What is Internal Linking?
Internal linking is the practice of connecting pages within your store through hyperlinks. For AI crawlers, these links form the navigation paths from your homepage to deep product pages, collections, and informational content.
Why it matters
- AI crawlers follow links to discover products — pages without internal links may never be found
- Link depth signals importance: products linked from the homepage appear more authoritative
- Contextual links help AI understand relationships between products, collections, and categories
- Navigation structure gives AI agents a clear mental model of your store's organization
What to do
Ensure every product page is reachable within 3 clicks from the homepage. Add contextual links between related products, from collection pages to individual products, and from blog content to relevant product pages. Use descriptive anchor text that tells AI what the linked page contains.
Related
Internal linking works alongside your sitemap — the sitemap provides a complete inventory, while internal links show AI how your content is organized and what matters most.