AMP checker

What is the AMP checker?

AMP stands for Accelerated Mobile Pages, a framework built around a stripped-down version of HTML that is designed to make pages load quickly on phones and tablets. Many sites maintain an AMP version of a page alongside the regular version, and the two documents are supposed to point to each other through special link tags so that a search engine or a reader arriving at either one can find the other. The AMP checker looks at a submitted URL and tells you which situation you are in: the page itself is an AMP document, the page links to an AMP version of the same content, both, or neither.

The tool works by fetching the page that the URL returns and reviewing its markup. It looks for the markers that identify an AMP document, and it looks for the link elements that connect a standard page to its AMP counterpart and back again. The output is a plain answer about what the page contains, which is exactly the information you need when you are auditing an AMP implementation, tracking down a missing link, or verifying that a relaunch did not break the relationship between your regular pages and their AMP versions.

What the AMP checker checks

Two distinct things are inspected on every page that is submitted. The first is whether the document itself is AMP. AMP pages announce themselves in the markup, usually through an attribute on the root html element and through the AMP runtime script that the page loads from the AMP project CDN. When those signatures are present, the checker reports that the URL you submitted is an AMP page rather than a standard one.

The second thing the checker looks for is the link that standard pages use to advertise their AMP counterpart. A regular HTML page that has an AMP version should contain a link element with the rel value amphtml that points to the AMP URL. That link is what tells a crawler or a user where the fast-loading version of the page lives. The checker reviews the page for this link, reads the URL it targets, and reports whether the page is pointing to an AMP version at all and where it is pointing.

The AMP page itself normally returns the favor. A valid AMP document carries a canonical link that points back to the standard version of the content. That back-link is what tells search engines which URL is the original article, and it prevents the AMP copy from being treated as duplicate content. The checker reads this canonical reference as part of the review, so you can see both halves of the relationship from either end.

Because the checker reviews the actual markup the URL serves, it catches situations that are easy to miss by hand. A page can be missing its amphtml link entirely, it can point to an AMP URL that does not exist, or it can be an AMP page whose canonical link points to the wrong address. The tool surfaces these problems in plain terms, giving you a concrete list of what is connected and what is not rather than leaving you to guess whether an implementation is wired up correctly.

How to use the AMP checker

Using the tool only takes a minute, and the only thing you need is the address of the page you want to review.

1. Copy the full URL of the page you want to check, including the https prefix and any path.
2. Paste the URL into the input field on the tool page.
3. Submit the form so the server can fetch the page and review its markup.
4. Read the result, which tells you whether the page is itself an AMP document or whether it links to an AMP version.
5. Note any AMP or canonical URL mentioned in the output, and run the check on that address too if you want to verify the other half of the relationship.

After you make changes, re-submit the same URL to confirm the fix. If you are auditing several pages, run the check on each one so you know exactly which pages in your site are connected and which ones have drifted.

How to get better results

• Test the standard version of a page first, because that is the URL where the amphtml link should appear, and confirm the checker reports a link to an AMP version.
• Test the AMP URL itself as well, and confirm the checker identifies it as an AMP page and reports a canonical link pointing back to the standard version.
• Use the exact URL that readers and search engines see, including the protocol and any trailing slash, so the page you review is the page that is actually served.
• Run the check after template changes, theme updates, or CMS migrations, since those are the moments when AMP links are most often dropped or rewritten.
• Sample a few different kinds of pages, such as a homepage, an article, and a category page, because some page templates may carry the AMP link while others do not.
• Re-check the same URL after fixing a validation error or a broken link, and keep the pair of standard and AMP pages consistent with each other.
• Pair the result with a validation pass on the AMP markup itself, so you know not only that the links exist but that the AMP page would be accepted as valid.

Why the AMP checker matters

An AMP implementation only delivers value when the wiring between pages is correct. A standard page that does not link to its AMP version is invisible to anyone looking for the fast version, and an AMP page that points to the wrong canonical URL can create duplicate-content confusion instead of a clean relationship. These problems are silent: the page still loads, the links still exist in code, and nothing visibly breaks, which is why they survive routine checks and only surface as lost mobile visibility later.

Because the relationship between a standard page and its AMP version is expressed in a couple of link tags, it is easy to inspect with a tool and easy to break during a rebuild. The checker gives you a quick, repeatable way to confirm the wiring on any page, without needing to open source code or remember which attribute belongs on which side of the relationship. That makes it practical for routine audits, for verifying work before a page goes live, and for comparing pages across a site to find the ones that were missed.

The tool is also useful as a documentation aid. When you hand a site over to another team, or when you bring a site in from an external developer, running a quick check on a handful of representative pages tells you immediately whether the AMP setup is complete or whether the links were only ever half-finished. That one check can save a lot of digging later, because it establishes the state of the implementation up front.

When to use the AMP checker

• When you are auditing a site that publishes AMP pages and you want to confirm every standard page links to its AMP version.
• When a redesign, theme change, or migration has touched page templates and you suspect the AMP link tags may have been dropped.
• When you take over a site from another developer or platform and want to establish whether the AMP setup was ever completed.
• When a page is not getting the mobile visibility you expect, and you want to rule out a broken relationship between the standard and AMP versions.
• When you are preparing content to go live and want a final confirmation that the AMP link and the canonical link are both present and correct.

Frequently asked questions

What exactly is AMP?

AMP is a framework for building fast-loading pages using a constrained set of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript rules. Pages built on it trade some flexibility for speed, and sites that use it typically serve an AMP version alongside a standard version of the same content.

Does the checker tell me whether my AMP page is valid?

The checker tells you whether a URL is an AMP page and whether the pages are linked to each other. Full AMP validation checks the markup against the full set of framework rules, which is a deeper pass than this tool performs. The checker is the right place to confirm the relationship; use a validator for the markup itself.

What does the amphtml link look like?

It is a link element in the head of a standard page with rel set to amphtml and href pointing to the AMP version of that page. The AMP version should carry a canonical link pointing back to the standard URL. The checker looks for these elements and reports whether they are present.

Can a page be AMP and link to an AMP version at the same time?

Normally the two roles are separate: a standard page points to an AMP version, and the AMP version points back to the standard page. If the checker reports that the page you submitted is itself an AMP document, the relevant question is whether its canonical link points to the correct standard version.

Why would a page stop linking to its AMP version?

Template changes, CMS updates, and plugin upgrades are the most common causes. A developer can remove the amphtml link while editing the header, or a migration can regenerate pages without carrying the link over. Running the check after any of those events catches the problem early.

Is AMP still relevant for mobile pages?

AMP remains one of the ways sites deliver fast mobile versions of their content, and many publishers still rely on it. Whether it fits your strategy depends on your audience and platform, but if you already serve AMP pages, keeping the links between the standard and AMP versions correct is what makes that investment work.