Contextual Internal Links is layer 3 of the Entity Architecture and Governance Framework (EP-9). It requires three to five contextual internal links in related articles, using the exact entity name as anchor text. It is mandatory, with a minimum of three links.
What layer 3 covers
Layer 3 covers how the rest of a site points to an entity page. EP-9 requires three to five contextual internal links from related articles, each placed inside a sentence that explains the entity and each using the entity name as its anchor text. Fewer than three links fails the layer.
Internal links tell a crawler how pages relate. When several pages link to the same URL with the same name, the signal about that entity collects in one place instead of being spread across near-duplicates.
Anchor text that names the entity
Anchor text that names the entity is what turns a link into an identity signal. Checkpoint CHK-EP-05 requires the anchor to match the target entity name and rules out generic labels such as "click here". Google's own link guidance also recommends descriptive anchor text that tells the reader what the target page is about.
A generic anchor still passes a crawler to the page, but it says nothing about what the page is. Across a whole site, that is the difference between an entity with a name and a URL with visits.
Where the links should come from
The links should come from cluster articles that discuss the entity in context: a guide that uses the method, a problem page that the method solves, a case that proves it. The fourth checkpoint looks for links in these cluster articles specifically, not in menus or footers.
Contextual placement matters because the surrounding sentence is part of the signal. A link inside an explanation of the entity carries its meaning; the same link in a list of unrelated navigation items does not.
Why must the anchor text be the entity name?
The anchor text must be the entity name because the anchor tells readers and crawlers what the linked page is about. Checkpoint CHK-EP-05 asks the anchor to match the target entity name, which reinforces the canonical name set in layer 1.
Checkpoints for layer 3
The checkpoints for layer 3 count the contextual internal links that point to each entity page and review their anchor text. A crawler such as Screaming Frog lists every inbound link and its anchor. They are taken from the 15-point EP-9 technical audit checklist and keep their original identifiers, so an audit report can cite each one directly.
| Checklist ID | Audit layer | Mandatory verification requirement | Tool and method |
|---|---|---|---|
| CHK-EP-04 | L3 Linking | At least 3 contextual internal links in cluster articles point to Entity Page. | Screaming Frog |
| CHK-EP-05 | L3 Anchor Text | Anchor text matches target entity name (no generic 'click here'). | Internal Link Audit |
Count only links from related articles. Links from navigation, footers and tag pages exist on every page and do not show that any particular article discusses the entity.