Internal-link relationship labels

Internal links usually name their destination. This test labels them with the relationship they express instead, so a link says what it is doing rather than where it goes, and then watches whether crawl and interpretation change. No result yet. The labels shipped with the site and observations will be added with dates as they accumulate.

Why this is being tested

Document the method and publish observations.

Published with the method before the result, because a conclusion announced without a stated method, on a sample nobody can see, is an opinion with a number attached.

Result

No result yet. Labels ship with the site launch; crawl and interpretation observations will be added with dates.

Hypothesis

Labeled relationships give retrieval systems usable edges between concepts; the visible label is the same information a reader needs anyway.

Method

Implement labeled relationship links across this site's systems, experiments and glossary.
Record internal-link click-through and crawl patterns per label type.
Observe whether answer-engine summaries of these pages reflect the labeled relationships.

Environment. This website in production

Limitations

Observational, single site.
Interpretation effects are hard to isolate from general structure quality.

Replicating this

Any site with meaningful concept relationships can replicate; keep labels honest and reader-useful first.

What this means for an operator

Write internal link text that names the relationship, which helps a reader whatever a machine does with it.

Sources

Google Search Central - Optimizing your website for generative AI features States semantic HTML helps parsing without being required, which this tests against; reviewed 2026-08

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