Priority pages receive internal links almost only from navigation, footer, sidebar or other template regions, with few or no links from the main content of related pages. Google's reasonable surfer patent describes weighting links by how likely a user is to follow them, with footer and unrelated links as examples of unlikely followed links. Google has not confirmed using it; this check measures link placement, a proxy.
Why does priority pages linked only from boilerplate positions (reasonable surfer) matter for AI search?
Google's reasonable surfer patent describes weighting links by how likely a user is to follow them, with footer and unrelated links as examples of unlikely followed links. Google has not confirmed using it; this check measures link placement, a proxy.
How do you fix it?
Add contextual links with descriptive anchors from the body of related, well linked pages to each priority page, placed where readers will see them early.
How do you find it on your site?
- Crawl the site with link position reporting enabled (for example Screaming Frog's link position: navigation, header, footer, sidebar, content).
- Export inlinks to each priority URL and count unique source pages by link position.
- Flag priority pages where content-position inlinks are absent or a small minority of all inlinks.
- Spot check the top traffic articles on the same topic to see whether they link to the priority page in the body.
Which ranking and citation factors does it touch?
Written for the Reasonable surfer model page (evidence: Patent only). Google has not documented this system in a way a site can test directly, so this check measures a proxy for it, not the system itself.
What is the impact?
Indirect. Likely improves user navigation and may increase link weight if a placement-aware model is in use. Estimate only.
What is the evidence?
Google patent US7716225 (reasonable surfer model) and the Brin and Page PageRank paper (random surfer).
Sources
Frequently asked questions about priority pages linked only from boilerplate positions (reasonable surfer)
What does "Priority pages linked only from boilerplate positions (Reasonable surfer)" mean?
Priority pages receive internal links almost only from navigation, footer, sidebar or other template regions, with few or no links from the main content of related pages.
How do you fix priority pages linked only from boilerplate positions (Reasonable surfer)?
Add contextual links with descriptive anchors from the body of related, well linked pages to each priority page, placed where readers will see them early.