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[Resolved] No self-referencing hreflang on several pages

This thread is resolved. Here is a description of the problem and solution.

Problem:
The client reported hreflang conflicts during a SEMrush audit, noting that the issue appears across multiple language pages. The client confirmed that WPML language settings are active, translations are linked correctly, canonical tags are correct, and pages are indexable.

Solution:
We reviewed the source codes of the provided URLs and confirmed that all necessary hreflang tags are correctly set. We suggested that the issue might be with SEMrush not recognizing specific language codes. We recommended that the client confirm the exact errors with SEMrush and double-check with Rank Math to ensure everything is in order. From our perspective, WPML is generating the hreflang tags correctly, and there are no issues on our end.

If this solution does not resolve your issue or seems outdated, we highly recommend checking related known issues at https://wpml.org/known-issues/, verifying the version of the permanent fix, and confirming that you have installed the latest versions of themes and plugins. If the problem persists, please open a new support ticket.

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This topic contains 2 replies, has 1 voice.

Last updated by Lucas Vidal de Andrade 3 weeks ago.

Assisted by: Lucas Vidal de Andrade.

Author Posts
April 6, 2026 at 4:33 pm #17952078

sylvainG-5

Hello,
During a SEMrush audit, I received the following error:

“This page has hreflang conflicts within its source code.”

This issue appears on multiple pages across different languages (EN, FR, ES, PT-BR, DE, IT, ZH-Hans, ZH-Hant).

⸻

What I checked
• WPML language settings are active
• Each page has its translated versions correctly linked
• Canonical tags seem correct for each language version
• Pages are indexable (no noindex)

⸻

Issue

It seems that:
• hreflang tags may not be properly aligned between languages
• or there may be missing / incorrect return links (reciprocal hreflang)

⸻

What I need help with

Could you please help me:
1. Identify the exact cause of the hreflang conflicts
2. Confirm if WPML is generating incorrect hreflang tags
3. Advise on the correct configuration to ensure:
• proper self-referencing hreflang
• correct reciprocal linking between all language versions

⸻

Example page

(you can use this URL to check)

hidden link

hidden link

⸻

Thank you in advance for your support.

Best regards,
Ananta
April 6, 2026 at 4:59 pm #17952097

sylvainG-5

On the Source Page I am finding all the reference to hreflang:

<meta name="generator" content="Redux 4.5.11" /><meta name="generator" content="WPML ver:4.9.2 stt:59,61,1,4,3,27,42,2;" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="hidden link" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="fr" href="hidden link" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="hidden link" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="pt-br" href="hidden link" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="de" href="hidden link" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="it" href="hidden link" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="zh-hant" href="hidden link" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="zh-hans" href="hidden link" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="hidden link" />
<meta name='uap-token' content='e39c558a43'><!-- Meta Pixel Code -->
<script type="text/plain" data-service="facebook" data-category="marketing">
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)

++++++

<style>form.fluent_form_19 .ff-btn-submit:not(.ff_btn_no_style) { background-color: #409EFF; color: #ffffff; }</style><style>form.fluent_form_19 .ff-btn-submit:not(.ff_btn_no_style) { background-color: #409EFF; color: #ffffff; }</style>
<div role="navigation" aria-label="Language Switcher" class="wpml-ls-statics-footer wpml-ls wpml-ls-legacy-list-horizontal">

    <li class="wpml-ls-slot-footer wpml-ls-item wpml-ls-item-fr wpml-ls-first-item wpml-ls-item-legacy-list-horizontal">
    hidden link
    <li class="wpml-ls-slot-footer wpml-ls-item wpml-ls-item-es wpml-ls-item-legacy-list-horizontal">
    hidden link
    <li class="wpml-ls-slot-footer wpml-ls-item wpml-ls-item-pt-br wpml-ls-item-legacy-list-horizontal">
    hidden link
    <li class="wpml-ls-slot-footer wpml-ls-item wpml-ls-item-de wpml-ls-item-legacy-list-horizontal">
    hidden link
    <li class="wpml-ls-slot-footer wpml-ls-item wpml-ls-item-it wpml-ls-item-legacy-list-horizontal">
    hidden link
    <li class="wpml-ls-slot-footer wpml-ls-item wpml-ls-item-zh-hant wpml-ls-item-legacy-list-horizontal">
    hidden link
    <li class="wpml-ls-slot-footer wpml-ls-item wpml-ls-item-zh-hans wpml-ls-last-item wpml-ls-item-legacy-list-horizontal">
    hidden link" hreflang="zh-hans" lang="zh-hans" class="wpml-ls-link" aria-label="Switch to Chinese (Simplified)" title="Switch to Chinese (Simplified)">
April 7, 2026 at 8:01 am #17952872

Lucas Vidal de Andrade
WPML Supporter since 11/2023

Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) German (Deutsch ) Portuguese (Brazil) (Português )

Timezone: Europe/Vienna (GMT+02:00)

Hello there,

I checked both source-codes from the pages you sent, and they seem to have all the necessary hreflang tags, properly set. It might be possible that SEMrush does not recognize the specific language codes, but you'd have to confirm with the SEMRush team.

WPML SEO is only responsible for providing language information to Rank Math, and that is working as expected, as all your languages are present in the hreflang tags.

I recommend you confirm what are the errors with SEMRush, and also double check with Rank Math if everything is in order. From our perspective, I couldn't identify any issues.