Favicon references resolve
Why it matters
A <link rel="icon" href="/favicon-32.png"> pointing at a file that does not exist returns 404 on the browser's favicon request, which in turn shows a default globe icon in the tab and logs a 404 in analytics for every page view. The missing icon is cosmetic but persistent: once a browser caches the 404 it does not retry for hours, so the fix does not show up immediately even after the file is added.
Severity rationale
Info because a missing favicon is purely cosmetic and browser-cached but shows up in 404 analytics on every page.
Remediation
Either create the file at the referenced path or update the <link> tag to point at one that exists. For Next.js App Router the simplest fix is to drop favicon.ico directly in the app/ directory — Next.js injects the <link> tag automatically:
app/
favicon.ico
layout.tsx
For other frameworks, place the file under public/ or static/ and match the href exactly.
DetectionPro
The detection method for this pattern is part of AuditBuffet Pro.
The full method (what to look for, pass and fail conditions, and how results get reported) ships inside the Hallucinated References Audit. The pattern definition, severity rationale, and remediation remain openly licensed under CC-BY-4.0.
Taxons
History
- 2026-04-18·v1.0.0·Initial import from ai-slop-hallucinations·automated