translation tools which language the page is in, and lets screen readers pick the right pronunciation. > > 1. Add lang to the html element, for example or . > 2. In WordPress the theme prints it from Settings → General → Site Language. ![The alternates table for a broken set: one alternate marked as not linking back, one that returned a 404, and the x-default row showing the same URL as the English entry](https://getreport.app/guides/img/hreflang-x-default-explained/broken-pairs.webp "A broken set: an alternate without a return link and one that is unreachable are marked in the table.") A row marked "missing" in the return-link column means that page answered 200 but its own set does not include the page you tested. A red status means the URL could not be read at all, so its return link is unknown until it is fixed. Reading and fixing each column is covered in [Hreflang return links](https://getreport.app/guides/hreflang-return-links); the `lang` column follows the rules on the [html lang](https://getreport.app/learn/html-lang) page. ## Step by step ### 1. Choose the x-default page Pick by what your site has: | Site | x-default | | --- | --- | | Global English site with local versions | The global English page (`/en/` or `/`) | | A country picker or language selector page | That page, provided it answers 200 and is not redirected | | One language per country, no global version | The version for your largest market, or add a selector page | | Language-only set (`en`, `de`, `fr`) | The page in the language most visitors outside those markets can read, usually English | The page must be a real page: HTTP 200, indexable, no `noindex`, no redirect. A selector page that is `noindex` cannot be shown in results, which defeats its purpose. ### 2. Add the entry to every version The `x-default` line is part of the set, so it goes on every member, including the page it points at. Three language versions plus a global English page: ```html ``` Here `/` is a selector page. When the global English page doubles as the default, the last line points at `/en/` and both `en` and `x-default` carry the same URL; that is allowed and common. In a sitemap the entry is one more `xhtml:link` per ``: ```xml https://example.com/de/ ``` The `urlset` needs `xmlns:xhtml="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"`. Pick HTML or sitemap, not both: [hreflang in sitemaps vs in HTML](https://getreport.app/guides/hreflang-in-sitemaps-vs-in-html) covers the choice. ### 3. Language-only or language-region A set can mix both, and `x-default` is where the mixing gets resolved. Take a site with a global English page, a UK page with pounds and a US page with dollars: ```html ``` Google matches the most specific entry first: a searcher in the UK gets `/uk/`, one in the US gets `/us/`, an English speaker in Australia gets `en` (`/en/`), and a Spanish speaker in Mexico gets `x-default`, which is also `/en/`. Without the plain `en` entry, the Australian visitor would fall to `x-default` too, which happens to be the same page here, but would not be if `x-default` were a selector. Codes: language from ISO 639-1 (`en`, `de`, `hr`), region from ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 (`GB`, `US`, `AT`). `en-UK` is invalid because the United Kingdom's code is `GB`. A region without a language (`hreflang="gb"`) is invalid too; `x-default` is the only value that is not a language code. ### 4. Remove the geo-redirect This is the step that fixes more international sites than any tag. A site that reads the visitor's IP and redirects `/` to `/de/` for German addresses is doing the routing itself, and it breaks hreflang in two ways. Googlebot crawls mostly from the United States, so it gets redirected to the US or English version every time and never sees the German page at its own URL. And the `x-default` page, being a redirect for almost everyone, does not answer 200 for anyone, so it is dropped from the set. Google's guidance is to avoid automatic redirects based on the visitor's perceived language or location. Serve every URL to everyone, and show a banner: ```html
Diese Seite gibt es auch auf Deutsch. Zur deutschen Version
``` ```js // Decide in the browser, never on the server, and never redirect. const wanted = navigator.language.slice(0, 2).toLowerCase(); const current = document.documentElement.lang.slice(0, 2).toLowerCase(); if (wanted !== current && ['en', 'de', 'hr'].includes(wanted)) { document.querySelector('.lang-hint').hidden = false; } ``` The banner is a suggestion the visitor accepts; the redirect was a decision made for them and for Googlebot. If a redirect must stay for a legacy reason, exempt known crawlers and make sure every language URL is reachable directly without it. ### 5. Run the checker and read the x-default row Test one page per template. In the table, the `x-default` row should show status 200 and "yes" for the return link, the same as every other row. The first finding lists "2 x-default entries (max 1)" when two plugins each add one, and "no entry points to this page" when the self-reference is missing. > **Note:** > The tool reads HTML tags. If your set is in the sitemap, confirm the `x-default` entry there by searching the XML; the checker will report no hreflang on the page, which is correct for that method. ## Platform notes ### WordPress WPML: WPML → Languages → "Hreflang links", and choose the default language under "Language URL format"; the `x-default` entry points at the default language's page. Polylang prints `x-default` for the default language automatically. Both put the tag on every translation; check that only one plugin prints hreflang if an SEO plugin also offers it. A "browser language redirect" option exists in both plugins; leave it off for the reason in step 4. ### Shopify Shopify Markets prints the set with `x-default` pointing at the primary market and does not offer a choice. If a third-party app redirects visitors by country, replace it with a recommendation banner; Shopify's own Geolocation app shows one instead of redirecting. ### Static sites and custom Next.js, Astro and Hugo each have an i18n config with a default locale; the sitemap or head plugin maps that default to `x-default`. If your default locale lives at `/` without a prefix, make sure `/` answers 200 with content and is not a redirect to `/en/`. ## Verify - The alternates table shows one `x-default` row, status 200, return link "yes", on every template you test. - `curl -sI https://example.com/` (or your selector page) returns `HTTP/2 200`, not a 301 or 302, when sent from a country you do not serve. A VPN or a colleague abroad is enough to test. - Search Console no longer has an International Targeting report; use URL inspection on the `x-default` page and on one alternate to confirm each is indexed under its own URL and that Google's chosen canonical is the URL itself, not another language. - Search a country you do not target (a `gl=` parameter in a Google search URL, or a VPN) for your brand and confirm the `x-default` page is the one that appears. ## Common mistakes - **Two x-default entries.** The multilingual plugin and the SEO plugin each add one, sometimes to different URLs. The finding says "2 x-default entries (max 1)"; turn one plugin's hreflang output off. - **x-default pointing at a redirect.** A selector page that immediately forwards visitors by IP never answers 200 for Googlebot. Serve the page to everyone and use a banner. - **x-default on some versions and not others.** Each member of the set carries the whole set. A version without the entry breaks the reciprocity for the default page. - **A selector page with noindex.** A noindex page cannot appear in results, so `x-default` pointing at it has nothing to show. Make it indexable or use the global English page instead. - **Using x-default instead of a language entry.** An English page tagged only `x-default` has no `en` entry, so English searchers in a region you serve may still get another version. Keep the language entries and add `x-default` on top. - **Canonical from every version to the default.** A `rel="canonical"` from `/de/` to `/en/` tells Google the German page is a duplicate; hreflang cannot override that. Every version is its own canonical. See [Canonical tags explained](https://getreport.app/guides/canonical-tags-explained).