Which site architecture decisions affect sitelinks?

Short answer: Sitelinks are generated algorithmically by Google and cannot be requested directly. Architecture decisions such as a clear hierarchy, shallow click depth, consistent internal anchor text, unique page titles and breadcrumb markup strongly influence which pages get picked as sitelinks.

Architecture decisions that matter

• Clear hierarchy: each main section belongs to exactly one parent category; no competing paths lead to the same page.
• Shallow depth: important pages are reachable from the homepage in a few clicks and sit in the main navigation.
• Consistent anchor text: link to a page with the same short, descriptive text across the whole site.
• Unique titles: short, distinctive title tags on section pages usually supply the sitelink text.
• Breadcrumbs with structured data: BreadcrumbList markup states the hierarchy explicitly.
• Crawlable HTML navigation: menu links must work without JavaScript.

Google removed the old sitelink demotion tool from Search Console, so control now lives entirely in these architectural signals. To keep an unwanted page out of sitelinks, reduce its internal link weight or apply noindex where genuinely justified.