In discussions within the SEO community, there has been speculation regarding the appearance of pound signs, #, in Google Search Console reports. Many believed it was related to canonicalization, but Google’s John Mueller clarified that it actually has to do with Google tracking on-page sitelinks from search results. Mueller specified that URLs with “#” are a result of links on the page and are not related to canonicalization. Sitelinks are counted separately in the performance report, and when filtered by URL, they can be seen there. However, when looking at queries, they are grouped together with other pages.
The confusion around the pound signs led to discussions on LinkedIn, where Graham Grieve mentioned a podcast that pointed out issues with Google’s canonical system. Carolyn Holzman highlighted that certain table of contents plugins were generating additional indexable pages, causing problems for affiliate sites. A video further demonstrated how GSC displays # and raised concerns about canonicalization errors and redundant content being documented.
In response to these discussions, Lily Ray pointed out that Google has always shown #URL in GSC, not just for affiliate sites with jump links. Mark Williams-Cook further delved into the confusion, explaining that jump URLs are displayed below main URLs in GSC, inheriting their position. He emphasized that jump links being indexed or not is unrelated to the canonical system, as Google essentially ignores # URLs for indexing in standard web search.
Williams-Cook’s analysis received support from John Mueller, who commended his summary. The ongoing discussion in the Bound forum highlighted the importance of understanding how Google Search Console works to avoid misconceptions about canonicalization and indexing. Overall, the presence of pound signs in GSC reports does not indicate issues with the canonical system but rather reflects the tracking of on-page sitelinks by Google.
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