Google's John Mueller said it is best to be consistent with your URL structure and either choose to use slashes after the URL or not to use slashes after the URL. Try not to use both formats if possible.
He posted this on Twitter when asked about slashes after URLs "The best solution is to be consistent and only use one version of a URL. Link to that version, redirect to it, use it in sitemaps, use it for rel-canonical, etc."
The best solution is to be consistent and only use one version of a URL. Link to that version, redirect to it, use it in sitemaps, use it for rel-canonical, etc.
— 🍌 John 🍌 (@JohnMu) July 11, 2019
In 2017 John explained that slashes after a URL make the URL different and it has nothing to do with Google, it is just how the web works. For the home page, Google sets it as an implied canonical but internal pages may not be the case - although, I assume it is.
Either way - don't make Google guess, you can control this on your end.
Forum discussion at Twitter.
