Meta redirect
A meta redirect, or meta refresh, is an HTML tag that sends the browser to another address, at once or after a delay.
A meta redirect, also called a meta refresh, is a line of HTML that tells the browser to load a different address. It sits in the page's head, and it can send the visitor on straight away or after a few seconds:
<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0; url=https://fernhill.example/subscriptions">The 0 is the delay in seconds. With 5, the visitor sees the page for five seconds before it moves on.
It's the redirect people use when they can't change the server, for example on some hosted website builders.
Why server redirects are better
The usual way to redirect is on the server, with a 301 for a permanent move or a 302 for a temporary one. The server answers the request with the new address before any page is sent, and every browser, search engine and bot understands it.
A meta redirect only works once a page has been sent and read. Google says it follows them, treating an instant one as permanent and a delayed one as temporary, in its guide to redirects. It still recommends a server redirect where you can use one.
For example, say Harrow & Pine renames its "Sofas" section "Living room." Its site builder doesn't allow server redirects, so it adds a meta refresh to each old page. Visitors get through fine. But a bot that reads the old page and doesn't follow the tag sees a page with nothing on it.
Meta redirects and AI bots
Simple bots fetch a page and read the HTML. Some follow meta redirects and some may not, and AI companies don't say which of theirs do. A server redirect works for all of them, so when you move a page that AI answers cite, a server redirect is the safer way to keep the citation pointing somewhere useful.
Delayed redirects are also bad for people. Someone arriving from an AI answer who watches a page jump away after five seconds may simply leave.