# SEO AEO internal linking Human Guide

## What This Is For
Analyses a set of pages and produces a prioritised list of internal link opportunities with exact anchor text, a context sentence showing where each link should appear, orphan page. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for search and SEO workflows: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the SEO AEO internal linking agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for SEO AEO internal linking.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the SEO AEO internal linking guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- Use when building internal links between a new pillar page and its cluster articles
- Use when auditing an existing site for orphan pages
- Use after content-cluster generates a topic map
- Use when you need anchor text suggestions with placement context
- **Cluster → Pillar** — highest priority, consolidates authority upward
- **Pillar → Cluster** — distributes authority downward
- **Cluster → Cluster** — builds semantic depth
- **Contextual Boost** — concentrates equity on a focus page
- ✅ **Do:** Every cluster article must have at least one Cluster → Pillar link
- ✅ **Do:** Write a context sentence for every suggestion — anchor text needs natural placement
- ✅ **Do:** Fix orphan pages before adding any new links
- ❌ **Don't:** Use the same exact-match anchor for the same target page more than once

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Overview, When to Use This Skill, How It Works, Step 1: Detect Orphan Pages, Step 2: Build Semantic Overlap Matrix, Step 3: Assign Link Types, Step 4: Write Context Sentences, Step 5: Check Anchor Text, Examples, Example: Link Opportunity Output.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- Flag any page with zero incoming internal links. These are invisible to search engines and must be linked immediately.
- Flag any exact-match anchor used more than once for the same target page as a cannibalization risk. Never use generic anchors like "click here".
- ✅ **Do:** Every cluster article must have at least one Cluster → Pillar link
- ❌ **Don't:** Use the same exact-match anchor for the same target page more than once
- ❌ **Don't:** Use "click here", "read more", or "learn more" as anchor text — ever
- ❌ **Don't:** Add more than 100 outgoing internal links on any single page
- Do not treat the output as a substitute for environment-specific validation, testing, or expert review.
- Stop and ask for clarification if required inputs, permissions, safety boundaries, or success criteria are missing.

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the SEO AEO internal linking human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the sickn33/antigravity-awesome-skills skill entry for `seo-aeo-internal-linking`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# SEO-AEO Internal Linking

## Overview

Analyses a set of pages and produces a prioritised list of internal link opportunities with exact anchor text, a context sentence showing where each link should appear, orphan page detection, anchor text cannibalization warnings, and a link equity map showing how authority flows across the content.

Part of the [SEO-AEO Engine](https://github.com/mrprewsh/seo-aeo-engine).

## When to Use This Skill

- Use when building internal links between a new pillar page and its cluster articles
- Use when auditing an existing site for orphan pages
- Use after content-cluster generates a topic map
- Use when you need anchor text suggestions with placement context

## How It Works

### Step 1: Detect Orphan Pages
Flag any page with zero incoming internal links. These are invisible to search engines and must be linked immediately.

### Step 2: Build Semantic Overlap Matrix
Match pages by primary keyword similarity and content summary to identify natural linking opportunities.

### Step 3: Assign Link Types
Every suggestion gets one of four labels:
- **Cluster → Pillar** — highest priority, consolidates authority upward
- **Pillar → Cluster** — distributes authority downward
- **Cluster → Cluster** — builds semantic depth
- **Contextual Boost** — concentrates equity on a focus page

### Step 4: Write Context Sentences
For every link opportunity, write the sentence the anchor text should appear in — naturally placed, not forced.

### Step 5: Check Anchor Text
Flag any exact-match anchor used more than once for the same target page as a cannibalization risk. Never use generic anchors like "click here".

## Examples

### Example: Link Opportunity Output
🔴 High Priority — Link 1
Type: Cluster → Pillar
Source: "How to Build a Budget That Actually Works"
Target: "The Complete Guide to Automated Budgeting"
Anchor: "automated budgeting guide"
Context: "For a full breakdown of every method available,
see our [automated budgeting guide]."
Impact: Consolidates topical authority on pillar page.
Orphan Alert:
"PennyWise Pricing Page" has no incoming links.
Fix: Add link from comparison table in Article 2.

## Best Practices

- ✅ **Do:** Every cluster article must have at least one Cluster → Pillar link
- ✅ **Do:** Write a context sentence for every suggestion — anchor text needs natural placement
- ✅ **Do:** Fix orphan pages before adding any new links
- ❌ **Don't:** Use the same exact-match anchor for the same target page more than once
- ❌ **Don't:** Use "click here", "read more", or "learn more" as anchor text — ever
- ❌ **Don't:** Add more than 100 outgoing internal links on any single page

## Common Pitfalls

- **Problem:** All cluster articles link to the pillar but not to each other
  **Solution:** Add Cluster → Cluster links between semantically related articles to build depth.

- **Problem:** Same anchor text used across multiple pages for the same target
  **Solution:** Use partial match and branded anchors for subsequent links after the first exact-match use.

## Related Skills

- `@seo-aeo-content-cluster` — generates the cluster map this skill links together
- `@seo-aeo-schema-generator` — uses link map output for BreadcrumbList schema

## Additional Resources

- [SEO-AEO Engine Repository](https://github.com/mrprewsh/seo-aeo-engine)
- [Full Internal Linking SKILL.md](https://github.com/mrprewsh/seo-aeo-engine/blob/main/.agent/skills/internal-linking/SKILL.md)

## Limitations
- Use this skill only when the task clearly matches the scope described above.