AreaAudit

Which languages each generator says it supports, and where

hreflang: the one language fact a reader can check from outside

An hreflang attribute is a line in a page naming a language and an address that serves it. It is a routing hint for search engines. It is also the only language claim on a vendor site that any reader can verify without an account. As of 2026-09-22.

One narrow question answered exactly, four left openA declaration asserts that a page exists in a language at an address and that search engines should prefer it for that audience. It says nothing about whether the product works in the language, whether a human translated the page, whether support exists, or whether anything generated will be in it.AssertedInferred anywayThe pageExists in this language, at this addressThat the product works in itSearch routingPrefer this address for that audienceThat a human translated itThe relationshipThese addresses are alternatesThat support exists in itGenerated output—That it follows the menusThe narrow claim is what makes it countable at all
Fig. 1 The four open questions are the ones a buyer actually has, which is why this signal is evidence rather than a summary.
What an hreflang declaration asserts, against what readers take from it. Recorded 2026-09-22.
The declaration saysIt does not say
A page exists in this language at this addressThat the product works in that language
Search engines should prefer that address for that audienceThat a human translated it
The two addresses are alternates of one anotherThat support is available in that language
Nothing about outputNothing about voices

Inclusion rule. Claims an alternate declaration makes, paired with claims readers commonly infer from it. Both columns are about the declaration, not about any product. Order. Paired, the assertion first.

1Why a routing hint is useful evidence

Everything else a vendor says about languages has to be taken on trust. A declared set is in the page source: anyone can count it, and two people counting with the same rule get the same number.

It is also maintained for commercial reasons rather than as a courtesy, because duplicate content across language versions costs a company traffic. A signal somebody is paid to keep accurate is worth more than one nobody checks.

2The edge cases decide the number

Alternates pointing at another domain, and the entry that names no language at all, are the two decisions that change a count. Both have defensible answers in either direction, and neither can be left to taste if the counts are to be comparable.

So a register using this signal has to write its rule down before applying it. The rule here is narrow, and the raw declaration is printed wherever the rule discards most of it.

3Four questions it never answers

Whether the page is fully translated or machine-swapped. Whether support exists in the language. Whether anything the product generates will be in it. And whether the translation is any good.

Those four are what a buyer actually wants, and the attribute answers none of them. It answers a narrower question exactly, which is what makes it usable as evidence at all rather than as a summary.

A definition, not a measurement: no vendor figure appears here that is not also in the register. The counting decisions themselves are set out on the how counted page.

Nearby terms: Script subtag, x-default. The whole vocabulary is at terms; nothing on this page is a claim about a named product.