SEO · Site structure
The Best Prompt for Internal Linking
The best prompt for internal linking works from a list of the pages you really have. This prompt groups your inventory by topic, identifies or proposes a hub for each group, and recommends specific links from one URL to another with anchor text and a note on where the link belongs. It is restricted to URLs in your list and only reports orphan or under-linked pages when you supply link data.
Internal Linking Plan Prompt
Builds an internal link plan from your page inventory: topic groups, hub pages and specific source-to-target links with anchor text, using only real URLs.
- Works with
- ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Complexity
- Multi-part reply
- Variables
- 5
- Version
- 1.0
Customize this prompt
Fill in what you know. Anything left blank stays as a [bracketed placeholder]. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
5 variables · fields marked * matter most
# Role You are an SEO specialist planning internal links for a website. Good internal links help visitors reach the next useful page and help search engines discover pages and understand how they relate. You are planning for both, in that order. # Site [Site and audience] # Pages that most need support [Priority pages] # Page inventory (the only URLs you may use) <inventory> [Page inventory] </inventory> # Existing link data, if any <link_data> [Existing link data] </link_data> # Limits I need you to respect [Limits] # Task Part 1 - Topic groups. Sort the inventory into groups of pages a visitor interested in one would plausibly want next. Name each group. Pages that fit nowhere go in an Ungrouped list; do not force them. Part 2 - Hubs. For each group, name the page that should act as the hub: the broadest page, linking to and linked from the rest. If no page in the inventory can do that job, say a hub is missing and describe it in one line. Do not give it a URL. Part 3 - Link recommendations. Propose links that a reader of the source page would find useful at that point. For each give: - source URL and target URL, both copied exactly from the inventory - anchor text: a short, descriptive phrase that tells the reader what they will get; vary it naturally between sources and never use 'click here' or the bare URL - placement: which section or sentence topic of the source page it fits, described from the inventory details. If you do not have enough detail about the source page to place it, write 'placement to be decided by editor' - reason in a few words Give the priority pages their links first. Cap at five new links per source page. Part 4 - Link data findings. Only if link_data is supplied: list pages with no or few incoming internal links, and pages whose incoming anchors are vague. If it is empty, write 'No link data supplied; existing links not assessed' and stop there. # Rules - Never invent a URL, page or existing link. - Do not recommend sitewide footer or sidebar blocks of keyword links, or the same exact anchor repeated to one target from every page. - Links must be standard crawlable anchor elements with an href; mention this once in a closing note, not per row. - Make no claims about ranking improvements. # Output Groups and hubs as a nested list. Link recommendations as a table: Source | Target | Anchor text | Placement | Reason. Then Part 4, then questions for me.
Use it when you are
- Adding links to and from a batch of newly published articles
- Supporting an important page that has few internal links pointing to it
- Organizing a blog that has grown without topic hubs
- Preparing link edits for an editor to apply page by page
Why this prompt works
The inventory is a closed list
The most damaging error in an AI-written link plan is a link to a page that does not exist. Declaring the inventory the only permitted source of URLs, requiring exact copies, and forbidding a URL even for a proposed hub means every row in the table can be applied without creating broken links.
Reader usefulness is the test for each link
Google's starter guide describes links as a way for both people and search engines to find content, and stresses descriptive anchor text. Asking whether a reader of the source page would want the target at that point filters out links that exist only to pass signals and tends to produce anchors that describe the destination.
It admits when it cannot place a link
The model sees a one-line summary of each page, not the page. Allowing 'placement to be decided by editor' stops it from describing paragraphs it has never read, and tells you which rows need a human to find the right sentence.
Existing-link findings depend on existing-link data
Orphan pages and weak anchors can only be identified from a link export. Part 4 runs only when that export is present and otherwise prints a fixed line, so the plan never includes invented claims about how your site is currently linked.
Manipulative patterns are excluded up front
Blocks of keyword links in footers and identical exact-match anchors from every page are patterns that add little for visitors. Naming them as off-limits, alongside a cap of five new links per source, keeps the plan modest enough to implement and maintain.
How to use it
- Export a list of indexable pages from your CMS or crawler with URL, title and a short summary. Add main headings for the pages you most expect to link from.
- Name three to ten priority pages and say why each matters.
- If you have a crawler's internal link export, paste source, target and anchor columns into the link data field.
- Run the prompt and check the topic groups first. Correct any misfiled pages and ask for the link table again if the groups change.
- Have an editor apply the links in context, adjusting anchor wording to fit each sentence.
- Recrawl the site afterward to confirm the links exist, resolve correctly and are standard anchor elements.
AI model compatibility
| Model | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | Expected to work | With a long inventory, spot-check several URLs in the output table against your list. Ask for a correction if any do not match exactly. |
| Claude | Expected to work | The inventory and link_data tags keep the two exports apart. Leave link_data empty if you have none; the prompt handles that case explicitly. |
| Gemini | Expected to work | If the table stops early, ask for the remaining priority pages by name instead of regenerating the full plan. |
“Expected to work” means the prompt uses plain, model-independent structure and has been reviewed for that — not that it has been run on that model. A model is marked Tested only when a test record is published below.
Worked example
Scenario: An illustrative case: a home-buying blog that wants more readers to reach its mortgage calculator.
# Role You are an SEO specialist planning internal links for a website. Good internal links help visitors reach the next useful page and help search engines discover pages and understand how they relate. You are planning for both, in that order. # Site Personal finance blog for first-time home buyers, about 60 articles plus two calculators # Pages that most need support /mortgage-calculator/ (main conversion page) /guides/first-time-buyer-checklist/ (cornerstone guide) # Page inventory (the only URLs you may use) <inventory> /mortgage-calculator/ | Mortgage Calculator | Monthly payment calculator with taxes and insurance /guides/first-time-buyer-checklist/ | First-Time Buyer Checklist | Step-by-step list from saving to closing /blog/how-much-down-payment/ | How Much Down Payment Do You Need | Explains typical down payment options and trade-offs /blog/closing-costs-explained/ | Closing Costs Explained | What closing costs are and who pays them (plus 20 more rows) </inventory> # Existing link data, if any <link_data> [Existing link data] </link_data> # Limits I need you to respect Body links only; do not edit the navigation or footer # Task Part 1 - Topic groups. Sort the inventory into groups of pages a visitor interested in one would plausibly want next. Name each group. Pages that fit nowhere go in an Ungrouped list; do not force them. Part 2 - Hubs. For each group, name the page that should act as the hub: the broadest page, linking to and linked from the rest. If no page in the inventory can do that job, say a hub is missing and describe it in one line. Do not give it a URL. Part 3 - Link recommendations. Propose links that a reader of the source page would find useful at that point. For each give: - source URL and target URL, both copied exactly from the inventory - anchor text: a short, descriptive phrase that tells the reader what they will get; vary it naturally between sources and never use 'click here' or the bare URL - placement: which section or sentence topic of the source page it fits, described from the inventory details. If you do not have enough detail about the source page to place it, write 'placement to be decided by editor' - reason in a few words Give the priority pages their links first. Cap at five new links per source page. Part 4 - Link data findings. Only if link_data is supplied: list pages with no or few incoming internal links, and pages whose incoming anchors are vague. If it is empty, write 'No link data supplied; existing links not assessed' and stop there. # Rules - Never invent a URL, page or existing link. - Do not recommend sitewide footer or sidebar blocks of keyword links, or the same exact anchor repeated to one target from every page. - Links must be standard crawlable anchor elements with an href; mention this once in a closing note, not per row. - Make no claims about ranking improvements. # Output Groups and hubs as a nested list. Link recommendations as a table: Source | Target | Anchor text | Placement | Reason. Then Part 4, then questions for me.
What a good response should contain
- Topic groups such as saving and down payments, mortgages and closing, each with a named hub drawn from the inventory
- A link table where every source and target matches an inventory URL exactly
- Varied, descriptive anchors pointing to the calculator from articles that discuss monthly costs
- Some rows marked 'placement to be decided by editor' where the summary gave too little detail
- The fixed line stating that no link data was supplied and existing links were not assessed
This is an illustrative scenario showing how to fill in the prompt and what to look for. It is not a recorded model output. Recorded outputs will be published here once this prompt has a test record.
Testing and editorial review
Status: Untested. Reviewed for structure and clarity by the editorial team. No recorded model test yet.
No test record has been published for this prompt yet. When it is tested, this section will show the model and version, the date, the inputs, the actual output and notes against our seven-point rubric. We do not publish numerical scores.
| Author | TheBestPromptFor Editorial Team — The editorial team writes, reviews and maintains the prompts and guides on TheBestPromptFor. Prompts are drafted with AI assistance and reviewed against published editorial standards. |
|---|---|
| Published | November 15, 2026 |
| Last reviewed | November 15, 2026 |
| Last tested | Not yet tested |
| Version history |
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Limitations and things to check
- The model reads summaries, not pages. An editor must confirm each link fits the surrounding text.
- Without a link export it cannot tell which links already exist, so some suggestions may duplicate links you have.
- Very large inventories may not fit in one message. Work one section of the site at a time.
- Internal links help discovery and context; they do not by themselves guarantee a page will rank.
Alternative prompts
SEO
Technical SEO Audit Prompt
Reviews crawl exports, URL lists and Search Console notes you supply, and returns evidence-backed findings ranked by impact with a fix and a check for each.
- ChatGPT
- Claude
- Gemini
SEO
Keyword Research and Clustering Prompt
Turns seed topics and any keyword data you paste into intent-labeled clusters mapped to pages, without the model inventing search volumes.
- ChatGPT
- Claude
- Gemini
SEO
On-Page SEO Review Prompt
Reviews one existing page against its target query and returns specific before-and-after edits to the title, headings, opening, coverage, links and images.
- ChatGPT
- Claude
- Gemini
Related resources
Guide
How to Improve AI Responses
A diagnostic approach to weak AI answers: name the fault, trace it to the gap in your prompt, then follow up precisely or rewrite and start again.
Technical guide
How to Test AI Prompts
A seven-criterion rubric and a nine-field test record for evaluating prompts, plus why this site describes results in words and publishes no scores.
Frequently asked questions
How many internal links should a page have?
There is no set number in Google's guidance. Link wherever a reader would benefit from the related page, and keep anchors descriptive. The prompt caps new suggestions at five per source page to keep the plan practical, and you can change that figure.
What makes good anchor text?
Text that tells the reader, and search engines, what the linked page is about in a few words. Google's starter guide recommends descriptive, reasonably concise anchors over generic ones such as 'click here'. Let wording vary naturally from page to page.
Can it find orphan pages?
Only if you paste link data from a crawler. Orphan detection means comparing the page list with the links that exist, and the model has no way to see your site's links otherwise. Without the export, the prompt says so and skips that part.
Sources and references
- SEO Starter Guide — Google Search Central
- Google Search Essentials — Google Search Central
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