Redirect Chain Checker

Analyze HTTP redirects, visualize chains and detect issues

Redirect Chains & AI Visibility

Every redirect costs time. While Googlebot tolerates up to 5 hops, AI crawlers from ChatGPT or Perplexity often have shorter timeouts — long redirect chains can prevent your page from being crawled at all and therefore not cited in AI answers.

What is checked:

  • Complete chain — All redirect steps with URL, HTTP status code and load time per hop are visualized.
  • 301 vs. 302 — Temporary redirects (302) are detected. Only 301 passes the full link value for permanent redirects.
  • HTTPS redirect — HTTP → HTTPS is checked. Without this redirect the page is insecure for search engines and users.
  • Redirect loops — Endless redirect chains that block browsers and crawlers are detected and reported.
  • Total load time — The summed time of all hops shows how long a crawler must wait before reaching the content.

The most common problem: redirect chains through HTTP → HTTPS → www → non-www. Instead of 3 hops, one direct redirect to the canonical URL is enough.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a redirect chain?+

A redirect chain occurs when a URL is redirected multiple times before the final content is delivered. Each redirect costs time and can be handled differently by search engines and AI crawlers.

How many redirects are acceptable?+

Ideally 0-1 redirects. Google recommends a maximum of 3-5 hops. AI crawlers often have shorter timeouts and abort chains earlier. A clean chain with direct HTTPS access is optimal.

What is the difference between 301 and 302?+

301 Moved Permanently passes the full link value (PageRank) and is permanently cached by search engines. 302 Found is temporary and passes less value. Always use 301 for permanent redirects.

What is a redirect loop?+

A redirect loop occurs when URL A points to URL B and URL B points back to URL A. Browsers and crawlers abort on a loop. The checker detects loops when more than 10 hops follow each other.

Why is an HTTPS redirect important?+

HTTP URLs should always redirect to HTTPS to ensure security. Google prefers HTTPS pages in rankings. The redirect should happen directly (one hop) and not through intermediate steps.

Related Tools

Website Performance Check
Analyze Core Web Vitals & loading times
HTTP Header Check
Analyze HTTP & security headers
Sitemap Generator
Generate XML sitemaps automatically