# Internal linking for AI-assisted WordPress drafts

> How to add internal links to AI-assisted drafts: why models get them wrong, a short process for choosing links, anchor text, and avoiding topic overlap.

Source: https://sourcedwriter.com/blog/internal-linking-ai-assisted-wordpress-drafts/

Internal links help readers find the next useful page, and help search engines understand which pages on your site matter and how they relate. They're also one of the things AI drafts get most wrong. A model has never seen your site, so it can't know which pages exist, which one is the best on a topic, or which URLs changed last year. Here is a way to add links that reliably point somewhere real and useful.

## Why AI drafts get internal links wrong

- **Invented URLs.** Asked to "add internal links", a model will write plausible addresses like `/blog/best-practices/` that don't exist.
- **The wrong page.** Even with a list of your posts, it picks by title similarity, not by which page answers the reader's next question best.
- **Generic anchors.** "Click here", "read more" and "this article" tell neither the reader nor a search engine where the link goes.
- **Too many or too few.** Either a link in every paragraph, or none at all.

The fix is not a better prompt. Links should come from your site, and someone who knows the site should choose them.

## 1. Plan links in the brief

Before drafting, decide the two or three pages this article should send readers to:

- **Up**: the broader guide or category page this article belongs under.
- **Across**: a closely related article the reader is likely to want next.
- **Down**: a specific page that goes deeper on one point, or the page where they act (a product, service or contact page).

Put them in the brief's talking points or call to action. A draft written with them in mind will have natural places to link.

## 2. Find candidates on your own site

After the draft exists, look for more:

- Search your posts for the article's **primary phrase and its main terms**, not the full title.
- Check your category and tag pages for the topic's hub.
- Look at which of your pages already rank or get traffic for related phrases; they're worth linking to.

Only link to published pages, and open each one to confirm it says what your sentence implies.

## 3. Write anchors that describe the destination

Use anchor text that says what the reader will find, in words that fit the sentence:

| Weak | Better |
| --- | --- |
| Read more here | Compare inter-island ferry fares |
| This article | Our guide to choosing an e-bike for commuting |
| Click here for prices | See this year's prices for each plan |

Vary the wording between links to the same page, and don't stuff the anchor with keywords.

## 4. Keep the number sensible

Three to five internal links in a 1,000–1,500 word article is a reasonable default. Put the most important one early, where readers who leave after a few paragraphs still see it. Don't link the same page twice, and don't link a page to itself.

## 5. Link back from older posts

The new article needs links **in** as well as out. Find two or three existing posts on related topics and add a sentence linking to the new one. This is the step most often skipped, and it's what makes a new post discoverable from the rest of the site.

## Check for overlap before you publish

If your site already has a post on almost the same topic, a new article competes with it instead of supporting it. Before publishing, search for existing posts with similar titles and primary phrases. If you find one, either make the new article clearly different (another audience, angle or depth) and link the two, or update the old post instead.

## Where tooling helps

[AI Blog Writer with Sources](https://sourcedwriter.com/) never invents internal links: the only links it writes into a draft are citations to the article's sources. When you ask for topic ideas, it reads the titles of your recent posts and suggests topics they don't already cover, and if a new draft has the same title as an existing post, its warnings point out the possible overlap. In the editor, the sidebar's SEO suggestions list up to five related published posts, found from the brief's primary phrase and supporting terms, as candidates for step 2. Choosing and placing the links stays an editor's job, using the steps above. For checking the rest of the draft, see [how to review an AI-generated article before publishing](https://sourcedwriter.com/blog/review-ai-generated-article-before-publishing/).