The visible, clickable text in a hyperlink that provides context about the linked page's content to users and search engines.
Anchor text is the visible, clickable text in a hyperlink that describes what users can expect to find on the linked page. Search engines use anchor text as a strong ranking signal to understand the topic and relevance of the destination page, making it one of the most important elements in link-based SEO strategies.
When you click on a link that says "best coffee shops in Seattle," that phrase is the anchor text. It tells both users and search engines that the linked page likely contains information about top-rated coffee establishments in Seattle. This descriptive text helps search engines build topical associations and pass relevant authority between pages.
Why It Matters for AI SEO
AI-powered search algorithms have become increasingly sophisticated at interpreting anchor text context and detecting manipulation attempts. Google's BERT and subsequent language models can now understand the semantic relationship between anchor text and the content it points to, making natural, contextually relevant anchor text more important than ever. Modern AI systems also analyze anchor text patterns across entire link graphs to identify spam networks and unnatural linking schemes. This means that diverse, natural anchor text variations that genuinely describe the linked content perform better than repetitive, keyword-stuffed phrases that were common in earlier SEO practices.
How It Works
Effective anchor text strategy involves using descriptive phrases that accurately represent the linked page's content. For internal links, tools like Link Whisper can suggest relevant anchor text based on your content's semantic relationships. When building external links through outreach, natural anchor text might include your brand name, the page title, or contextually appropriate descriptive phrases. Best practices include varying your anchor text portfolio with a mix of exact match keywords (sparingly), partial match phrases, branded terms, and generic text like "click here" or "learn more." Tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush can analyze your existing anchor text distribution and help identify over-optimization issues or opportunities for improvement.
Common Mistakes
The biggest mistake is over-optimizing anchor text with exact-match keywords, which can trigger Google's spam detection algorithms. Many sites still use repetitive, keyword-heavy anchor text that feels unnatural and provides a poor user experience. Another common error is using vague anchor text like "click here" for important internal links, which wastes an opportunity to provide semantic context about the destination page's topic and relevance.