Troubleshooting

If something is not working as expected, check the solutions below before reaching out to support. Most issues have simple fixes that take under a minute.

Score Is Not Updating

1. Open the post in the editor and click the Re-analyze button in the SEO Forge box.
2. Check that Auto-analyze on save is enabled in SEO Forge > Settings > General.
3. If you use a caching plugin (WP Super Cache, W3 Total Cache, LiteSpeed Cache, WP Rocket), clear the cache. Old cached versions of your admin pages may show stale data.
4. If the problem persists, deactivate and reactivate SEO Forge to refresh the analysis engine.

Schema Not Showing in Google

1. Confirm that Schema is enabled in SEO Forge > Settings > General.
2. View your page source (right-click the page > View Page Source) and search for application/ld+json. If you find it, the schema is being output correctly.
3. Test your page with Google’s Rich Results Test tool to confirm Google can read the schema.
4. Remember that Google takes days to weeks to pick up new schema.
5. Rich results are not guaranteed even with perfect schema — Google decides based on content quality, domain authority, and other factors.

Sitemap Showing 404

1. Go to Settings > Permalinks in WordPress (the main WordPress settings, not SEO Forge).
2. Without changing anything, click Save Changes to refresh the URL rewrite rules.
3. Try accessing the sitemap again.
4. If the problem persists, check for conflicting sitemap plugins.
5. Verify that your .htaccess file is writable by WordPress.

AI Features Not Working

1. Confirm you have an active PRO license — AI features require PRO.
2. Check your AI credit balance at seoforge.dev — if your balance is low, buy a credit pack (packs never expire).
3. Verify your internet connection — AI features require communication with the Forge API server.
4. Check if your hosting provider or firewall blocks outbound API requests.
5. If you see a specific error message, note the exact text for support.

Internal Link Suggestions Not Appearing

1. Confirm that Internal links enabled is turned on in SEO Forge > Settings.
2. Enter a focus keyword — suggestions are based on keyword relevance and do not appear without one.
3. Your site needs at least a handful of published posts for the feature to find relevant suggestions.
4. Try a different or broader keyword to see if suggestions appear.

SERP Preview Not Matching Google

1. Google sometimes reformats titles (adding your site name, changing separators) — this is normal.
2. Google may choose its own description snippet instead of your meta description, especially if it thinks its choice better matches the search query.
3. Changes to titles and descriptions take days to weeks to appear in Google. The preview shows what you have set, but Google may not have re-crawled yet.
4. Use Google Search Console’s URL Inspection tool to request a re-crawl of specific pages.

Redirects Not Working

1. Confirm the redirect is listed in SEO Forge > Redirects and shows as active.
2. Clear your browser cache and try again in an incognito/private window.
3. Check for conflicting redirects in your .htaccess file or other plugins.
4. Verify the old URL path is correct (it should start with /, not include your domain).
5. Check that no other redirect or rewrite rule is intercepting the URL before SEO Forge.

> Good to know: If none of these solutions work, contact support at [email protected] with your WordPress version, SEO Forge version, PHP version, and a description of the issue. Screenshots of any error messages are especially helpful.

> Tip: Before contacting support, try deactivating all other plugins except SEO Forge and switching to a default WordPress theme (like Twenty Twenty-Four). If the problem disappears, the cause is a plugin or theme conflict. Reactivate plugins one by one to identify the conflicting one.

Common Mistakes

• Not reading the error message. Error messages often contain the solution. “AI credits exhausted” means you need more credits, not that the feature is broken.
• Clearing the server cache instead of the browser cache. If a page looks wrong only to you, it is your browser cache. Clear it or use an incognito window.
• Assuming SEO Forge is broken when Google has not re-crawled yet. Most “issues” are just Google’s delay. Give it 1 — 2 weeks before troubleshooting.

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