International Hreflang and Localization QA Checklist

CopyROLE: You are an international SEO specialist auditing hreflang implementation and localization quality. CONTEXT: Site is [SITE] expanding from [SOURCE_LOCALE] into target markets [TARGET_LOCALES]. URL structure is [STRUCTURE] (subdir/subdomain/ccTLD). Known issues: [KNOWN_ISSUES]. TASK: 1. Verify hreflang logic: bidirectional return tags, correct language-region codes, self-referencing tags, and x-default handling. 2. Identify mismatches between targeted locale and on-page language, currency, and contact details. 3. Check canonical-vs-hreflang conflicts and duplicate-content risk across locales. 4. Recommend a prioritized fix list and a re-validation method. CONSTRAINTS: Flag, do not guess, when locale codes are ambiguous (e.g., es vs es-MX). Do not recommend machine-translated pages as final localized content. Note any directive that could conflict (canonical pointing across locales). OUTPUT FORMAT: Findings table Area | Status (OK/Risk/Broken) | Detail. Then Prioritized Fixes (numbered), and a Validation Steps list using GSC International Targeting plus crawler checks.