Open Graph & Social Card Auditor

Social metadata diagnostic

See what people see before they click.

Audit Open Graph and X card tags, identify missing or conflicting metadata, preview shared links and generate a cleaner tag set—all inside your browser.

Open Graph auditSocial previewsNo API required

HOW

Paste the page’s HTML source or its meta tags.

In your browser, open the page source, copy it and paste it below. Direct URL fetching is intentionally excluded because most websites block browser-to-browser inspection with CORS.

Audit a page

The optional page URL helps resolve relative image and canonical URLs.

NOTE

A high score does not guarantee identical cards or better rankings.

Platforms can apply their own cropping, caching and display rules. Use the audit to improve metadata consistency, then test the live URL with each platform’s official sharing tools after publishing.

Social Metadata Diagnostic

Control the signals social platforms receive before someone shares your page.

The Open Graph & Social Card Auditor inspects the metadata used to build shared-link previews, identifies missing and conflicting tags, previews likely social cards and generates a cleaner replacement tag set without pretending every platform will display the result identically.

Quick Answer: What is Open Graph metadata?

Open Graph metadata is a set of HTML <meta> properties that describes how a webpage should be represented when another service reads it. Core properties include title, URL, image and content type, while optional fields can provide descriptions, site names, locales and additional image information.

When someone pastes a URL into LinkedIn, Facebook, a messaging app or another service, the platform needs to decide what title, image and description represent that page.

Open Graph gives publishers a standardized way to provide that information.

But metadata is only an input.

The platform still controls cropping, caching, text shortening, fallback behavior and the final layout.

What the live auditor checks

Open Graph tags
X card tags
Missing metadata
Duplicate metadata
Conflicting values
Page URL context
Expected page type
Relative URL resolution
Preview image availability
Facebook / LinkedIn preview
X card preview
Suggested replacement tags

Browser-side inspection: paste the page source or metadata directly into the tool. Direct cross-site URL fetching is intentionally avoided because browser security and CORS rules frequently prevent reliable inspection.

Open Graph Fundamentals

The Open Graph protocol defines four core properties.

Property	Purpose	Example
`og:title`	The title used to represent the shared object.	Complete Technical SEO Audit Guide
`og:type`	Describes what type of object the page represents.	article or website
`og:image`	The image intended to represent the shared page.	https://example.com/social-image.webp
`og:url`	The permanent URL representing the object.	https://example.com/technical-seo-guide/

Useful additions: og:description, og:site_name, og:locale, image dimensions, image MIME type and image alt text can provide additional context.

Implementation Example

What does a basic Open Graph implementation look like?

<meta property="og:title" content="Complete Technical SEO Audit Guide">
<meta property="og:type" content="article">
<meta property="og:url" content="https://example.com/technical-seo-guide/">
<meta property="og:image" content="https://example.com/images/technical-seo-guide.webp">
<meta property="og:description" content="Learn how to audit crawlability, indexing, canonicals, internal links and structured data.">
<meta property="og:site_name" content="Example Brand">
<meta property="og:image:alt" content="Technical SEO audit dashboard illustration">

Metadata should describe the actual destination.

Social tags should not advertise a different article, image, offer or topic merely to increase clicks.

How to Use the Auditor

Audit social metadata in six steps.

Open the page source

Copy the HTML source or at minimum the relevant social metadata tags from the page.

Add the page URL

The optional URL helps resolve relative images, URLs and preview-domain information.

Add the expected type

If useful, tell the auditor whether the page is an article, website, product or another intended object type.

Run the audit

Review the metadata score, tags found, issues and conflicts.

Inspect previews

Compare the approximate Facebook / LinkedIn and X card presentations.

Publish and validate

Implement the corrected tags, then verify the live URL using platform-specific sharing tools where available.

Open Graph Title

Write an og:title for the shared card—not for a metadata score.

CLEAR

Be Clear

Someone seeing only the social card should understand what the destination is about.

MATCH

Match the Page

The social title should accurately represent the page users reach after clicking.

SOC

Social Wording Can Differ

The Open Graph title does not have to be identical to the SEO title if both accurately describe the same content.

Avoid clickbait mismatch.

A highly promotional social title that promises something absent from the page can increase disappointment even if it generates more initial clicks.

Open Graph Description

Use the description to explain what the shared page offers.

Does og:description need to match the SEO meta description?

No. They can share the same text, but they serve different presentation environments. A social description can be adjusted for a sharing context as long as it accurately represents the page.

Useful description

“Audit crawlability, indexing, canonicalization, internal links and structured data with this practical technical SEO checklist.”

Weak description

“Click here now for amazing information you cannot miss!”

Open Graph URL

og:url identifies the social object the metadata represents.

Should og:url match the preferred public page URL?

Usually yes. The Open Graph protocol defines og:url as the permanent URL used to identify the object. Using a stable preferred URL helps avoid unnecessarily splitting one piece of content across tracking, parameter or duplicate URL variants.

HTTPS

Use a Public URL

Point to the real publicly accessible page rather than a staging, preview or local-development address.

UTM

Avoid Tracking Variants

The object identity generally should not change merely because a campaign parameter was added to a shared link.

CAN

Check Consistency

Compare Open Graph URL, canonical URL and the URL users actually reach after redirects.

Object Type

og:type should describe what the page actually represents.

WEB

website

A common general type for pages that do not use a more specialized Open Graph object type.

ART

article

Open Graph defines article-specific properties such as publication time, modification time, section and author.

SPEC

Specialized Types

Music, video, profile and other namespaces provide additional structured properties where relevant.

Do not choose a type because it sounds more powerful. Metadata should describe the actual object.

Social Preview Image

The image is often the largest element in a shared-link card.

REL

Relevant

The image should represent the page rather than functioning as unrelated stock decoration.

READ

Readable

Any embedded text should remain understandable after the platform resizes or crops the image.

SAFE

Crop-Safe

Keep essential faces, logos and text away from extreme edges because different platforms may crop differently.

There is no single Open Graph image size that guarantees identical rendering everywhere.

The Open Graph protocol defines the image property and optional width and height metadata, while individual platforms control their own card layouts.

LinkedIn Link Previews

LinkedIn recommends a 1.91:1 image for large shared-link previews.

What image size does LinkedIn recommend?

LinkedIn currently recommends a 1.91:1 aspect ratio and uses 1200 × 627 pixels as its recommended large-link preview dimensions. LinkedIn also says images below 200 pixels wide will not display in its larger image format.

1.91

Landscape Ratio

A roughly 1.91:1 landscape image fits LinkedIn's recommended shared-link presentation.

1200

Recommended Width

A 1200-pixel-wide source gives the platform enough resolution for a large preview.

CROP

Still Expect Variation

Other networks can use different crops, ratios or card layouts even when reading the same Open Graph image.

Image Metadata

Open Graph supports more than the image URL itself.

Property	Purpose
`og:image`	Main image URL.
`og:image:secure_url`	Alternative secure image URL.
`og:image:type`	MIME type of the image.
`og:image:width`	Declared image width in pixels.
`og:image:height`	Declared image height in pixels.
`og:image:alt`	Description of what is represented in the image.

og:image:alt

Describe the image instead of repeating the page title.

What should og:image:alt contain?

The Open Graph protocol describes og:image:alt as a description of what is in the image rather than a caption. If you specify an Open Graph image, including meaningful alternative text creates a more complete metadata implementation.

Useful

“Search analytics dashboard showing impressions, clicks and CTR trend lines.”

Weak

“Best SEO Tool Free SEO Tool SEO Dashboard SEO 2026”

Image URL Reliability

The social crawler needs to retrieve the actual image.

PUBLIC

Publicly Accessible

Do not point to an authenticated media library, staging host or local file path.

HTTP

Use a Real Web URL

A complete HTTP or HTTPS URL reduces ambiguity when an external crawler retrieves the image.

200

Return the Image

Redirect loops, blocked requests, expired signed URLs and server errors can break social previews even when the tag itself exists.

The AnswerEnginee page URL field can resolve relative values for auditing. That does not mean every external platform will interpret a fragile relative implementation the same way.

Preview Interpretation

The tool's Facebook / LinkedIn card is an approximation.

Social preview image area

example.com

Your Open Graph title can appear here

A social description may appear below the title depending on the platform, device and specific share layout.

Use the preview for QA, not pixel-perfect prediction. Social platforms can change fonts, crop images, suppress descriptions, modify layouts and cache older metadata.

X Card Metadata

The auditor also checks platform-specific X card signals.

CARD

Card Type

Card metadata can indicate whether the URL is intended to use a summary-style or larger-image presentation.

TITLE

Platform Title

A platform-specific title can differ from Open Graph where a deliberate social presentation requires it.

IMG

Platform Image

A dedicated X image can be supplied when the image intended for that platform differs from the general Open Graph image.

Do not create platform-specific metadata simply to duplicate the same information unnecessarily.

Use overrides when there is a genuine platform presentation need; otherwise keep social metadata easy to maintain and internally consistent.

Metadata Conflicts

More tags can create more ambiguity when they disagree.

What is a social metadata conflict?

A conflict exists when multiple tags intended to describe the same shared object provide incompatible values—for example, two different Open Graph titles, several competing images, or an Open Graph URL that points somewhere different from the expected page.

DUP

Duplicate Root Tags

Multiple instances of the same root property can create unintended precedence behavior.

IMG

Competing Images

Several social plugins may each output their own preferred image.

URL

URL Mismatch

Social object URL, canonical URL and final destination may describe different URLs.

Open Graph arrays are legitimate. The protocol allows multiple values for fields such as images and says the first root tag receives preference during conflicts. Do not confuse an intentional image array with accidental duplicate plugin output.

Social Preview Caching

Updating the HTML does not always update a social preview immediately.

Why am I still seeing my old social image?

Social platforms can cache previously fetched preview information. That means changing og:image, the title or description on your website may not immediately change what appears when the same URL is shared again.

OLD

Cached Metadata

The platform may continue using information it fetched during an earlier share.

REF

Refresh Tools

Where a platform provides an official URL inspection or refresh tool, use it after changing important social metadata.

POST

Existing Posts

Updating metadata does not necessarily rewrite cards already attached to previously published social posts.

LinkedIn example: LinkedIn says its Post Inspector can refresh cached URL information for future shares, while previews on existing posts remain unchanged.

LinkedIn Open Graph Support

LinkedIn explicitly relies on Open Graph for shared webpage previews.

LinkedIn share field	Open Graph property
Shared title	`og:title`
Shared image	`og:image`
Shared description	`og:description`
Shared URL	`og:url`

Missing OGP does not always mean no link can be shared. LinkedIn notes that it may fall back to other available information, but the preview can be missing or less accurate.

WordPress Social Metadata

WordPress problems often come from multiple systems generating the same tags.

SEO

SEO Plugin

Many SEO plugins automatically generate Open Graph and social-card metadata.

THEME

Theme Output

Some themes independently generate social tags, which can duplicate plugin output.

CODE

Custom Code

WPCode snippets, custom functions or marketing plugins can create a third set of metadata.

Do not fix a duplicate-tag problem by adding another tag generator.

Identify which system should own social metadata, then remove or disable the unnecessary duplicate output.

Featured Image vs Social Image

Your WordPress featured image and og:image are related—but not necessarily the same thing.

Featured image

Primarily a CMS/content concept used by the theme, archive pages and editorial templates.

Open Graph image

Explicit metadata telling social consumers which image should represent the shared webpage.

Using the same asset is convenient—but not required.

A social-specific landscape image can sometimes work better than the featured image used inside the webpage layout.

Social Metadata vs Search Metadata

Open Graph tags and Google Search metadata serve different primary surfaces.

Purpose	Typical tag
Browser / Search title source	`<title>`
Google snippet suggestion	`meta name="description"`
Social shared title	`og:title`
Social shared description	`og:description`
Social shared image	`og:image`
Social object URL	`og:url`

They can share values without being identical systems. Keep all metadata aligned with the same page topic while optimizing each surface for its actual purpose.

SEO Expectations

A perfect Open Graph audit does not guarantee better Google rankings.

What is the main benefit of Open Graph optimization?

The direct benefit is stronger control over the metadata made available to social and sharing platforms. Better cards can make shared pages clearer and more visually consistent, but the Open Graph audit score should not be interpreted as a Google ranking score.

BRAND

Brand Consistency

Shared URLs can present consistent titles, imagery and descriptions.

CLICK

Click Clarity

Users can better understand what they will reach before clicking the link.

Technical QA

The audit can expose stale, missing or conflicting metadata created by themes, CMS plugins or deployments.

Understanding the Metadata Score

The score measures implementation quality—not guaranteed social performance.

A high score can indicate

Core tags are present
Important values are populated
Metadata is internally consistent
Image information is usable
Major conflicts are limited
Platform metadata is reasonably complete

A high score cannot guarantee

Exact card appearance
Exact image crop
No metadata caching
More social impressions
More social clicks
More engagement
Google ranking improvement
AI citations

Common Social Card Mistakes

What should you look for during an Open Graph audit?

Missing og:image

The platform has no explicit primary social image to retrieve.

Broken Image URL

The tag exists but points to an unavailable or protected file.

Wrong og:url

The shared object points to another page, environment or outdated URL.

Duplicate Plugins

Several WordPress systems output competing titles, images or descriptions.

Tiny Social Image

The image may be unsuitable for a large-card presentation.

Unsafe Cropping

Important text, faces or branding sit too close to the image edges.

Staging URLs

Social metadata still references development domains after launch.

Old Cached Preview

The live tags are correct but the platform continues showing previously cached information.

Misleading Copy

The social title or description promises content the destination does not provide.

Open Graph Best Practices

How to keep social metadata reliable across a large website.

Assign one metadata owner

Let one SEO plugin, CMS system or code layer generate the primary social tags wherever possible.

Use page-specific titles

Make shared cards easy to distinguish instead of repeating sitewide boilerplate.

Use stable public image URLs

Avoid expiring media URLs, private assets and temporary development domains.

Declare image dimensions

Where practical, provide Open Graph width and height information for your intended image.

Add image alt metadata

Describe what the social image actually contains.

Keep URL signals aligned

Review Open Graph URL, canonical URL, redirects and the final public destination together.

Test after publishing

Source-code validation cannot reproduce every platform's fetching, caching and rendering behavior.

Re-test templates

WordPress theme, plugin and template changes can silently alter social metadata across many pages.

Know the Limitations

What the Open Graph & Social Card Auditor can — and cannot — prove.

The auditor can help you

Parse pasted social metadata
Find Open Graph tags
Find X card tags
Identify missing properties
Identify conflicting properties
Resolve relative URLs for analysis
Compare expected page type
Preview approximate cards
Generate suggested tags
Download an audit report

The auditor cannot guarantee

Exact Facebook rendering
Exact LinkedIn rendering
Exact X rendering
Exact image crop
When platform caches refresh
That a crawler can fetch every asset
More social engagement
More referral traffic
Google rankings
AI visibility

Audit the metadata. Then test the live share.

Source-code consistency is the first layer. Platform-specific fetching, caching and rendering are the final layer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Open Graph tags and social cards explained.

Direct answers to common questions about Open Graph metadata, LinkedIn previews, social images, caching, X cards and WordPress implementation.

What is Open Graph?

Open Graph is a metadata protocol that lets webpages describe how they should be represented as rich objects when another service reads the page.

What are the main Open Graph tags?

The protocol defines og:title, og:type, og:image and og:url as its four core properties.

Is og:description required by the Open Graph protocol?

It is an optional Open Graph property, although it is commonly useful for social sharing and is explicitly used by platforms such as LinkedIn.

What does og:url do?

It identifies the permanent URL representing the shared Open Graph object.

What does og:type do?

It identifies the type of object represented by the page, such as website or article.

What does og:image do?

It specifies the image intended to represent the webpage when a service creates a rich shared-link preview.

What is og:image:alt?

It provides a textual description of what appears in the Open Graph image.

Should I specify og:image width and height?

Open Graph supports og:image:width and og:image:height as structured image properties. Supplying accurate dimensions creates a more complete metadata definition.

What size should an Open Graph image be?

There is no single Open Graph protocol image size that guarantees identical rendering on every platform. Choose an image large enough for your target platforms and keep important content crop-safe.

What image size does LinkedIn recommend for link previews?

LinkedIn currently recommends a 1.91:1 ratio and gives 1200 × 627 pixels as its large-link preview guidance.

Does LinkedIn use Open Graph?

Yes. LinkedIn's current sharing guidance explicitly asks website owners to provide Open Graph title, image, description and URL properties.

Why is LinkedIn showing my old image?

LinkedIn can cache previously retrieved URL information. Its Post Inspector can refresh the URL for future shares.

Will refreshing LinkedIn update an old published post?

LinkedIn says Post Inspector refreshes preview information for new shares. Existing published posts keep their existing preview.

Does Open Graph control Facebook and LinkedIn exactly?

No. The metadata provides input to the platform, while each platform controls its own rendering, cropping and caching behavior.

What is an X card?

It is the rich preview presentation associated with a shared URL on X. The AnswerEnginee auditor reviews platform-specific X card metadata alongside Open Graph tags.

Do I need both Open Graph and X card tags?

It depends on how much platform-specific control you need. Open Graph provides a general social metadata foundation, while dedicated platform tags can be used when a different card treatment is required.

Can my X image differ from my Open Graph image?

Yes. Platform-specific metadata can supply a different image when there is a deliberate presentation reason.

Can I use multiple og:image tags?

Yes. Open Graph supports arrays by repeating a property. The protocol states that the first root value receives preference during conflicts.

Are duplicate og:image tags always an error?

No. Multiple images can be intentional. The auditor helps distinguish a legitimate array from conflicting duplicate metadata.

Should og:title equal my SEO title?

Not necessarily. They can differ when the social version is better suited to sharing, provided both accurately describe the same page.

Should og:description equal my meta description?

No. Reusing the same text is fine, but separate social wording can also be appropriate.

Should og:url match my canonical?

For a normal canonical webpage, aligning the Open Graph object URL with the preferred public URL is usually the clearest implementation.

Why is my social card showing the wrong title?

Possible causes include duplicate tags, platform-specific overrides, stale caching, CMS conflicts or the platform falling back to another available title source.

Why is my social image missing?

Check whether og:image exists, the URL resolves correctly, the file is publicly accessible and the image is large enough for the target platform.

Why does the image crop differently on different platforms?

Each platform controls its own card dimensions and layout. Design social images with safe margins around important text, logos and faces.

Can a WebP file be used as a social image?

File-format support can differ among consuming platforms and can change over time. Validate the exact live URL with the platforms that matter most to you rather than assuming every social crawler handles every image format identically.

Can WordPress generate Open Graph automatically?

Yes. Many WordPress SEO plugins and themes generate Open Graph metadata automatically.

Can multiple WordPress plugins create duplicate Open Graph tags?

Yes. Themes, SEO plugins, social plugins and custom code can all output tags. Choose one primary metadata system wherever practical.

Is my WordPress featured image automatically my og:image?

It depends on the theme or plugin configuration. Many systems use the featured image as the default social image, but a dedicated social image can also be configured.

Does Open Graph improve Google rankings?

Do not treat Open Graph optimization as a direct ranking guarantee. Its primary purpose is accurate rich-object and social-sharing metadata.

Does Open Graph improve social CTR?

Better metadata can make a shared link clearer and more visually coherent, but no metadata configuration can guarantee more clicks because audience, post copy, distribution and context also matter.

Does a 100/100 metadata score guarantee the preview?

No. The score measures metadata completeness and consistency. The social platform still controls its final card.

Why does the tool ask for my page URL?

The optional page URL helps resolve relative image and URL values and provides the correct domain context for the previews.

Why doesn't the auditor fetch my page automatically?

Browser-to-browser page inspection is frequently restricted by CORS and other security rules. Pasting the source provides predictable local analysis without requiring a server-side crawling API.

Does AnswerEnginee upload my HTML?

The live tool is designed to inspect the HTML or metadata you provide locally in your browser without requiring an external API.

Should I still test the live page after using this auditor?

Yes. The auditor checks the markup itself. Platform-specific testing is needed to validate fetching, caching and final card rendering.

Related Metadata & SEO Tools

Continue from social-card QA to Search metadata and technical validation.

Fix the Metadata Before the Share

You cannot control every social card. You can control the signals your page provides.

Use the Open Graph & Social Card Auditor to find missing tags, conflicting URLs, broken image signals and platform-specific metadata problems, then validate the live page on the social networks that matter to you.

Audit complete

Facebook / LinkedIn

X card