hreflang return links explained
hreflang annotations are confirmed in pairs. When the English page lists the German page, the German page has to list the English page too. Google uses the return link as proof both pages belong to the same site owner, which stops a third party from claiming alternates on someone else's site.
In practice every member carries the full set, including a reference to itself. The self-reference is part of the set Google expects. The check reports a missing self-reference as an error because many content systems leave out the current page by mistake.
The matrix in each report shows the pairs at a glance. Rows are the pages, columns the codes, and each cell says whether the page lists the code and whether the target links back.
Check a cluster against every rule in this guide.