Terms of Service SEO Rule

Check that your website includes a link to terms of service for legal compliance and trust signals

What This Rule Checks

Scans all page links and common footer/navigation areas for ToS-related keywords including 'terms of service', 'terms of use', 'terms and conditions', 'user agreement', 'service agreement', and more.

Why It Matters for SEO & GEO

Terms of service establish the legal relationship between your site and its users. Missing ToS pages signal poor professionalism and can affect trust-based ranking factors.

How to Fix

Create a terms of service page and link to it from your footer or navigation. Use clear anchor text containing 'terms' or 'terms of service'. Ensure the link is accessible from every page.

Examples

Bad

Good

<footer><a href="/terms">Terms of Service</a> | <a href="/privacy">Privacy Policy</a></footer>

How VibeLinter Checks Terms of Service Links

VibeLinter’s legal/tos rule performs these checks on every page:

Link text scan — Checks all <a> tag text for ToS-related keywords (case-insensitive)
Href scan — Examines link href attributes for ToS-related URL patterns
Title attribute scan — Checks link title attributes for ToS keywords
Footer/navigation scan — Specifically searches common structural areas: footer, .footer, #footer, nav, .nav, #nav, .legal, .links
Keyword matching — Looks for: “terms”, “terms of service”, “terms of use”, “terms and conditions”, “user agreement”, “service agreement”, “tos”, “tou”, “legal terms”, “user terms”, “conditions”, “agreement”
Found keywords report — Reports which ToS-related keywords were found when a link exists

Configuration

// vibelinter.config.cjs
module.exports = {
  rules: {
    'legal/tos': {
      enabled: true,
      severity: 'warning'
    }
  }
}

SEO Impact

Trust signals — Legal pages contribute to Google’s E-E-A-T evaluation
Professional credibility — Users and search engines view sites with ToS as more legitimate
Monetization requirements — Payment processors and ad networks often require ToS pages
GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) — AI models favor trustworthy sources; proper legal documentation increases the likelihood your content is selected for AI-generated answers and citations