Failure mode: pitching a page that already 301s

Failure mode: pitching a page that already 301s
Mistake: tool reports 404, you pitch replacement, but the broken URL already redirects to a live page. You look uninformed; reply rate drops.
Fix sequence:
— 1. Before any pitch, re-fetch the dead URL with redirect-following OFF.
— 2. Record the raw status: 404/410 = real, 301/302 = resolved.
— 3. If 3xx, follow the chain and log the final destination.
— 4. Move resolved URLs to a "redirected" bucket, not the outreach queue.
— 5. QA gate: re-verify status within 48h of send, not at discovery — pages get fixed.
Automation: cURL with -I and --max-redirs 0 in a batch script; flag any non-4xx.
Definition of done: every URL in the outreach queue returns a hard 4xx within 48 hours of sending.