To check a page’s Open Graph tags, inspect its delivered HTML source and search the document head for og:title, og:type, og:image and og:url. Then inspect the live DOM if scripts may change the markup, and use the destination platform’s debugger or preview to confirm what it reads.
1. Check the page source that was delivered
- Open the exact page URL you plan to share in your browser.
- Use the browser’s View page source command. In most desktop browsers, right-click the page and choose the source option, or use the browser menu. The exact label and shortcut can vary.
- In the source view, search for
og:, or search individually forog:titleandog:image. - Check the matching
<meta>elements in the document’s<head>. Each field name is in thepropertyattribute and its value is in thecontentattribute.
For example, this markup declares a title and an image URL:
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<meta property="og:title" content="Example page title">
<meta property="og:image" content="https://example.com/share-image.jpg">View source answers a specific question: what markup did the page response initially deliver? It does not necessarily show changes made later by JavaScript.
2. Check the important Open Graph values
The Open Graph Protocol identifies four basic required properties for every page. Check that each appears once as intended and has a useful value.
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| Property | What to verify |
|---|---|
og:title |
The title intended to represent the page when shared. |
og:type |
The object type, such as website. Some types may require additional properties. |
og:image |
The URL of the representative image. Confirm it points to the intended image. |
og:url |
The canonical URL and permanent identifier for the object. |
Also inspect og:description if the share description matters. It is optional in the protocol but generally recommended. If the page specifies og:image, the protocol says it should also specify og:image:alt with descriptive text for the image. The protocol documents additional image metadata, including secure URL, MIME type, width and height.
These tags belong in the document head. The Open Graph Protocol documentation defines the fields and their use at ogp.me.
3. Check for duplicates and conflicting values
Search for every occurrence of each property, not just the first. Open Graph permits array properties; when repeated values conflict, the protocol gives preference to the first tag in document order. A later duplicate may not override an earlier value as you expect.
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If a title, image or URL looks wrong, compare the values from top to bottom and identify which one comes first. Then correct the template or CMS output so the intended value has priority and unintended duplicates are removed.
4. Compare the source with the live DOM
If the delivered source is missing a tag or shows a value that differs from what the page displays, inspect the browser’s live DOM using developer tools. The source view shows the initially delivered document; the live DOM shows the browser’s current document after scripts may have run. Google’s guide to social discovery explains the meta-tag mechanism at web.dev.
This comparison helps locate a problem, but it does not prove what every social crawler will see. Crawlers may parse what they can retrieve from the response rather than the browser state visible to a person, and behavior depends on the platform.
5. Validate with the destination platform
A list of tags only confirms what you found in the page markup. It does not establish that a social service can fetch the page or image, or that it will interpret the values as intended. For a Facebook share, use Facebook’s Sharing Debugger to check Facebook’s interpretation. For another destination, use that service’s current official preview or debugger if available.
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Platform-specific rules can change. Do not assume a universal cache lifetime, image-size threshold or crawler-access rule; check current documentation for the particular service when its preview differs from your markup.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.6. Troubleshoot common problems
| What you see | Likely distinction | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| A tag is absent in page source. | The inspected delivered document does not contain it. | Check the page template or CMS output that generates the response. |
| A tag is present in source but missing or different in the live DOM. | A script or client-side rendering may be changing the document after load. | Inspect the relevant scripts and rendered DOM. Remember that this does not establish what a social crawler retrieves. |
| The same property appears more than once. | Conflicting array values may be resolved by first-in-order preference. | Inspect all matching tags in order; fix the output so the intended value comes first and remove accidental duplicates. |
| The tags look correct, but a share preview is wrong. | The destination’s fetch or interpretation may differ from a manual markup check. | Check the page with that destination’s debugger or official preview, and consult its current guidance for access, cache and image requirements. |
Or skip the browser setup
ScreenshotNeo can capture a page by API, which is useful when you need a visual check of the rendered page rather than a manual browser screenshot. It is not a replacement for inspecting Open Graph source or validating a platform’s crawler interpretation. Cookie banners, newsletter popups and chat widgets are removed before the shot; bot checks, blank pages and failed loads are never billed; an MCP server lets AI agents take screenshots; and 1,000 screenshots a month are free with no card, with paid plans starting at $5 for 3,000.
For API parameters and options, see the ScreenshotNeo documentation. One GET request returns an image or PDF; this cURL example saves a WebP screenshot:
curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://example.com -o shot.webpSign up for 1,000 free screenshots a month, with no card required.
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