Document 04

IF / ELSE / AND / OR SEO Rulebook

144-rule human-readable decision library

Purpose

This rulebook converts SEO judgment into explicit, auditable decisions. It contains 144 rules in twelve domains. The machine-readable version is in rules/seo-laka-rules.yaml.

Operator semantics

IF       begins a condition.
THEN     specifies the action when the condition is true.
ELSE     specifies the valid fallback when the condition is false.
AND      requires every connected condition.
OR       permits one or more valid alternatives.
NOT      excludes a state or candidate.
XOR      requires exactly one choice.
BEFORE   establishes dependency order.
UNTIL    establishes a bounded feedback loop.
AT_LEAST sets a minimum.
EXACTLY_ONE assigns unique ownership or a single decision.

Rule execution order

Rules may conflict. Resolve them in this order:

1. Safety, law, privacy, and policy
2. User value and factual accuracy
3. Technical eligibility and canonical correctness
4. Business value and constraints
5. Intent fit and information quality
6. Measurement and learning
7. Efficiency and scale
8. Cosmetic optimization

Hard-gate pattern

IF all mandatory conditions pass
THEN execute or advance the candidate
ELSE route to research, consolidation, repair, deferral, or rejection

Rules

1. Business Value

BIZ-001 — Define value before volume

Operators: IF · THEN · ELSE · AND

LAKA level(s): Baseline

Primary metric: measurement completeness

Guardrail: Do not substitute sessions or ranking counts for value.

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF the program has no defined qualified business event
THEN define the event, qualification rule, owner, and estimated contribution value before optimizing traffic
ELSE use the existing qualified event as the primary business outcome

BIZ-002 — Traffic is diagnostic, not the north star

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Baseline, Major

Primary metric: incremental organic contribution margin

Guardrail: lead quality, sales capacity, refund rate

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF organic traffic increases AND qualified conversions or margin do not
THEN diagnose intent quality, audience fit, next-action continuity, and attribution
ELSE continue scaling only while downstream value and guardrails remain healthy

BIZ-003 — Separate forecasts from actuals

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Baseline

Primary metric: forecast error

Guardrail: confidence interval, source age

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF search volume, CTR, conversion, or revenue is estimated
THEN label the output as a forecast and record every assumption
ELSE use observed query, conversion, revenue, and margin data

BIZ-004 — Respect fulfillment capacity

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Structural

Primary metric: contribution margin per capacity unit

Guardrail: response time, customer satisfaction

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF expected qualified demand exceeds delivery or sales capacity
THEN prioritize higher-margin, higher-fit clusters OR increase capacity before expanding volume
ELSE optimize for profitable demand growth

BIZ-005 — Model offers separately

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Structural

Primary metric: value by offer

Guardrail: cross-offer cannibalization

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF different offers have materially different audiences, margins, sales cycles, or qualification rules
THEN assign separate value models and cluster portfolios
ELSE a shared model may be used with explicit segment dimensions

BIZ-006 — Count assisted value carefully

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Baseline, Major

Primary metric: assisted contribution value

Guardrail: double counting

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF an informational asset rarely receives last-click conversions but appears in qualified journeys
THEN measure assisted progression, returning users, branded demand, and controlled lift
ELSE judge the asset on direct value and task completion

BIZ-007 — Split branded and non-branded demand

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Baseline

Primary metric: value-weighted non-brand clicks

Guardrail: brand campaign effects

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF brand familiarity materially changes intent, CTR, or conversion
THEN report branded and non-branded performance separately
ELSE aggregate only for top-level totals

BIZ-008 — Include retention and expansion

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Major

Primary metric: organic-assisted retained margin

Guardrail: support deflection quality, churn

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF organic search serves existing customers, support, renewal, or repeat purchase tasks
THEN assign retention events and lifetime-value effects
ELSE use acquisition outcomes for new-user clusters

BIZ-009 — Raise evidence thresholds for high stakes

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE · AND

LAKA level(s): Major, Structural

Primary metric: verified task success

Guardrail: harm, complaint, correction rate

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF the topic can materially affect health, money, safety, legal rights, or major decisions
THEN require qualified review, primary sources, explicit limitations, and stronger maintenance
ELSE apply the normal evidence standard

BIZ-010 — Resolve competing goals explicitly

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Baseline

Primary metric: objective clarity

Guardrail: unintended metric trade-offs

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF traffic, lead quality, margin, brand, retention, and learning objectives conflict
THEN name one primary objective and classify the others as constraints or secondary outcomes
ELSE use the single aligned objective

BIZ-011 — Allocate by marginal value

Operators: IF · THEN · ELSE · AND

LAKA level(s): Baseline, Structural

Primary metric: realized value per implementation hour

Guardrail: portfolio concentration risk

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF multiple valid initiatives compete for limited resources
THEN rank them by expected incremental value divided by effort, risk, maintenance, and time to learning
ELSE execute the only valid initiative

BIZ-012 — Use economic stop rules

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Baseline, Paradigm

Primary metric: net incremental value

Guardrail: sunk-cost bias

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF expected remaining incremental value is below expected cost OR risk exceeds tolerance
THEN stop, defer, retire, or redesign the initiative
ELSE continue to the next defined review point

2. Audience and Journey

AUD-001 — Require an audience-task pair

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Baseline

Primary metric: classified-demand share

Guardrail: forced persona assumptions

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a candidate query cannot be mapped to a plausible audience and task
THEN classify it as uncertain and gather evidence
ELSE attach the audience, condition, task, and journey state

AUD-002 — Treat funnel modifiers as heuristics

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Baseline

Primary metric: intent-classification accuracy

Guardrail: stage stereotyping

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a word such as how, best, review, price, or buy suggests a journey stage
THEN use it as a hypothesis and verify the actual task and result set
ELSE infer stage from the full query, context, and behavior

AUD-003 — Model the funnel as a graph

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Structural

Primary metric: state-transition rate

Guardrail: attribution inflation

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF journey analysis assumes every user enters at awareness and moves linearly
THEN allow entry, exit, return, skip, and backward transitions
ELSE retain observed journey paths

AUD-004 — Use adjacent next actions

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Minor, Major

Primary metric: next-state transition rate

Guardrail: bounce, complaint, unsubscribe

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF the proposed CTA requires substantially more trust or commitment than the current task supports
THEN offer an adjacent useful action OR add the proof needed to justify the transition
ELSE measure the direct transition

AUD-005 — Split materially different audience needs

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Major, Structural

Primary metric: qualified conversion by segment

Guardrail: duplication, maintenance

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF two audience segments require different evidence, terminology, constraints, or offers
THEN create distinct sections, experiences, or canonical assets based on task compatibility
ELSE serve them in one asset

AUD-006 — Include accessibility conditions

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE · AND

LAKA level(s): Major, Structural

Primary metric: task completion by accessibility condition

Guardrail: keyboard traps, missing alternatives

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF the task depends on visual, motor, auditory, cognitive, or assistive-technology access
THEN design the format, navigation, media, and controls for those conditions
ELSE apply baseline accessible design to all assets

AUD-007 — Require real local distinctness

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Structural

Primary metric: qualified local conversions

Guardrail: doorway-page risk, inaccurate claims

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a geography modifier is proposed as a separate page
THEN require actual service eligibility, local evidence, local differences, and maintainable data
ELSE consolidate into a broader service-area asset

AUD-008 — Localize, do not merely translate

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Major, Structural

Primary metric: correct-locale conversion

Guardrail: translation quality, hreflang errors

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF language or country versions differ in terminology, regulation, inventory, currency, or user expectations
THEN localize content and targeting signals
ELSE use a shared translation only where the task and facts truly remain equivalent

AUD-009 — Account for device context

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Minor, Major

Primary metric: task completion by device

Guardrail: content parity

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF device changes task conditions or interface needs
THEN adapt layout, media, interaction, and next action while preserving canonical meaning
ELSE use the common responsive experience

AUD-010 — Match evidence to urgency

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Major

Primary metric: time to task completion

Guardrail: misleading urgency

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF the user has high urgency or high perceived risk
THEN front-load direct answers, scope, availability, proof, and safe next actions
ELSE use the standard information order

AUD-011 — Explicitly exclude wrong audiences

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Baseline, Minor

Primary metric: irrelevant-impression and unqualified-lead rate

Guardrail: accidental exclusion of valuable demand

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF queries attract jobs, students, freebie seekers, unsupported geographies, or unrelated senses
THEN add exclusions to research, paid data, reporting, and content positioning
ELSE retain the query in its valid cluster

AUD-012 — Build post-purchase search pathways

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Major

Primary metric: retention and support value

Guardrail: support accuracy

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF customers search for setup, use, troubleshooting, maintenance, renewal, or complementary products
THEN create support and retention task clusters with appropriate next actions
ELSE focus the cluster on acquisition

3. Semantic Demand

SEM-001 — Start from parent concepts

Operators: IF · THEN · ELSE · AND

LAKA level(s): Baseline

Primary metric: concept-map coverage

Guardrail: scope drift

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF an offer lacks a mapped semantic territory
THEN identify parent concepts, neighboring categories, and business boundaries
ELSE extend the existing concept graph

SEM-002 — Expand through subtypes

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Baseline, Major

Primary metric: subtype demand coverage

Guardrail: thin fragmentation

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a parent concept contains meaningful narrower types with distinct tasks
THEN create subtype clusters and evaluate them independently
ELSE keep subtype terms as sections or variants

SEM-003 — Normalize synonyms and paraphrases

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE · XOR

LAKA level(s): Baseline

Primary metric: cluster cohesion

Guardrail: missed senses

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF different phrases express the same sense and dominant task
THEN map them to one query cluster and one intended canonical asset
ELSE investigate whether the task differs

SEM-004 — Disambiguate homonyms and polysemy

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Baseline

Primary metric: wrong-sense rate

Guardrail: query misclassification

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF the same wording can refer to different concepts, entities, or tasks
THEN create sense labels and exclusions before clustering
ELSE use the unambiguous concept

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Baseline, Structural

Primary metric: facet value and distinctness

Guardrail: facet explosion

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF terms vary by price, material, size, audience, platform, location, time, or other attributes
THEN represent them as attribute-value pairs and test whether they create a distinct task
ELSE treat them as lexical variants

SEM-006 — Use co-occurrence as context

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Minor, Major

Primary metric: task completeness

Guardrail: unnatural term insertion

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a term commonly appears near the topic but is not itself the user’s target
THEN use it only where it explains an entity, relation, attribute, or evidence need
ELSE exclude it from mandatory coverage

SEM-007 — Map entities and relations

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Major

Primary metric: entity-relation coverage

Guardrail: entity ambiguity

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF the task depends on named things and how they connect
THEN record entity types and typed relations, then express those relations visibly
ELSE use concept-only structure

SEM-008 — Map query fan-out without page fan-out

Operators: IF · THEN · ELSE · OR

LAKA level(s): Major, Structural

Primary metric: fan-out task coverage

Guardrail: scaled-content duplication

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF one broad task implies several supporting questions
THEN map the questions as sections, evidence needs, or distinct adjacent tasks
ELSE do not create a separate page for every wording variation

SEM-009 — Triangulate demand evidence

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Baseline

Primary metric: demand-confidence score

Guardrail: tool bias

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a candidate appears in only one tool or source
THEN seek corroboration from first-party data, users, result sets, competitors, or sales/support evidence
ELSE increase confidence when independent sources agree

SEM-010 — Do not equate zero tool volume with zero demand

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Baseline

Primary metric: observed cluster demand

Guardrail: anecdotal overreach

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a query has low or zero reported volume but appears in first-party or customer evidence
THEN retain it as a low-volume or emerging candidate and measure the cluster
ELSE deprioritize only after value and evidence review

SEM-011 — Attach time state

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Structural

Primary metric: freshness compliance

Guardrail: stale claims

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF facts, prices, availability, standards, laws, events, or recommendations can change
THEN assign freshness requirements and update triggers
ELSE classify the asset as stable evergreen

SEM-012 — Model emerging demand separately

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Paradigm

Primary metric: learning-adjusted emerging-demand value

Guardrail: trend chasing

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a new technology, regulation, event, or behavior has weak historical search data but strong causal evidence
THEN create an experimental demand thesis with explicit uncertainty
ELSE use normal historical prioritization

4. Clustering and Canonical Ownership

CLU-001 — One dominant intent, one owner

Operators: IF · THEN · ELSE · EXACTLY_ONE

LAKA level(s): Baseline, Structural

Primary metric: canonical ownership completeness

Guardrail: multiple owners

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a dominant intent cluster is approved
THEN assign exactly one intended canonical URL
ELSE keep the cluster in research

CLU-002 — Merge same-task candidates

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Baseline

Primary metric: demand coverage per canonical asset

Guardrail: over-broad pages

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF sense, task, answer structure, result class, and next action are compatible
THEN merge candidates into one cluster
ELSE evaluate split conditions

CLU-003 — Split different tasks

Operators: IF · AND · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Baseline, Major

Primary metric: intent purity

Guardrail: duplicated introductions

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF queries share vocabulary but require different completion conditions or document forms
THEN create separate clusters and page roles
ELSE keep them together

CLU-004 — Use result overlap as evidence, not law

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Baseline

Primary metric: cluster validation accuracy

Guardrail: SERP volatility

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF current top results overlap strongly for two queries
THEN increase merge confidence but still inspect task and business context
ELSE do not force a split solely because result overlap is low

CLU-005 — Detect cannibalization by behavior

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Baseline, Structural

Primary metric: dominant URL share and URL entropy

Guardrail: false-positive cannibalization

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF multiple owned URLs receive the same cluster’s impressions with unstable dominance or divided value
THEN inspect intent, links, conversion, and canonical ownership
ELSE allow multiple URLs when they serve genuinely different tasks

CLU-006 — Merge with migration discipline

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Structural

Primary metric: consolidated value and retained demand

Guardrail: migration loss

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF two pages are redundant and one combined page is superior
THEN merge best information, select the winner, redirect the loser, and update links/sitemaps
ELSE reposition or retain both

CLU-007 — Reposition a useful weaker page

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Major, Structural

Primary metric: distinct-cluster value

Guardrail: residual overlap

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a weaker page has independent value but overlaps the stronger page’s task
THEN change its dominant intent and connect it as a supporting asset
ELSE merge it

CLU-008 — Inspect equity before deletion

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Baseline, Structural

Primary metric: value preserved after retirement

Guardrail: broken dependencies

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a page appears useless or redundant
THEN check links, traffic, conversions, references, and dependencies before delete/noindex
ELSE retain or consolidate the page

CLU-009 — Align canonical signals

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Structural

Primary metric: declared-selected canonical agreement

Guardrail: mixed signals

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF duplicate or parameter URLs must remain accessible
THEN align canonical annotations, internal links, sitemap entries, redirects, and content signals
ELSE self-canonicalize the unique page

CLU-010 — Protect established URLs

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Minor, Structural

Primary metric: post-change value retention

Guardrail: redirect chains

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF an older URL has links, traffic, or history and the only proposed improvement is a prettier slug
THEN keep the URL unless expected benefit clearly exceeds migration risk
ELSE optimize the new URL before launch

CLU-011 — Keep lexical variants together

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Minor

Primary metric: variant coverage

Guardrail: keyword stuffing

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF differences are spelling, word order, pluralization, abbreviation, or stemming without task change
THEN include natural variants in one asset and reporting cluster
ELSE treat materially different senses separately

CLU-012 — Test uncertain cluster boundaries

Operators: IF · THEN · ELSE · UNTIL

LAKA level(s): Baseline, Major

Primary metric: cluster stability

Guardrail: premature page multiplication

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF merge/split evidence is inconclusive
THEN assign a provisional owner, record uncertainty, and observe query-to-URL behavior before scaling
ELSE finalize the cluster

5. Content, Format, and Evidence

CON-001 — Select format from task

Operators: IF · THEN · ELSE · OR

LAKA level(s): Major

Primary metric: task completion rate

Guardrail: format novelty without utility

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF the dominant task is known
THEN choose a format that completes that task: guide, table, calculator, map, diagnostic, template, video, or transaction page
ELSE research the task before drafting

CON-002 — Answer early

Operators: IF · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Minor, Major

Primary metric: time to first useful answer

Guardrail: oversimplification

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a user can benefit from a concise direct answer
THEN provide it near the beginning and then support it
ELSE state the path to the answer and necessary prerequisites

CON-003 — Require information advantage

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Major, Paradigm

Primary metric: information-advantage score

Guardrail: unsupported originality claims

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF the proposed asset only restates widely available material
THEN add original experience, data, testing, utility, synthesis, local proof, or decision support
ELSE proceed with the defensible advantage

CON-004 — Prefer firsthand evidence where relevant

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Major

Primary metric: firsthand-evidence coverage

Guardrail: conflicts of interest

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF the task involves reviews, demonstrations, processes, products, or lived outcomes
THEN show what was actually tested, observed, used, or built
ELSE use the best available primary evidence

CON-005 — Make evidence visible

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Minor, Major

Primary metric: verifiable-claim rate

Guardrail: citation mismatch

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a claim depends on a source, test, credential, or dataset
THEN place the supporting evidence where the user can inspect it
ELSE qualify the claim as opinion or uncertainty

CON-006 — State limitations

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Minor

Primary metric: correction and dispute rate

Guardrail: loss of nuance

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF evidence has uncertainty, sample limits, conflicts, exceptions, or changing conditions
THEN state limitations and applicability boundaries
ELSE present the stable conclusion

CON-007 — Avoid arbitrary length targets

Operators: IF · THEN · ELSE · AND

LAKA level(s): Baseline, Major

Primary metric: task completeness per reading time

Guardrail: content bloat

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a word count is proposed without a task-based reason
THEN define completeness by required questions, evidence, and decision support
ELSE use length as a production estimate only

CON-008 — Govern AI-assisted content

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE · AND

LAKA level(s): Structural

Primary metric: verified publication quality

Guardrail: hallucination, scaled abuse

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF AI assists research, drafting, transformation, or scale
THEN require factual verification, original value, editorial ownership, and policy compliance
ELSE use the same quality controls for human-only work

CON-009 — Require row-level uniqueness at scale

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Structural, Paradigm

Primary metric: unique-value coverage per generated page

Guardrail: doorway and thin-page risk

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a template generates pages from a dataset
THEN require accurate unique data, distinct user utility, and a valid canonical task for each row
ELSE consolidate rows into filters, tables, or broader assets

CON-010 — Use media when it improves the task

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Major

Primary metric: media-assisted task completion

Guardrail: performance, accessibility

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF an image, diagram, video, audio, or interactive can explain or demonstrate more effectively
THEN include accessible, relevant media and measure its use
ELSE keep the experience text-first where sufficient

CON-011 — Define refresh triggers

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Structural

Primary metric: freshness SLA

Guardrail: maintenance debt

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF content depends on changing data or conditions
THEN assign owner, source, review cadence, and event-triggered updates
ELSE review only when performance or business context changes

CON-012 — Support commercial pages with useful assets

Operators: IF · AND · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Major, Structural

Primary metric: assisted commercial value

Guardrail: manufactured link bait

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a commercial page is important but difficult to cite or insufficient for research-stage users
THEN create genuinely useful supporting evidence, tools, comparisons, or guides
ELSE improve the commercial page directly

6. On-page and Search Appearance

ONP-001 — Align the title with the task

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Minor

Primary metric: position-adjusted CTR

Guardrail: qualified conversion rate

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF the title does not clearly identify the page’s dominant task or value
THEN rewrite it truthfully for relevance and useful differentiation
ELSE retain it and monitor

ONP-002 — Use unique titles for unique canonicals

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Minor, Structural

Primary metric: duplicate-title rate

Guardrail: template inconsistency

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF two intended indexable canonical pages use materially duplicate titles
THEN differentiate titles according to their distinct tasks
ELSE allow shared patterns with unique identifying content

ONP-003 — Measure title changes causally

Operators: IF · THEN · ELSE · AND

LAKA level(s): Minor

Primary metric: CTR residual

Guardrail: ranking, conversion, seasonality

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a title or snippet is changed
THEN record change date, exposed queries/pages, expected mechanism, and CTR guardrails
ELSE do not claim impact

ONP-004 — Write descriptions for decision support

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Minor

Primary metric: organic CTR

Guardrail: snippet mismatch

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF the result snippet can help users determine relevance
THEN write a concise truthful proposition with task, benefit, and distinguishing detail
ELSE allow the search engine to select contextual text

ONP-005 — Use headings as answer architecture

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Major

Primary metric: section-level task coverage

Guardrail: heading keyword stuffing

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF the task has stages, criteria, subquestions, or choices
THEN structure headings around those information functions
ELSE use a simple hierarchy

ONP-006 — Write natural body language

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Major

Primary metric: semantic task completeness

Guardrail: readability

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF required concepts, entities, attributes, and relations are missing
THEN add them where they improve the explanation
ELSE do not insert terms solely for coverage scores

ONP-007 — Reject keyword stuffing

Operators: IF · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Minor

Primary metric: editorial quality

Guardrail: loss of clarity

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF repetition exists primarily to influence ranking rather than aid comprehension
THEN remove or rewrite it and preserve only natural references
ELSE retain meaningful repetition

ONP-008 — Describe meaningful images

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Minor, Structural

Primary metric: accessible-media coverage

Guardrail: redundant alt text

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF an image communicates information or functions as a link/control
THEN provide appropriate descriptive alternative text
ELSE use empty alternative text for purely decorative images

ONP-009 — Optimize new URLs, protect old ones

Operators: IF · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Minor, Structural

Primary metric: URL stability and migration retention

Guardrail: redirect chains

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a page has not launched
THEN use a concise descriptive stable URL
ELSE avoid changing an established URL without a migration case

ONP-010 — Use structured data only when applicable

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Major, Structural

Primary metric: valid eligible items

Guardrail: manual action, markup drift

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a supported structured-data type accurately represents visible page content
THEN implement and validate it
ELSE do not add irrelevant or hidden markup

ONP-011 — Measure rich-result realization

Operators: IF · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Baseline, Major

Primary metric: rich-result appearance and value

Guardrail: misattribution

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF structured data validates successfully
THEN measure actual search appearance, impressions, CTR, and value
ELSE debug eligibility or accept that display is not guaranteed

ONP-012 — Adjust CTR expectations

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Baseline

Primary metric: CTR residual

Guardrail: low sample size

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF CTR is evaluated
THEN control for position, device, country, brand status, query class, and search appearance
ELSE do not use a universal CTR threshold

7. Internal Graph and Architecture

GRF-001 — Link every priority page

Operators: IF · THEN · ELSE · AT_LEAST

LAKA level(s): Baseline, Minor

Primary metric: priority-page orphan rate

Guardrail: forced links

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a page is intended to receive organic visibility
THEN ensure at least one crawlable contextual internal link points to it
ELSE remove it from the priority/index set if it has no valid role

GRF-002 — Use descriptive anchors

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Minor

Primary metric: descriptive-anchor coverage

Guardrail: over-optimization

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF anchor text is generic and a natural descriptive label is available
THEN replace it with concise context-setting text
ELSE retain the generic control only when interface convention requires it

GRF-003 — Require user context for links

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Minor

Primary metric: useful internal-link interaction

Guardrail: link clutter

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a proposed link does not help the reader understand, compare, verify, or take the next step
THEN do not add it
ELSE add it in the relevant sentence or interface

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Structural

Primary metric: hub-assisted discovery and conversion

Guardrail: empty taxonomy pages

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a coherent task family requires users to choose among multiple paths
THEN create or improve a hub with clear categories and routes
ELSE connect assets contextually without a dedicated hub

GRF-005 — Validate supporting assets

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Major

Primary metric: supporting-asset assisted value

Guardrail: thin content

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF an adjacent question has independent demand, a complete answer, and a useful relationship to a core asset
THEN create a supporting asset and connect it
ELSE include it as a section or FAQ

GRF-006 — Reduce excessive depth

Operators: IF · THEN · ELSE · OR

LAKA level(s): Structural

Primary metric: priority-page click depth

Guardrail: navigation overload

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF important pages are difficult to reach through internal navigation
THEN add meaningful paths, hubs, or template links
ELSE retain depth for low-value or intentionally isolated pages

GRF-007 — Use strong internal sources deliberately

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Minor

Primary metric: target visibility lift

Guardrail: source-page task disruption

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF an authoritative owned page can naturally support a high-value target
THEN add a contextual link where it benefits the reader
ELSE do not insert an unrelated link solely to move authority

GRF-008 — Keep topical communities coherent

Operators: IF · AND · NOT · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Structural

Primary metric: topical edge precision

Guardrail: over-siloing

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a link crosses unrelated topic communities without user need
THEN remove or avoid it
ELSE retain cross-topic links that represent a real prerequisite, comparison, or journey edge

GRF-009 — Make links crawlable

Operators: IF · THEN · ELSE · AND

LAKA level(s): Structural

Primary metric: crawlable-link coverage

Guardrail: duplicate navigation

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF navigation or internal discovery relies on nonstandard scripted interactions
THEN expose crawlable anchors with destinations and validate rendered HTML
ELSE retain standard crawlable links

GRF-010 — Concentrate, do not hoard

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Structural

Primary metric: value-weighted index and graph concentration

Guardrail: loss of long-tail value

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF many low-value pages dilute attention and internal graph flow
THEN consolidate, noindex, archive, or demote according to user and business value
ELSE retain useful nodes

GRF-011 — Update the graph after migrations

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE · AND

LAKA level(s): Structural

Primary metric: direct-to-final-link rate

Guardrail: redirect loops

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a page is merged, redirected, renamed, or retired
THEN update internal links, navigation, canonicals, and sitemaps to the final destination
ELSE leave the graph unchanged

GRF-012 — Measure paths, not link counts alone

Operators: IF · THEN · ELSE · AND

LAKA level(s): Baseline

Primary metric: graph-assisted value

Guardrail: correlation mistaken for causation

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF internal linking is evaluated
THEN measure discovery, depth, target visibility, task progression, and conversion paths
ELSE use raw link counts only as diagnostics

8. External Authority and Earned Evidence

AUT-001 — Evaluate link quality multidimensionally

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Baseline

Primary metric: qualified retained referring domains

Guardrail: spam and paid-link risk

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF an external link opportunity is considered
THEN evaluate relevance, editorial independence, source credibility, placement, uniqueness, and persistence
ELSE reject or deprioritize the opportunity

AUT-002 — Create a linkable reason

Operators: IF · AND · NOT · THEN · ELSE · OR

LAKA level(s): Major, Paradigm

Primary metric: placement rate

Guardrail: misleading claims

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF outreach asks for attention without a concrete user benefit
THEN build or identify data, utility, evidence, correction, visualization, or unique reference value
ELSE lead with the existing value

AUT-003 — Support difficult commercial targets

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Major, Structural

Primary metric: assisted target-page visibility

Guardrail: manipulative intermediary pages

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF the target commercial page is unlikely to earn independent citations
THEN earn links to a relevant useful asset and connect it to the target OR improve the target’s reference value
ELSE promote the target directly

AUT-004 — Reject manipulative placements

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Baseline

Primary metric: policy-compliant placement rate

Guardrail: manual actions, reputation

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a link requires deception, irrelevant insertion, undisclosed payment, or policy violation
THEN reject it
ELSE proceed with transparent editorial or appropriately attributed placement

AUT-005 — Prefer unique relevant domains

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Major

Primary metric: qualified unique referring domains

Guardrail: diversity for its own sake

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF many links come repeatedly from the same source while relevant independent sources are available
THEN diversify outreach toward unique relevant domains
ELSE deepen the useful relationship without treating every link as independent authority

AUT-006 — Prefer contextual editorial placement

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Major

Primary metric: contextual placement share

Guardrail: sponsorship disclosure

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a link can appear in a useful body context or only in a repeated footer/sidebar
THEN prefer the contextual editorial placement
ELSE treat repeated placement as lower-confidence evidence

AUT-007 — Use tool metrics as proxies

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Baseline

Primary metric: proxy-to-outcome calibration

Guardrail: cross-tool comparisons

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF DA, DR, UR, PA, traffic estimates, or difficulty scores are used
THEN treat them as vendor-specific diagnostics and compare within one system
ELSE use direct observations where available

AUT-008 — Investigate lost evidence

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Minor, Major

Primary metric: valuable-link recovery rate

Guardrail: harassing outreach

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a valuable relevant link or mention disappears
THEN classify cause and recover only when the source relationship and user value remain valid
ELSE record normal churn

AUT-009 — Measure brand demand effects

Operators: IF · AND · NOT · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Baseline, Major

Primary metric: incremental branded demand

Guardrail: campaign overlap

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF earned media or authoritative mentions may increase awareness without direct referral clicks
THEN track branded queries, direct visits, assisted conversions, and target visibility
ELSE measure direct referral and link effects

AUT-010 — Segment outreach by relationship

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Major

Primary metric: positive reply and placement rate by segment

Guardrail: automation quality

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF prospects differ by audience, reason to care, or editorial context
THEN create distinct outreach propositions and evidence packages
ELSE use one aligned proposition

AUT-011 — Compound original research

Operators: IF · THEN · ELSE · AND

LAKA level(s): Structural, Paradigm

Primary metric: research-attributed links and value

Guardrail: methodology drift

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF original data or a benchmark performs well
THEN refresh it, expose methodology, create reusable views, and connect related clusters
ELSE treat it as a one-time asset

AUT-012 — Judge authority by target outcomes

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Baseline, Major

Primary metric: incremental target-cluster visibility and value

Guardrail: over-attribution

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF links or mentions increase but the target cluster does not improve
THEN inspect relevance, target selection, indexing, content fit, and time lag
ELSE continue scaling the validated authority mechanism

9. Technical Eligibility

TEC-001 — Require public accessibility

Operators: IF · THEN · ELSE · AND

LAKA level(s): Baseline, Structural

Primary metric: accessible-priority-URL rate

Guardrail: private or sensitive exposure

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a page is intended for search visibility
THEN ensure users and permitted crawlers can request its essential content
ELSE exclude it intentionally

TEC-002 — Use correct response states

Operators: IF · THEN · ELSE · OR

LAKA level(s): Structural

Primary metric: correct-status rate

Guardrail: soft 404s

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a canonical page is healthy and available
THEN return a successful response; use redirects, not-found, or server errors only for their true states
ELSE repair the response logic

TEC-003 — Validate rendered main content

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Structural

Primary metric: rendered-content parity

Guardrail: hydration and blocked-resource errors

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF essential content or links depend on JavaScript
THEN inspect rendered output and ensure resources are accessible
ELSE use the server-delivered content

TEC-004 — Separate crawling from indexing controls

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Structural

Primary metric: intended index-state accuracy

Guardrail: content leakage

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF the goal is to keep a page out of search results
THEN use an appropriate noindex, authentication, removal, redirect, or deletion method
ELSE use robots.txt only to manage crawler requests, not as a deindex guarantee

TEC-005 — Maintain canonical coherence

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Structural

Primary metric: canonical agreement

Guardrail: canonical chains

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF multiple URLs represent substantially the same content
THEN select a preferred URL and align canonical, redirects where appropriate, links, and sitemap signals
ELSE self-canonicalize the unique asset where useful

TEC-006 — Keep sitemaps canonical and current

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Structural

Primary metric: valid canonical sitemap coverage

Guardrail: misleading lastmod

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a URL is important, canonical, and intended for indexing
THEN include its clean URL and accurate modification state in the sitemap
ELSE exclude noncanonical, redirected, error, or intentionally nonindexed URLs

TEC-007 — Redirect to the closest valid successor

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Structural

Primary metric: direct permanent-redirect accuracy

Guardrail: chains, loops, irrelevant redirects

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a URL permanently moves or is consolidated
THEN redirect directly to the most relevant final destination and update internal references
ELSE serve the existing URL

TEC-008 — Treat not-found pages intentionally

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Structural

Primary metric: soft-404 rate

Guardrail: lost valuable links

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a resource no longer exists and has no valid replacement
THEN return a real not-found state with helpful navigation
ELSE redirect only when a genuine equivalent exists

TEC-009 — Control faceted and parameter volume

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE · AND

LAKA level(s): Structural

Primary metric: valuable-crawl share

Guardrail: index explosion

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF filters, sorting, search, tracking, or session parameters create many near-duplicate URLs
THEN define crawl, canonical, link, and index rules by facet value
ELSE allow unique valuable combinations

TEC-010 — Preserve content parity

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Structural

Primary metric: version parity

Guardrail: cloaking-like mismatches

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF mobile, desktop, locale, or rendered versions differ
THEN ensure essential content, metadata, structured data, and links remain equivalent where they should
ELSE document intentional differences

TEC-011 — Prioritize real-user performance

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Minor, Structural

Primary metric: good-CWV exposure and task value

Guardrail: functionality regression

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF field performance or business outcomes show latency, instability, or interaction problems
THEN fix the highest-exposure causes and measure Core Web Vitals plus conversion/task outcomes
ELSE repair only obvious low-cost issues and avoid score chasing

TEC-012 — Scale crawl work to site size and change rate

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Structural

Primary metric: valuable indexed URLs per crawl/resource unit

Guardrail: technical work without business case

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF the site is very large, rapidly changing, or shows crawl/index waste
THEN invest in crawl-path, logs, facets, and index-quality optimization
ELSE use a lighter periodic technical audit

10. Conversion and Experience

CVR-001 — Complete the search task before selling

Operators: IF · BEFORE · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Major

Primary metric: task completion then conversion

Guardrail: reduced qualified action

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF the page asks for conversion before delivering the promised answer
THEN front-load useful task completion and place the offer at a logical transition
ELSE retain the aligned conversion path

CVR-002 — Match nudge to journey state

Operators: IF · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Minor, Major

Primary metric: next-state conversion rate

Guardrail: lead quality

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF the next action is not adjacent to the user’s current state
THEN choose a lower-friction or more relevant action
ELSE measure the existing transition

CVR-003 — Optimize speed for outcomes

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Minor, Structural

Primary metric: conversion and task completion by performance band

Guardrail: broken features

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF slow or unstable experience correlates with abandonment or conversion loss
THEN fix the responsible bottleneck and validate field/user outcomes
ELSE do not pursue a perfect tool score solely for ranking

CVR-004 — Reduce form friction selectively

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE · OR

LAKA level(s): Minor, Major

Primary metric: qualified form completion

Guardrail: unqualified volume

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF form abandonment is high AND removed fields are not needed for qualification or routing
THEN shorten, stage, or clarify the form
ELSE retain fields and improve explanation

CVR-005 — Optimize for lead quality

Operators: IF · AND · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Major, Structural

Primary metric: sales-accepted organic leads

Guardrail: total pipeline

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF lead count rises while acceptance, close rate, or margin falls
THEN tighten intent, promise, qualification, or routing
ELSE scale the validated acquisition path

CVR-006 — Test CTA propositions, not colors alone

Operators: IF · THEN · ELSE · BEFORE

LAKA level(s): Minor, Major

Primary metric: qualified CTA conversion

Guardrail: misleading claims

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a CTA underperforms
THEN test task relevance, value, risk, evidence, commitment, placement, and wording before cosmetic variables
ELSE retain and scale it

CVR-007 — Place trust at the decision point

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Major

Primary metric: decision completion rate

Guardrail: privacy and disclosure

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF users hesitate because scope, proof, identity, terms, price, or risk is unclear
THEN place relevant evidence and clarification near the decision
ELSE avoid repetitive trust decoration

CVR-008 — Avoid premature hard selling

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE · OR

LAKA level(s): Major

Primary metric: assisted qualified progression

Guardrail: unsubscribe, bounce

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF the query is early-stage and commercial pressure harms task satisfaction
THEN use a useful soft transition such as a related guide, tool, save, or diagnostic
ELSE present the proportional commercial action

CVR-009 — Design retention paths

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Major

Primary metric: retention/expansion event value

Guardrail: support escalation

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF the organic visitor is an existing customer or user
THEN route to successful use, support, renewal, expansion, or advocacy
ELSE route prospects toward acquisition

CVR-010 — Measure satisfaction with task-specific events

Operators: IF · THEN · ELSE · OR

LAKA level(s): Structural

Primary metric: task completion rate

Guardrail: event inflation

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF generic engagement metrics cannot show whether the task was completed
THEN instrument meaningful events such as calculator completion, comparison use, download, copy, or successful route
ELSE use the existing task event

CVR-011 — Preserve message continuity

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Structural

Primary metric: promise-to-close continuity

Guardrail: overly narrow messaging

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF the search promise, landing answer, CTA, and sales follow-up describe different outcomes
THEN align the chain around one user task and offer
ELSE retain the coherent journey

CVR-012 — Protect user and brand guardrails

Operators: IF · AND · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Minor, Major

Primary metric: guardrail-adjusted conversion value

Guardrail: dark patterns

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a conversion intervention increases action but also complaints, refunds, low-quality leads, or distrust
THEN revert, constrain, or redesign the intervention
ELSE continue while guardrails stay within tolerance

11. Measurement and Experimentation

EXP-001 — Require a mechanism hypothesis

Operators: IF · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Baseline

Primary metric: hypothesis completeness

Guardrail: post-hoc storytelling

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF an intervention has no stated reason it should affect an outcome
THEN write an object → action → mechanism → outcome hypothesis
ELSE execute the stated hypothesis

EXP-002 — Capture a baseline

Operators: IF · THEN · ELSE · AND

LAKA level(s): Baseline

Primary metric: baseline completeness

Guardrail: seasonal distortion

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a change is about to be implemented
THEN record pre-change performance, context, exposure, and data quality
ELSE do not claim incremental effect

EXP-003 — Use a change ledger

Operators: IF · THEN · ELSE · AND

LAKA level(s): Structural

Primary metric: change attribution coverage

Guardrail: logging overhead

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF any SEO-relevant production change occurs
THEN assign a change ID, owner, scope, time, expected mechanism, and rollback state
ELSE retain the previous ledger

EXP-004 — Choose one primary metric

Operators: IF · THEN · ELSE · EXACTLY_ONE

LAKA level(s): Baseline

Primary metric: decision consistency

Guardrail: metric cherry-picking

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF an experiment has many possible success metrics
THEN select one primary decision metric and label others secondary or guardrail
ELSE use the aligned primary metric

EXP-005 — Set guardrails before launch

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE · AND

LAKA level(s): Baseline

Primary metric: guardrail breach rate

Guardrail: unobserved harm

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a change can improve the primary metric while harming quality, accessibility, revenue, or trust
THEN define guardrail thresholds and rollback behavior
ELSE use standard site guardrails

EXP-006 — Use controls when feasible

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Baseline

Primary metric: estimated incremental lift

Guardrail: control contamination

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF comparable untreated pages, clusters, regions, or time periods exist
THEN use a control or difference-in-differences design
ELSE use interrupted time series with explicit limitations

EXP-007 — Account for seasonality and external events

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Baseline

Primary metric: context-adjusted lift

Guardrail: overfitting

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF demand, algorithms, campaigns, news, inventory, or holidays can affect the outcome
THEN annotate and model those factors before attributing change
ELSE use the stable comparison

EXP-008 — Represent uncertainty

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Baseline

Primary metric: estimate uncertainty

Guardrail: false precision

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF sample size is small, variance is high, or exposure is incomplete
THEN report ranges, confidence, and directional evidence
ELSE report the stable estimate

EXP-009 — Allow processing and learning time

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE · UNTIL

LAKA level(s): Baseline

Primary metric: minimum-exposure completion

Guardrail: indefinite waiting

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a change has not had enough crawl, index, ranking, or behavioral exposure
THEN continue observation until the predefined minimum exposure or stop condition
ELSE make the decision

EXP-010 — Distinguish single-variable and package tests

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Minor, Major, Structural

Primary metric: attribution confidence

Guardrail: slow recovery

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF several material variables change together
THEN classify the intervention as a package test OR separate variables for causal learning
ELSE treat it as a focused test

EXP-011 — Escalate by diagnosed mechanism

Operators: IF · THEN · ELSE · OR

LAKA level(s): Minor, Major, Structural, Paradigm

Primary metric: value gained per escalation

Guardrail: unnecessary redesign

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a lower-level LAKA intervention fails
THEN re-diagnose and move to Major, Structural, or Paradigm only when the failure mechanism requires it
ELSE retain or scale the successful level

EXP-012 — Use explicit continue/revise/revert/retire decisions

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE · XOR

LAKA level(s): Baseline

Primary metric: decision closure rate

Guardrail: zombie experiments

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a review point is reached
THEN choose exactly one decision based on primary metric, guardrails, cost, and confidence
ELSE continue observation only under a predefined uncertainty rule

12. Generative Search, Scale, and Governance

GOV-001 — Keep foundational SEO as the base

Operators: IF · AND · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Baseline, Structural

Primary metric: search and generative visibility value

Guardrail: channel-specific hacks

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF the goal includes visibility in generative search experiences
THEN apply the same valuable-content, crawlability, indexability, and search-quality foundations
ELSE apply normal search foundations

GOV-002 — Do not depend on llms.txt for Google Search

Operators: IF · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Baseline

Primary metric: eligible indexed coverage

Guardrail: maintenance distraction

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a proposal claims a special AI text file is required for Google visibility
THEN reject the requirement and prioritize public crawlable indexable content
ELSE maintain such a file only for a separate system that explicitly uses it

GOV-003 — Do not chunk content mechanically

Operators: IF · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Major

Primary metric: task completion and retrieval coverage

Guardrail: fragmentation

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF content is being split only because an AI system is assumed to need tiny sections
THEN organize by human task, readability, and information structure
ELSE retain useful natural sections

GOV-004 — Use query fan-out as a research map

Operators: IF · THEN · ELSE · AND

LAKA level(s): Major, Structural

Primary metric: fan-out information coverage

Guardrail: one-page-per-query expansion

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a broad request implies related information needs
THEN map prerequisite, comparison, evidence, and follow-up needs across the cluster graph
ELSE use the direct task map

GOV-005 — Block scaled content abuse

Operators: IF · AND · NOT · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Structural, Paradigm

Primary metric: unique useful asset rate

Guardrail: spam-policy exposure

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF content volume is generated primarily to manipulate rankings or AI responses without distinct user value
THEN stop publication and redesign the system
ELSE continue only with row-level utility, accuracy, and governance

GOV-006 — Measure generative visibility directly

Operators: IF · THEN · ELSE · AND

LAKA level(s): Baseline, Structural

Primary metric: generative-search qualified value

Guardrail: reporting coverage

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF Search Console or another first-party surface provides generative-search reporting
THEN track it as a distinct search appearance and connect it to downstream value
ELSE use broader search and referral diagnostics with limitations

GOV-007 — Do not invent AI-specific schema

Operators: IF · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Baseline, Structural

Primary metric: valid supported markup

Guardrail: markup abuse

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a proposal adds unsupported structured data solely for generative visibility
THEN reject it; use supported structured data only when it matches visible content
ELSE validate the applicable markup

GOV-008 — Prepare for agentic use through usability

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE · AND

LAKA level(s): Structural, Paradigm

Primary metric: successful task completion by automated/assistive clients

Guardrail: security and consent

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF browser agents or assistive systems need to interpret and operate the site
THEN improve semantic controls, labels, accessible structure, clear states, and stable data
ELSE retain the usable human-facing implementation

GOV-009 — Expose freshness and provenance

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE · AND

LAKA level(s): Major

Primary metric: freshness/provenance completeness

Guardrail: false recency

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF data may change or be reused in generated answers
THEN show dates, methodology, sources, ownership, and update state where useful
ELSE omit unnecessary metadata

GOV-010 — Constrain programmatic expansion

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE

LAKA level(s): Structural

Primary metric: maintained useful-page rate

Guardrail: index and maintenance debt

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF candidate combinations exceed quality or maintenance capacity
THEN raise gates, consolidate, stage release, or automate verified data maintenance
ELSE publish within capacity

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE · AND

LAKA level(s): Structural

Primary metric: governance compliance

Guardrail: privacy harm

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF volumetric generation or personalization uses personal, confidential, licensed, or restricted data
THEN minimize data, obtain rights/consent, secure access, and exclude unsafe outputs
ELSE use public or owned permissible data

GOV-012 — Pursue paradigm assets selectively

Operators: IF · OR · THEN · ELSE · AND

LAKA level(s): Paradigm

Primary metric: new-demand and incremental value creation

Guardrail: build cost, adoption risk

Reason: Makes the decision explicit, measurable, and reversible where possible.

IF a new tool, dataset, benchmark, diagnostic, or agent can complete the task far better than existing result classes
THEN run a bounded paradigm experiment with a defensibility and maintenance plan
ELSE improve the current asset class

Composite decision programs

Program A — Should a new page exist?

IF observed_or_defensible_demand
AND distinct_task
AND one_canonical_role
AND meaningful_information_advantage
AND business_or_strategic_value
AND maintainable_accuracy
AND technical_feasibility
AND measurable_outcome
THEN approve page specification
ELSE:
    merge into existing page
    OR create a section
    OR retain as research
    OR reject

Program B — Should two pages merge?

IF same_sense
AND same_dominant_task
AND substantial_query_overlap
AND combined_answer_improves_user_value
AND migration_risk_is_acceptable
THEN:
    choose winner
    merge best information
    redirect loser
    update internal links
    update sitemap
    observe retained value
ELSE:
    clarify separate intents
    OR reposition weaker page

Program C — What should be fixed first?

IF measurement_is_unreliable
THEN fix measurement
ELSE IF priority_asset_is_ineligible
THEN fix technical eligibility
ELSE IF existing_asset_has_high_value_gap
THEN optimize existing asset
ELSE IF canonical_ownership_is_confused
THEN consolidate or restructure
ELSE IF information_product_is_inferior
THEN improve content, evidence, or format
ELSE IF authority_gap_is_material
THEN build independent evidence and promotion
ELSE create the highest-scoring new asset

Program D — LAKA escalation

START Baseline

IF failure is presentation-level
THEN Minor
ELSE IF failure is answer/evidence/format-level
THEN Major
ELSE IF failure spans pages, templates, graph, or data systems
THEN Structural
ELSE IF the current solution class cannot satisfy the opportunity
THEN Paradigm
ELSE stop or monitor

Program E — Volumetric scale permission

FOR EACH candidate combination:
    IF distinct_task
    AND unique_or_verified_data
    AND useful_output
    AND canonical_role
    AND maintenance_owner
    AND measurable_value
    THEN allow staged generation
    ELSE consolidate, filter, or suppress

UNTIL:
    marginal_value < marginal_cost
    OR quality_guardrail fails
    OR maintenance_capacity is reached

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IF / ELSE / AND / OR SEO Rulebook

Purpose

Operator semantics

Rule execution order

Hard-gate pattern

Rules

1. Business Value

BIZ-001 — Define value before volume

BIZ-002 — Traffic is diagnostic, not the north star

BIZ-003 — Separate forecasts from actuals

BIZ-004 — Respect fulfillment capacity

BIZ-005 — Model offers separately

BIZ-006 — Count assisted value carefully

BIZ-007 — Split branded and non-branded demand

BIZ-008 — Include retention and expansion

BIZ-009 — Raise evidence thresholds for high stakes

BIZ-010 — Resolve competing goals explicitly

BIZ-011 — Allocate by marginal value

BIZ-012 — Use economic stop rules

2. Audience and Journey

AUD-001 — Require an audience-task pair

AUD-002 — Treat funnel modifiers as heuristics

AUD-003 — Model the funnel as a graph

AUD-004 — Use adjacent next actions

AUD-005 — Split materially different audience needs

AUD-006 — Include accessibility conditions

AUD-007 — Require real local distinctness

AUD-008 — Localize, do not merely translate

AUD-009 — Account for device context

AUD-010 — Match evidence to urgency

AUD-011 — Explicitly exclude wrong audiences

AUD-012 — Build post-purchase search pathways

3. Semantic Demand

SEM-001 — Start from parent concepts

SEM-002 — Expand through subtypes

SEM-003 — Normalize synonyms and paraphrases

SEM-004 — Disambiguate homonyms and polysemy

SEM-005 — Model modifiers as facets

SEM-006 — Use co-occurrence as context

SEM-007 — Map entities and relations

SEM-008 — Map query fan-out without page fan-out

SEM-009 — Triangulate demand evidence

SEM-010 — Do not equate zero tool volume with zero demand

SEM-011 — Attach time state

SEM-012 — Model emerging demand separately

4. Clustering and Canonical Ownership

CLU-001 — One dominant intent, one owner

CLU-002 — Merge same-task candidates

CLU-003 — Split different tasks

CLU-004 — Use result overlap as evidence, not law

CLU-005 — Detect cannibalization by behavior

CLU-006 — Merge with migration discipline

CLU-007 — Reposition a useful weaker page

CLU-008 — Inspect equity before deletion

CLU-009 — Align canonical signals

CLU-010 — Protect established URLs

CLU-011 — Keep lexical variants together

CLU-012 — Test uncertain cluster boundaries

5. Content, Format, and Evidence

CON-001 — Select format from task

CON-002 — Answer early

CON-003 — Require information advantage

CON-004 — Prefer firsthand evidence where relevant

CON-005 — Make evidence visible

CON-006 — State limitations

CON-007 — Avoid arbitrary length targets

CON-008 — Govern AI-assisted content

CON-009 — Require row-level uniqueness at scale

CON-010 — Use media when it improves the task

CON-011 — Define refresh triggers

CON-012 — Support commercial pages with useful assets

6. On-page and Search Appearance

ONP-001 — Align the title with the task

ONP-002 — Use unique titles for unique canonicals

ONP-003 — Measure title changes causally

ONP-004 — Write descriptions for decision support

ONP-005 — Use headings as answer architecture

ONP-006 — Write natural body language

ONP-007 — Reject keyword stuffing

ONP-008 — Describe meaningful images