Fixed on this site
How many internal links should a page have? My best one had one
Google names no number. It does name a minimum, and my strongest page only just met it.
On this page
The page on my site with the most evidence behind it is a study of 50 AI-built websites. When I audited my own site on 20 September, exactly one page linked to it: the blog listing.
Every page in the main menu had 17 links pointing at it. My best evidence had one.
Before and after
This site, audited 20 September 2026
- Before
- 1 page linked to the study: the blog listing. Every page in the main menu had 17.
- After, checked 21 September
- 8 pages link to it: the Read next row on the homepage, AI Search, Method and the AI search service page, three teardowns, and the blog listing.
- What did not change
- It was always in the sitemap and always reachable. Google could find it. The problem was emphasis, not discovery.
The short answer: Google gives no number
There is no count Google asks for. What its documentation does give is a minimum, and it is lower than most people expect:
Every page you care about should have a link from at least one other page on your site.
Google Search Central, link best practices
My study passed that test. It had one. Passing the minimum was not the problem.
Why one link was still wrong
Google describes links as doing two jobs:
Google uses links as a signal when determining the relevancy of pages and to find new pages to crawl.
Google Search Central, link best practices
Finding the page was never at risk: it was in the sitemap. But the site pointed 17 times at pages like Contact and About, and once at the page that backs up what I say about AI search. The homepage, the AI Search page and the Method page all talk about AI search, and none of them linked to it.
That is my reading of what the site was signalling, not a measured effect. This site has no Search Console history yet, so I cannot show what the change did in search.
The fix: link from where it is relevant
The study is now in the Read next row on the pages that discuss AI search, and it is linked inside teardowns where it is the evidence for what they say.
The Read next link comes from one setting. When a newer piece deserves the slot, it changes in one place instead of on every page.
Which is what Google's starter guide asks of links in the first place:
Links are a great way to connect your users and search engines to other parts of your site, or relevant pages on other sites.
Google's SEO Starter Guide
Check your own site, no code needed
- Pick the three to five pages that matter most to your business: your best case study, your main service, your strongest guide.
- In Google Search Console, open Links, then Top linked pages under Internal links, and find each of those pages in the list.
- If a key page sits near the bottom while Contact and About sit at the top, that is the gap mine had.
- Without Search Console: open the pages where your key page would be relevant and press Ctrl+F to search for its name. If it is not mentioned, add a link in the body text.
What to ask your developer
- Which of our important pages are linked only from menus or listing pages, and never from inside another page's text?
- Can a featured page be set in one place and shown on every relevant page?
What this does not show
The link counts come from my own crawl of my own site. Google's count may differ.
I cannot show any change in search from this fix. The site has no Search Console history yet, and nothing here claims one.
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