Most people still think of a link as a few blue, underlined words. Put your keyword in those words, the thinking goes, and Google will reward the page on the other side. That idea worked well enough in 2008. It does not hold up today.
Anchor text still matters, and Google has said so plainly. But it is only one part of how Google understands a link. The sentence the link sits in, the paragraph around it, where it appears on the page, and the pattern of links across your whole site all shape what Google takes away. Think of anchor text as the headline. The words around it are the story.
At tsh.media, we see this play out in almost every website audit we run. Pages linked with “perfect” keyword anchors often stall, while pages linked inside plain, helpful sentences climb steadily. When a business comes to an SEO company in India to fix falling rankings, the problem is often hiding in how its links are written, not in how many it has.
This guide explains, in simple words, how Google reads anchor text and the text around it, what a natural linking pattern looks like, and how to write links that help readers, rankings, and AI Overviews at the same time.
What Is Anchor Text? A Quick Refresher
Anchor text is the clickable text in a hyperlink. When you see “read our pricing guide” underlined on a page, those four words are the anchor text. Search engines use them as a clue about what the linked page covers.
The common types of anchor text
- Branded: your business name, such as “tsh.media”.
- Naked URL: the web address itself, such as https://tsh.media/.
- Exact match: only the target keyword, such as “anchor text”.
- Partial match: the keyword inside a longer phrase, such as “a beginner’s guide to anchor text”.
- Generic: words like “click here”, “read more” or “this article”.
- Descriptive: a natural phrase that tells the reader what they will find, such as “how we cut a client’s bounce rate in half”.
None of these types is good or bad on its own. Trouble starts when one type takes over, or when the anchor says one thing and the sentence around it says another.
Why Google Started Looking Beyond Anchor Text
When Google launched, anchor text was one of its smartest ideas. If hundreds of people linked to a page using the words “best running shoes”, that page was probably about running shoes. Other people’s words became a vote about what a page deserved to rank for.
Marketers noticed quickly. Soon, sites were buying thousands of links that all used the same money keyword. Google answered with years of updates, and today it relies on an AI-based spam system called SpamBrain to spot manipulation.
The big shift is this: Google no longer judges one link at a time. It looks at the pattern. One anchor sends a small signal. A thousand anchors pointing at the same page send a very loud one. If that pattern looks like a campaign rather than real people recommending you, the links lose their value, and sometimes your rankings go with them.
How Google Reads the Words Around Your Links
So what does Google actually look at when it meets a link? Here is the simple version.
1. The surrounding sentence adds meaning
Most web pages cover several smaller topics. Picture a blog on digital marketing for restaurants. It has one section on Instagram Reels, one on Google Business Profile and one on online menus.
A link inside the Google Business Profile section, pointing to a local SEO guide, gets its meaning from that section. It has little to do with Reels or menus. The nearby words tell Google, and the reader, why the link is there. That is why a link sitting in a relevant, well-written paragraph is far more useful than the same link dropped into an unrelated one.
2. Where the link sits on the page
Google has a patent, often called the “Reasonable Surfer” model, which suggests that links people are more likely to click carry more weight. Position, prominence and the surrounding copy all play a part. A link inside the opening paragraphs of a useful article is worth more than the same link buried in a footer or a crowded sidebar.
3. The pattern across all your links
Finally, Google zooms out. It looks at the mix of anchors pointing to a page, whether the linking sites are on a related topic, how those sites have behaved in the past, and whether the whole picture looks like natural recommendations or a planned push.
What this means for you
Write every link so that a reader knows what they will get before they click. If the sentence makes sense to a person, it will usually make sense to Google too.
Internal Links vs External Links: Different Rules Apply
Not every link is judged the same way. How you write anchor text depends on who controls the link and where it points.
Internal links: be clear and descriptive
Internal links connect one page of your website to another. Google’s advice here is refreshingly simple. Internal links give Google a signal of context: they tell it that a certain part of your site covers a certain topic. The anchor should name that topic. He also pointed out that what helps users and what helps SEO overlap almost completely here.
Because you control these links, Google reads them as part of your site’s structure. That means internal anchors can be more keyword-rich than backlinks without looking suspicious. There is one catch. If one page links to the same target ten times with the same words, it starts to read like keyword stuffing. A good working rule is no more than two or three links from one page to the same target, each worded differently. If a page needs more support, link to it from more pages, not more often from one.
Outbound links: tell readers why the click is worth it
Explain why someone should click and what extra information they will find. “This study” tells the reader very little. “A 2024 survey of 1,000 Indian shoppers on mobile buying habits” tells them exactly what is waiting.
Inbound links: mostly out of your hands
Backlinks from other websites are a different story. The whole point of a natural link is that someone chose to give it, in their own words, without asking you. So you rarely control the anchor text. If you find yourself dictating the exact anchor for every backlink, that is usually a sign the links are not as natural as they should be.
What a Natural Anchor Text Profile Looks Like
Your anchor text profile is simply the mix of all the anchors pointing to your site. SEO practitioners who study large sets of backlink data report a fairly consistent shape for healthy, editorially earned profiles.
Roughly, brand names and plain URLs make up half or more of all links. Partial-match and generic anchors fill most of the rest. Exact-match keyword anchors are a small slice, usually in single digits. Practitioners commonly treat exact-match anchors above about five percent as a warning sign, and above ten percent as a pattern Google has likely noticed.
Two honest caveats. First, these are observed patterns, not official Google limits, and they vary by industry and site age. Second, not everyone agrees on ratios at all. Some long-time SEO writers argue that chasing anchor percentages misses the point, since natural links are never planned in the first place. Our view at tsh.media sits in the middle: use the ranges as a health check, never as a target to hit.
The number of different websites linking to you matters just as much. A hundred links from a hundred sites, each worded a little differently, looks like genuine word of mouth. A hundred links from ten sites using near-identical anchors looks like a network, even if the percentages seem safe.
5 Anchor Text Patterns That Raise Red Flags
Most problem profiles fall into a handful of familiar patterns. If you spot two or more of these on your site, it is time for a closer look.
1. The keyword monoculture
One commercial phrase makes up a big chunk of your backlinks. It looks like a campaign because it usually is one. The fix is to stop building those anchors and let branded and descriptive links take over for a few months.
2. Footer-link spam
The same keyword-rich link appears in the footer of a partner or directory site, repeated across thousands of pages. Each link is weak, but the pattern is obvious. Ask for removal at the source wherever you can.
3. The press-release echo
One announcement is copied across dozens of low-quality news sites with the same anchor in the same spot. Real coverage never looks this uniform. In press releases, link with your brand name or URL only.
4. The guest-post template
The same author places the same exact-match link in post after post on similar sites. Author, sites and anchors together form a clear fingerprint.
5. Network linking
A group of sister websites all link to the main site using matching keyword anchors. Even when the network is legitimate, this looks like a private blog network. Use brand names and URLs for links between sites you own.
Spotted two or more of these patterns? Our team can review your backlinks and internal links. Talk to tsh.media.
How to Audit Your Anchor Text in About 90 Minutes
You don’t need expensive software to check your links. Google Search Console’s free Links report is a good start, and most SEO tools offer a fuller export.
- Export your backlinks. Keep followed links from indexed pages only.
- Group them by anchor text. Count how many different websites use each anchor, not just the total number of links. One site with 500 footer links shouldn’t skew the picture.
- Read the top 50 anchors. A healthy list looks a bit messy: brand variations, URLs, generic phrases and a few keyword anchors. If a handful of sales keywords sit at the top, you have a monoculture.
- Repeat for your most important pages. A site can look healthy overall while its main service page is heavily over-optimised.
- Trace the source. If a risky anchor comes from a cluster of weak sites you never earned links from, stop that source before anything else.
- Write down the percentages. Branded, URL, generic, partial and exact. Check again every quarter. The trend tells you more than any single snapshot.
For internal links, crawl your own site and look for pages that link to the same target over and over with the same words. If you would rather have specialists handle this, our SEO Services in India include a full link and anchor text review, with a clear fix list for your team.
Should you use Google’s disavow tool?
For most websites, no. Google already ignores most low-quality links on its own, and Mueller has described disavow as a tool to use when needed, not something everyone must do. It earns its place in three cases: a manual action for unnatural links, a known history of paid or spammy link building, or a large, focused spam attack on your site. Outside those, disavowing can remove links Google was quietly counting in your favour.
How to Write Links That Help You Rank in Google and AI Overviews
Here is the practical part. Use this checklist every time you add a link to a blog post or service page.
1. Write for the reader first
Read the sentence out loud. Does the link make sense? Would you click it? If the answer is no, rewrite the sentence, not just the anchor.
2. Let the sentence carry the context
The words around a link should explain why it is there. Mention the topic, the problem it solves or the result the reader can expect. This is the context Google picks up beyond the anchor itself.
3. Keep anchors short but specific
Two to six words is a comfortable range. “Click here” says nothing. A whole sentence turned into a link says too much. “Our local SEO checklist for clinics” is just right.
4. Vary your wording
When several pages link to the same target, change the phrasing. Use the keyword in some links, a descriptive phrase in others and the page title in a few. Variety looks natural because it is natural.
5. Forget “LSI keywords”
You may have heard that you should stuff links with “LSI keywords”. Google has no such concept. Focus on clear, plain language instead.
Why this helps with AI Overviews and AI search
AI Overviews and tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity pull short, self-contained passages from web pages to build their answers. A link wrapped in a clear sentence that names a topic, a problem and an outcome is exactly the kind of passage these systems can understand and quote. Good link context also connects related pages on your site, which helps search systems see your brand as a real authority on a subject.
A quick before-and-after
Before: For more SEO tips, click here.
After: If your service pages aren’t getting found, our guide on writing meta descriptions that earn clicks walks through ten real examples from Indian service businesses.
The second version tells Google and the reader exactly what the linked page covers, who it is for and why it is worth the click.
Final Thoughts: Links Are Sentences, Not Shortcuts
Anchor text is still Google’s strongest clue about a link. But Google now reads that clue the way a careful human would: alongside the sentence around it, where it sits on the page and the pattern across your whole site. The sites that win are not the ones that squeeze keywords into every link. They are the ones that link like good editors.
So write links that help people. Be descriptive inside your own site, give context when you link out, and let other websites describe you in their own words. Do that consistently, and a natural anchor profile follows on its own.
If you want a second pair of eyes on your links, content, or rankings, the tsh.media team can help. As a Local SEO Company in Mumbai working with startups, SMEs, and established brands, we audit, fix, and build search visibility that lasts on Google and in AI answers.
Ready to find out what your links are really telling Google? Book a free SEO audit with tsh.media today.
FAQs
1. What is the anchor text of a link?
Anchor text is the clickable text in a hyperlink. Google uses it as a clue about what the linked page covers, so clear, descriptive anchor text helps both readers and search engines understand where a link leads.
2. Does Google read the words around a link?
Yes. Anchor text is the main clue, but Google also considers the surrounding sentence, where the link sits on the page and the overall pattern of links. Nearby words add context that the anchor alone cannot.
3. What are the different types of anchor text?
The main types of anchor text are branded, naked URL, exact match, partial match, generic and descriptive. A healthy website uses a natural mix, with branded and descriptive anchors appearing far more often than exact-match keywords.
4. What is the best anchor text for internal links?
Use short, descriptive words that name the topic of the page you are linking to. Vary the wording across pages, and avoid linking to the same page more than two or three times from one page.
5. Does anchor text affect visibility in AI Overviews?
Indirectly, yes. AI Overviews pull clear, self-contained passages. Links placed inside well-written sentences that name a topic and outcome make your content easier to understand, connect and quote in AI-generated answers.
