Guides
Redirect loop checker: find the rule that sends a page in circles
A loop means two redirect rules undo each other; a checker shows which URLs repeat so you know which rule to remove.
A redirect loop checker follows a URL's redirects and shows where the chain points back to a URL it has already visited, which is why the page never loads. Run the URL through seogeoaeo.ai's Redirects, Headers and Host Checker to see each hop and its status code, then change the rule where the loop closes.
What a redirect loop is
A loop happens when redirect A sends you to B, and B sends you back to A, sometimes through a few more steps. The request never reaches a page. MDN describes it as a loop that never finishes, so no page is ever found. If the server spots it, it may answer with a 500 error. If not, the browser gives up and shows an error saying the page redirects in a way that will never end.
The usual causes
| Cause | What happens |
|---|---|
| Two rules that undo each other | One adds www, another removes it |
| https forced in two places | The CDN and the server both redirect, with different ideas of the protocol |
| Trailing slash rules | One rule adds the slash, another strips it |
| HTML and server redirects disagree | A meta refresh points one way, the server points the other |
| A plugin and the server config | A CMS setting and a server rule both try to set the site address |
The second cause often shows up after a site moves behind a proxy or CDN. The server sees plain http from the proxy, decides the visitor needs https, redirects, and the proxy sends the request back as http again.
How to find the loop
- Run a checker on the exact URL that fails. The seogeoaeo.ai redirect loop check lists every hop with its status code, so the repeated URL stands out. It costs 10 credits per run, and a run that fails costs nothing.
- Compare the host versions. The same run checks whether http, https, www and bare hosts all end at one URL. A loop often shows up on only one of the four.
- Find the two rules. The hops tell you which URL changes into which. Search your server config, CDN rules and CMS settings for the rule behind each step.
- Remove one of them. Keep a single place that decides protocol and host.
- Run the check again after the change goes live, then test in a private browser window.
If you prefer the terminal, curl -I -L with a low --max-redirs value prints each hop and stops early, so you can read the repeating Location lines. It shows the loop but not which rule to change.
What a checker cannot see
seogeoaeo.ai follows server redirects. It does not follow JavaScript or meta-refresh redirects beyond the first document, so if the loop lives in client code, open the browser's developer tools, tick Preserve log in the Network panel and watch the requests repeat.
Why it matters beyond the error page
A loop blocks visitors and search engines alike. Google's crawlers follow up to 10 redirect hops by default; a loop never reaches a page within that, so the URL cannot be indexed. Fixing it is usually a one-line change once you know which two rules are fighting.
FAQ
Can clearing cookies fix a redirect loop? Sometimes, when the loop depends on a cookie. If the checker, which has no cookies, also sees the loop, the problem is on the server.
Is a redirect loop the same as a long redirect chain? No. A chain ends on a page, however slowly. A loop never ends.
Will a loop on one URL hurt the rest of the site? Only URLs caught in the loop fail, but a host-level loop can catch every page on that host version.