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 save it. The score in the Rank Forge box updates as you type and a full analysis runs each time you save; there is no Re-analyze button and no setting to turn analysis off.
2. If the score still looks out of date, reload the editor page; the browser may be showing a cached version.
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 Rank Forge to refresh the analysis engine.

Schema Not Showing in Google

1. Rank Forge has no setting that turns schema on or off, so there is nothing to enable in Rank Forge > Settings. It writes the markup by itself on single posts and pages. To see which type a post uses, open the post and go to the Schema tab of the Rank Forge box: the type menu in the Schema Markup section reads Auto with the automatic type in brackets, for example Auto (Article), or shows the type that was picked.
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 Rank 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 in the credit chip in the header of the Rank Forge screens. If it 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 Links Not Appearing

1. Rank Forge does not show a list of suggested pages. Its internal link tools are the “No internal links found” issue, the Auto-Link button and Auto Internal Links on Publish.
2. Auto-Link, the Fix button of that issue and Auto Internal Links need the Pro add-on running.
3. Auto Internal Links on Publish is off until you switch it on under Rank Forge > Settings, tab Automation. It runs only when a post or page changes to published from another status, not when you save a post that is already published.
4. For a post that is already published, use Auto-Link in the Advanced tab of the Rank Forge box. If Rank Forge says “No related posts found to link to.”, it found no other published post or page whose title or text contains words of the title of this one.
5. Only posts and pages take part, and the whole title of the other post, or one of its words, must already stand in the text of the post you link from. Otherwise nothing is linked.

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. Go to Rank Forge > Tools, open the Redirects tab and confirm the redirect is listed under Active Redirects.
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 Rank Forge.

> Good to know: If none of these solutions work, contact support at [email protected] with your WordPress version, Rank 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 Rank 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 Rank Forge is broken when Google has not re-crawled yet. Most “issues” are just Google’s delay. Give it 1 — 2 weeks before troubleshooting.

—