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Trust Page Links

Checks for links to About, Contact, Privacy Policy, and Terms pages. These standard trust pages signal a legitimate, trustworthy site.

Why It Matters for AI Visibility

About, Contact, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Service pages are baseline trust signals that AI engines check when evaluating whether to cite a source. ChatGPT and Perplexity assess site legitimacy as part of their source selection process, and these four pages are among the most fundamental markers of a real, accountable organization. Missing trust pages make a site look like a content farm, an affiliate site, or a low-effort project. AI engines see this the same way a human would -- if a site cannot be bothered to explain who they are or how to reach them, the content is less trustworthy. A page without an About link could be written by anyone; a page linking to a detailed About page has an identifiable author or organization behind it. Google AI Overviews specifically evaluates site quality signals inherited from Google Search, and trust pages are foundational to that assessment. Privacy Policy and Terms pages also indicate legal compliance, which is a stronger signal for industries like finance, health, and e-commerce where content accuracy matters most.

How We Score It

The analyzer checks for links to exactly four trust pages: About, Contact, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Service. Each found page adds 2.5 points to the score, scaled to a 10-point maximum. Zero pages found scores 0. One page scores 3. Two pages score 5. Three pages score 8. All four pages earns a perfect 10. Detection is flexible. The analyzer matches both URL patterns (the path containing /about, /contact, /privacy, or /terms) and link text (matching phrases like "About Us," "Contact," "Privacy Policy," or "Terms of Service"). Links anywhere on the page count -- header navigation, footer, sidebar, or body content. Only the analyzed page is checked, so trust page links must be present on the specific page being scored.

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How to Improve

1
Add all four trust pages to your site footer
Place About, Contact, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Service links in your footer navigation so they appear on every page. Footer links are the most common location for trust pages and are reliably detected by the analyzer.
2
Use standard link text the analyzer recognizes
Use "About" or "About Us," "Contact" or "Contact Us," "Privacy Policy," and "Terms of Service" or "Terms of Use." Creative alternatives like "Our Story," "Get in Touch," or "Legal Stuff" may not be detected by the text matching patterns.
3
Use standard URL paths for trust pages
Structure your URLs as /about, /contact, /privacy, and /terms. The analyzer matches these path segments in link URLs. A page at /our-story or /get-in-touch will not match the expected URL patterns unless the link text also matches.
4
Ensure trust pages are linked from every analyzed page
The analyzer only detects links on the page being scored. If your trust page links exist only on your homepage or About page, they will not be found when analyzing other pages. Site-wide footer links solve this problem completely.

Before & After

Before

<footer>
  <p>Copyright 2025 Acme Inc.</p>
</footer>

After

<footer>
  <nav>
    <a href="/about">About Us</a>
    <a href="/contact">Contact</a>
    <a href="/privacy">Privacy Policy</a>
    <a href="/terms">Terms of Service</a>
  </nav>
  <p>Copyright 2025 Acme Inc.</p>
</footer>

Code Examples

Footer with all four trust page links

<footer>
  <nav aria-label="Legal">
    <a href="/about">About Us</a>
    <a href="/contact">Contact</a>
    <a href="/privacy">Privacy Policy</a>
    <a href="/terms">Terms of Service</a>
  </nav>
</footer>

Frequently Asked Questions

Do the trust pages need to be on the same domain?

The analyzer checks all links on the page, including external ones. However, trust pages hosted on your own domain carry more weight for site-level authority. A Privacy Policy at /privacy is stronger than a link to a third-party policy generator.

What if my About page is called "Our Story" with a URL like /our-story?

The analyzer checks for "/about" in the URL and "about" in the link text. A page at /our-story with link text "Our Story" would not be detected. Either rename the URL to include /about or change the link text to "About Us" to ensure detection.

Do I really need a Terms of Service page?

Each trust page contributes 2.5 points. Missing Terms drops your score from 10 to 8. For a perfect score, include all four. Beyond scoring, Terms pages are legally important for many business types and signal professional legitimacy to both AI engines and visitors.

Related Factors

Schema

Organization Schema

Brand

Brand Name Consistency

Authority

Author Identification

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