Sitelinks are additional page links that Google displays below the main homepage result when someone searches for a brand name. They typically appear as 4-8 shorter links pointing to the most important inner pages of a website, such as "About", "Pricing", "Blog", or "Contact". Sitelinks significantly expand how much space your brand occupies on the search results page and give users a faster path to the specific section they want, improving both CTR and user experience. They are one of the most visible signs that Google considers a website authoritative and well-structured.
Sitelinks are generated algorithmically by Google - you cannot manually submit or request them. Google awards them to websites that have a clear, logical site structure, strong internal linking, and high brand authority. A site with confusing navigation, orphaned pages, or poor internal linking is unlikely to earn sitelinks. They appear primarily for branded navigational queries (someone searching for your company name) rather than for generic keyword searches.
How Google Generates Sitelinks
How to Influence Your Sitelinks
While sitelinks are awarded automatically, you can improve your chances of earning and keeping them. A clear main navigation menu with well-labeled links is the most direct signal Google uses to determine which pages are most important. Breadcrumb navigation and a logical URL hierarchy reinforce site structure signals. Adding WebSite schema with a Sitelinks Searchbox markup can unlock an additional search box within your branded SERP result. Pages you want as sitelinks should receive significant internal links from across the site. Avoid noindexing important pages that you want represented as sitelinks, as Google cannot show sitelinks to pages it cannot index.