Redirect checker

Its position in the chain, the URL requested, the HTTP status, the Location header as sent and where it resolves to, how long the response took, whether it was HTTPS or plain HTTP, whether it changed host, and any cache headers on the redirect itself.

The things worth catching are the ones a browser hides from you: a chain that quietly grew to five hops, one hop that drops from HTTPS to HTTP, a loop, or a 301 whose Location is missing or malformed.

Redirects are followed manually. SearchOrbit AI requests one hop, reads the Location header, and independently validates that destination before deciding whether to request it. Automatic redirect following is never used.

That is what makes the next line true: a redirect pointing at a private, local or otherwise non-public address results in zero requests to it. The chain stops there and says so, without naming the destination.

• ·At most 10 hops. A chain still redirecting after that is reported as too long rather than followed further.
• ·Loops are detected by remembering every destination, so a pair of pages pointing at each other stops immediately.
• ·JavaScript redirects are not followed. This is an HTTP redirect checker; a redirect that only happens once a script runs is invisible to it, and to a crawler on its first visit.
• ·A meta refresh on the final page is detected and reported, but never followed. It is a client-side redirect and is not part of the HTTP chain.
• ·Only public http:// and https:// addresses on the standard ports are requested, on every hop — not just the first.
• ·Response bodies are not read to detect redirects; only the final page is read, and only up to 64 KB, to look for a meta refresh.

Once the chain is clean, check what the destination actually serves with the meta tag checker or a full SEO audit.