Canonicalization is not an HTML tutorial. It is the system’s decision about which URL should represent a content cluster in the index. This explains canonical vs duplicates in 2026, why Google overrides you, and what signals resolve the representative URL.
“Google chose a different canonical” means Google-selected canonical differs from your user-declared canonical in GSC URL Inspection. This is rarely a penalty; it’s deduplication + conflicting signals. Here is the meaning, root causes, a 10-minute fix checklist, and how to validate.
Hreflang tells Google which language/region version to show. Canonical tells Google which URL is the primary for indexing. If you mix them wrong (especially cross-language canonicals), Google ignores hreflang and collapses your cluster. Here is the minimal correct setup, common failure modes, and how to validate in Search Console.
Canonical vs redirect is a consolidation decision: do you want Google to index this URL (canonical) or replace it (301/308)? Use this practical decision tree, real scenarios, and GSC validation steps to avoid duplication, crawl waste, and ranking splits.
The GSC status 'Alternate page with proper canonical tag' is usually a signal of successful consolidation: Google found a duplicate/variant and accepted your canonical target. This guide explains what it means, why it appears, when it's normal, and when it reveals URL noise that wastes crawl and slows visibility.