Entity Linking: The Decision Tree for Every Link in Every...

The subject determines the right link destination.

Help readers find the right person, business, or guide. Use these steps to choose links that answer their next question. This builds your SEO Tree: a map that joins each story to its main guide and your business.

This guide is part of Link Building Guidelines. Next, explore Article guidelines (how we write, and how your agent should).

Where this task fits in the Content Factory

This task belongs in Post. Its inputs come from the linked work below; its checked result becomes the next worker’s starting point.

1. ProduceCapture real work

2. ProcessTurn sources into useful assets

THIS TASK3. PostPublish and connect approved assets

4. PromoteShare proven work and measure results

Follow the numbered stages from Produce to Promote. Each stage links to its part of the Content Factory guide.

Start, finish, and next step

Start when

An article names a person, business, tool, or concept and needs the right first-mention link.

Have ready

Article being edited
Verified entity home or maintained owned explanation
Actual proof and sign-in/download destinations when needed

Follow the steps

Classify the entity
Choose its verified home or owned explanation
Keep direct proof and required-action links where they serve that purpose
Check first-mention placement and the destination

Use the detailed instructions in this article for each step.

Finish with

Contextual entity links that identify the right entity and connect explanations to the owned training.

Measure the result

Person and company destinations identify the intended entity
Concept explanations point to the maintained owner
External evidence or working-action links keep their real purpose
Missing owned explainers remain recorded gaps

Hand off next

Give the page owner the checked draft and a link log: source page, exact mention, purpose, destination, check date, result, and open gaps. The next worker checks the placed links using that saved/public change log. Keep draft-only checks distinct from checks after an authorized release.

After all other Process checks pass; save as draft at this step: step 12 post article on wordpress

Reference material for the inputs

Open this article’s tasks in the Task Library (our directory of tasks and recipes; see current Task Library). The library connects the current recipe, its smaller tasks, and the records of work performed.

Close the learning loop. Write a meta article: the record of this execution with the starting state, recipe version, result, checks, failures, and next owner. Link it back to this recipe and register the run under the same Task Library task. Reuse one execution ID for revisions and retries. A partial or failed run stays labeled that way. Public release follows the recorded publication authority; writing the run record is part of doing the task. Writing and revising that record belong to the original execution; they do not start another meta-article task. Use the findings to propose and verify a recipe improvement. See how recipes and execution records work together.

Canonical reference: the definitive outbound-link rule lives at Link Building Guidelines. This page provides supporting detail; if anything here conflicts with the canonical page, follow the canonical page.

What is entity linking?

An entity is a named person, business, tool, or idea. Entity linking means choosing a useful page for that name in the sentence you are writing. LSS uses this recipe to connect readers to the right subject and keep each topic tied to one maintained guide. It applies the parent Link Building Guidelines above; it does not replace them.

Check current relationship scope in the authorized private source before linking a person or business. Keep that check private. In public articles, describe the work or example without labeling a named client “former,” “inactive,” or “no longer a client.” Do not guess a relationship from an old article or a working website.

Choose the destination

Does the name identify a person or business?

For a person in the verified network, use their verified personal website. For a network business, use its verified official site. Read the target to confirm identity; a domain that resembles a name is not proof. For example, the site owner’s personal home is Dennis Yu’s website. Do not swap a personal home for a social profile merely because that profile appears first in search.

For a name outside that scope, use a useful maintained page of our own about the subject, if one exists. Otherwise leave the name as plain text and record the gap. An example can remain useful without linking to that business.

Does it explain a method, tool, or key idea?

Explain an unfamiliar term in a short phrase, then link its first useful body mention to our maintained guide. This includes LSS methods and outside tools. A definitive article is the main task guide; related stories support that guide. Do not send the reader to a provider’s help article when our own useful explanation exists.

If no owned guide exists, first search the maintained library for the same topic under another name. Record what readers need to learn. Expand an existing guide when it can answer that question. Propose a separate article only when there is enough useful material for a distinct task or substantial explanation. Do not create a thin page just to fill a link slot.

Does the reader need exact proof or an action?

Keep the specific primary source that supports the nearby claim. A study should link to that study; a court finding should link to the order or docket entry that contains it. A broad homepage or unrelated rules index does not supply that proof.

Keep a necessary sign-in, installation, or download link pointed at the actual action. Label it by that action. An owned explanation, a source citation, and a sign-in button serve different needs; replacing one with another can break the task.

Apply and check the links

When work begins, open the work record with one execution ID, the guide version, and the starting inputs. Update that same record as you work.

Read the whole draft. List its names and unfamiliar terms with the surrounding sentence. Mark each mention as identity, explanation, proof, or action. A single URL may serve different jobs in different sentences.
Choose and read each target. Use the decision tree above. Resolve redirects, check the final page, and check any linked section. Record an uncertain identity, blocked destination, or missing guide instead of guessing.
Add a natural link. Use the real name or a short phrase that tells the reader what to expect. Link the first useful body mention. If a term first appears in a heading, explain and link it in the following prose. Do not repeat links just to repeat keywords.
Save through the supported editor. Keep unrelated text, media, and page addresses intact. Reopen the saved draft or preview. After an authorized public release, check the ordinary public page too. A successful save or an HTTP 200 response alone does not prove the destination fits the sentence.
Measure and hand off. For every scoped mention, record its purpose, exact target, check date, and pass or unresolved result. Give the checked draft and open issues to the next link reviewer named above. Log the real attempt once; the Content Factory section explains its record and next task.

A small teaching example

Fictional example; no client outcome is claimed. A bike shop writes a guide about turning a recorded repair into a useful article. Its first mention of a video editor links to the shop’s maintained editor guide. The “Download the editor” step points to the real download. A claim about supported file types cites the provider’s exact format specification. These links answer three different questions.

What this does for search

Google’s link guidance says links help it discover pages and understand their relevance. It recommends concise, descriptive link text and useful links between related pages. Our SEO Tree puts those ideas into a maintained content map.

The LSS decision tree is our editorial rule. It is not a promise that each link raises rankings, proves a partnership, or creates a Knowledge Panel. Judge this task by whether readers reach the intended subject and next step. Search performance needs separate measurement.

Keep the topic connected

The Article Guidelines set the writing standard. This recipe supplies the destination choices; the Website QA Audit checks the published site. Together they help the next worker use and verify the links. Keep missing guides and unresolved targets in the task’s existing handoff record.

Use this task with an agent

Give your AI worker the task file below, your draft, the verified topic map, and the edits it may make. The file supplies instructions. It does not grant account access or create a schedule. Start with one draft and check the saved result.

Open the maintained task file. Save it as follow-entity-linking-decision-tree.md, or copy the complete file below. The installation guide explains reusable setup.

Read or copy the complete task file

---
name: follow-entity-linking-decision-tree
description: "Help readers reach the right person, business or guide."
category: SEO & Content Architecture
stage: —
definitive_article: https://blitzmetrics.com/entity-linking/
status: complete
---

# Follow entity linking decision tree

Help readers find the right person, business, or guide. Use these steps to choose links that answer their next question. This builds your [SEO Tree](https://blitzmetrics.com/seo-tree/): a map that joins each story to its main guide and your business.

**The path:** Named subject → Identity and page-role check → Useful destination → In-context review

**Start when:** A draft or existing page needs its first useful named-person, company, tool and concept links checked.

## Inputs

- The exact current draft/source, actual named subjects and supporting evidence.
- [Inventory pages and their purpose](https://local-service-spotlight.github.io/task-library/?task=step-1-inventory-content-and-establish-gct-per-page#task-step-1-inventory-content-and-establish-gct-per-page) or the maintained guide directory, verified personal/company homes and current relationship scope from the authorized private source. Keep that check private: public examples describe the work, without calling a named client “former,” “inactive,” or “no longer a client.”
- The [entity linking, choosing the right home for a named person or topic](https://blitzmetrics.com/entity-linking/) method and necessary direct source, sign-in, install or download destinations used by the task.

## Steps

1. Read the actual sentences and list the names and unfamiliar terms they contain. Record whether each item means a person, an organization, a method, a tool or a particular piece of evidence. Resolve ambiguous names before linking; a matching title in search is not identity proof.
2. For a person or business in the verified network, use their verified personal home or official business site. Send names outside that scope through step 3. Check that the page describes the same entity and current relationship. Do not use a look-alike name, obsolete affiliate destination or unrelated profile merely because it opens.
3. For an LSS method, choose the maintained owned explanation. For an outside person, business, tool, concept or well-known entity in explanatory copy, use our current guide when one exists. If no relevant owned guide exists, leave the name plain and record the actual knowledge gap instead of linking to a weak substitute. Search for an existing guide first; improve it if it can answer the question. Propose a new guide only for a distinct task or substantial explanation, never just to fill a link slot.
4. Keep direct primary evidence and required action links when the step needs that destination. Label a research source, account sign-in or download by its real purpose; these are different from the first explanation of the tool. Do not retarget a source citation or login button to our general article.
5. Explain unfamiliar language on its first useful body mention in plain words, linked to the owned guide. Keep headings short and meaningful; if the term first occurs in a heading, give its explanation in the next suitable prose. Do not expand every repeated mention or repeatedly link the same entity.
6. Use the actual name or a concise phrase that predicts the destination. Three to six descriptive words is the house preference where natural, not a requirement to pad a two-word person’s name. Read the surrounding sentence after the edit to ensure the meaning and claim remain true.
7. Open the targets and inspect the final body links, preserving existing media, IDs and source ownership. Record unresolved identity, missing-guide and inaccessible-source cases separately. Record source page, exact mention, purpose, destination, check date, result and open gap. Pass the exact link log and remaining decisions to the page owner; a link is not proof of an endorsement or completed task.

## Definition of done (QA checklist)

Quality assurance (QA) means checking the actual result against its agreed requirements. Follow the [Article Guidelines](https://localservicespotlight.com/article-guidelines/).

- [ ] Each destination matches the named entity and the sentence’s purpose.
- [ ] Owned explanations, primary proof and necessary action links retain their distinct jobs.
- [ ] First-mention explanations are clear and limited; headings, existing claims and actual names remain accurate.
- [ ] The exact output, source revision, reviewer evidence and remaining owner action are saved.
- [ ] For any reader-facing output, the short grade-five opening states the reader’s useful outcome and supporting method or proof. The body delivers that promise; a useful authentic visual appears in the first screen. Retain exact text and quoted reviewer evidence.

## Example(s)

**Fictional teaching example. This is not a client result or proof of a completed run.**

A fictional article explains an app, cites that app’s official format specification and asks the reader to sign in. Its first explanation links to the site’s maintained app guide. The specification stays a clearly labeled primary citation, and the sign-in link stays the actual action destination. None of those three links is substituted for another.

## Handoff and Content Factory context

[Check the placed links](https://local-service-spotlight.github.io/task-library/?task=step-5-qa-links-against-google-guidelines#task-step-5-qa-links-against-google-guidelines) receives the checked links and unresolved cases. The content owner receives a specific missing-guide request only where no useful owned explanation exists.

This task supports the [Content Factory: Produce, Process, Post and Promote](https://blitzmetrics.com/content-factory/). Identity, proof, access or coordination can support several stages. Use the real inputs and receiving owner above; this task does not create unrelated transcripts, clips or ads merely because the diagram has four stages.

## Start with an agent

Give the [AI worker](https://blitzmetrics.com/build-agents/) this recipe, the real inputs, desired result and actions already authorized. Ask for the saved output, sources, checks and next owner. A [skill is a written recipe](https://localservicespotlight.com/plugin/); loading one does not prove account access or perform the task. Use the [installation guide](https://localservicespotlight.com/install/) if reusable setup is needed. A ZIP is a source snapshot, not an access grant or automatic update.

Use the app’s actual supported tools and verified file/account access. Keep a missing human verification step with its real owner. Recurring work needs its own configured job, trigger, timezone and observed result; this guide creates no schedule. Before any media playback, mute the player and set its volume to zero. If silence cannot be verified first, use captions, frames, metadata or another silent check.

## Record the real execution

Open the run record when work begins. Keep one execution ID, starting recipe revision, real inputs and current state. Write the [meta article, the record of this execution](https://blitzmetrics.com/meta-article-prompt/) with actual steps, results, checks, failures and next owner. Writing is required; public release follows existing authority. Link it to this recipe and the [Task Library](https://local-service-spotlight.github.io/task-library/).

Reuse the same execution ID for internal checks, revisions, retries and meta writing. A blocked run stays open with its dependency and owner, without an invented finish time. Dated public examples and distinct verified execution counts remain separate. Propose the smallest source-backed recipe improvement when the actual evidence reveals a defect.

## Definitive article & links

- [Maintained source guide](https://blitzmetrics.com/entity-linking/)
- [This task in the Task Library](https://local-service-spotlight.github.io/task-library/?task=follow-entity-linking-decision-tree#task-follow-entity-linking-decision-tree)
- [Article Guidelines](https://localservicespotlight.com/article-guidelines/)
- [Definitive article and task recipe standard](https://blitzmetrics.com/definitive-article-guide/)
- [How recipes and run records fit together](https://localservicespotlight.com/meta-articles/)

### Primary method references

- [Google’s descriptive link guidance](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/links-crawlable)

## Review and evidence still needed

The inherited contributor status is `complete`. It is preserved, not promoted by this rewrite. That label alone does not prove document readiness, account access, an actual execution or a client result.

The fictional example teaches the method and does not fill a real-run evidence gap. A named semantic reviewer must check the actual opening, full method, sources and handoff. Check the useful opening visual in the normal rendered guide at the current required desktop and mobile sizes, including 1280 × 800 and 390 × 844. Source readability checks do not prove public presentation or task execution.

Originally published March 20, 2026.

Entity Linking: Choose the Right Page