By SitemapFixer Team
Updated October 2026

AMP SEO: Does Google Still Use AMP in 2026?

Short answer: Google still supports AMP pages, but AMP no longer gives any special advantage. In April 2021 Google said AMP was “no longer required” for the Top Stories carousel and dropped the AMP badge. Today Google says it applies the same standard to all pages, whatever technology built them. What matters is that pages are fast and useful. If your regular pages already pass Core Web Vitals, you don’t need AMP, and removing it can simplify your site.

What changed

  • Before 2021: AMP was required for the Top Stories carousel on mobile, and AMP results showed an AMP badge.
  • April 2021: with the page experience update, Google said any page could appear in Top Stories, AMP or not, and removed the AMP badge.
  • Today: Google’s AMP documentation says it “applies the same standard to all pages, regardless of the technology used to build the page.” AMP on desktop gets no search-specific features.

Page experience itself isn’t a single signal, and Google says it shows the most relevant content even when page experience is weak. Speed helps; AMP is just one way to get it. See Core Web Vitals.

Should you keep AMP?

Keep it if

  • Your AMP pages are fast and your regular pages are not, and you can’t fix the regular pages soon.
  • You publish AMP-specific formats you rely on, such as Web Stories, which Google can show in results.

Remove it if

  • Your regular pages pass Core Web Vitals on mobile.
  • Keeping two versions in sync costs time, or the AMP versions lack features (forms, comments, ads, tracking) that the main pages have.
  • AMP and canonical pages often drift apart in content, which Google warns against: actions on the canonical page should work on the AMP page where possible.

How AMP and canonical pages are linked

If you keep AMP, each pair must point to each other, as the AMP project documents:

<!-- on the regular (canonical) page -->
<link rel="amphtml" href="https://example.com/amp/article.html">

<!-- on the AMP page -->
<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/article.html">

<!-- if the AMP page is the only version: self-canonical -->
<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/article.html">

The AMP page must follow the AMP HTML specification, and its structured data must follow Google’s policies like any other page.

How to remove AMP safely

  1. Check that the regular pages pass Core Web Vitals on mobile first (Search Console → Core Web Vitals).
  2. Turn off AMP output in your CMS or plugin.
  3. 301-redirect every AMP URL (for example /amp/article or ?amp=1) to its canonical page, one to one.
  4. Remove the rel="amphtml" links from the canonical pages.
  5. Make sure the sitemap lists only canonical URLs, not AMP URLs.
  6. Watch Search Console for a few weeks: the AMP report should show fewer pages over time, and clicks should move to the canonical URLs.

Removing AMP is a small URL change, so the same rules as any site migration apply: one-step redirects and no mass redirects to the homepage. The free sitemap checker tests 30 sitemap URLs for redirects, errors, noindex and canonical problems afterwards.

Frequently asked questions

Does Google still use AMP?

Google still supports AMP pages and can show them in results, but it no longer requires AMP for anything special. Since 2021, any page can appear in Top Stories, and the AMP badge is gone. Google says it applies the same standard to all pages, whatever technology built them.

Is AMP a ranking factor?

No. Google applies the same standard to all pages regardless of technology. AMP pages can be fast, which helps page experience, but a fast non-AMP page gets the same treatment.

Should I remove AMP from my site?

If your normal pages are fast and pass Core Web Vitals, removing AMP usually simplifies your site with little downside. Redirect each AMP URL to its canonical page and remove the amphtml links.

What does AMP stand for?

Accelerated Mobile Pages: an open-source HTML framework for building fast-loading pages.

Does AMP help on desktop?

Google says AMP on desktop doesn’t get search-specific features in Google Search.

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