Quick answer
Social metadata gives sharing platforms a title, description, image, and card type for a page preview. NOTABIS passes social-metadata when it finds og:title, og:description, og:image, and twitter:card meta properties or names in the measured HTML. Presence does not guarantee a correct image, a particular preview, or any search ranking effect.
What the issue means
Open Graph and Twitter card tags sit in the document head:
<meta property="og:title" content="Winter Tyre Storage Guide">
<meta property="og:description" content="Prepare, store, and check tyres between seasons.">
<meta property="og:image" content="https://example.com/images/tyres.jpg">
<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image">
Platforms may cache these values and apply their own size, policy, and fallback rules. Social metadata is separate from the page title and meta description used by search.
Why it matters for SEO
Accurate tags improve how a URL looks when people share it, which can affect referral clicks and trust. They are not a direct Google ranking control. Missing or stale values can produce a confusing social card even when the page itself is healthy.
How NOTABIS detects it
The social-metadata rule is a page-level passed check created when all four expected properties are present in the measured HTML. NOTABIS accepts either property or name attributes for these names. It does not validate content, image dimensions, URL status, platform-specific cache state, or whether the values match the visible page. Missing fields produce missing-social-metadata.
How to check it yourself
Inspect the final head in View Source, resolve each URL, and request the image from an unauthenticated location. Use the debugger or card validator supplied by the sharing platform to refresh cached previews. Check one representative page per template and locale.
How to fix it
Generate page-specific Open Graph values from the canonical content source and provide an absolute, publicly reachable image URL. Choose a card type that matches the asset and keep the description accurate. Remove conflicting duplicate tags and revalidate after redirects, CDN changes, or image migrations.
<meta property="og:url" content="https://example.com/guides/tyre-storage">
og:url is useful for sharing consistency, although it is not one of the four fields this NOTABIS pass check requires. Do not put private or user-specific data in public social tags.
When this is intentional or does not need fixing
An API, redirect, private account route, or page that is never shared may not need social metadata. A site can provide only the platforms it supports, but document that choice rather than adding empty tags. Do not expose an internal image or unpublished content merely to complete a card.
Related issues
Compare missing social metadata, title tags, and meta descriptions. The Open Graph protocol documents the core property names; individual platforms publish their own card requirements.
Run a NOTABIS audit
NOTABIS shows whether all four core social properties were present in each measured page and lists missing fields when the check fails.