# Link Headers Checker

Test whether your HTTP response exposes useful discovery links before a crawler even parses your HTML.

Canonical URL: https://truborankai.com/link-headers-checker

## Quick Answer

A Link headers checker reviews HTTP Link headers such as rel="service-doc", rel="alternate", and rel="sitemap" to see whether important machine-readable resources are discoverable.

## AI Summary

TruboRank AI checks Link headers as part of AI discoverability because headers can expose llms.txt, Markdown alternatives, and sitemaps to crawlers early in the request process.

## What This Checker Analyzes

- rel="service-doc" links
- rel="alternate" Markdown links
- sitemap Link headers
- content types attached to Link headers
- header syntax clarity

## Why It Matters

Headers can provide direct resource hints to AI crawlers and agents. They are lightweight, fast, and useful for machine discovery.

## Common Issues

- No Link headers
- Wrong rel value
- Missing type attribute
- Broken resource URL
- HTML links exist but headers are absent

## How To Use This Checker

Start with a live scan of your website URL. Review the status of each signal, then fix the highest-impact blockers first. Technical blockers should usually be handled before content optimization because AI systems need access before they can evaluate page quality.

1. Run the free scan on your homepage or a high-value page.
2. Review crawl access, sitemap discovery, headers, and AI-readable resources.
3. Open each warning and confirm whether it affects important public content.
4. Fix server-level issues such as robots.txt, Link headers, and content types.
5. Improve page-level content with direct answers, summaries, FAQs, and internal links.
6. Re-run the scan after changes to verify the result.

## How Pro Helps

Pro provides setup guidance and prompts for adding Link headers through Apache, Nginx, PHP, or edge platforms.

## FAQ

### What is rel="service-doc"?

It is a Link relation that can point crawlers toward service documentation or machine-readable guidance.

### Do Link headers replace HTML links?

No. They complement HTML links by exposing resources at the HTTP header level.

### Can I test Link headers with curl?

Yes. Use curl -I to inspect response headers.

## Related Internal Links

- [rel="service-doc" Explained](/blog/rel-service-doc-explained)
- [Markdown Negotiation Checker](/markdown-negotiation-checker)
- [llms.txt Checker](/llms-txt-checker)