Site Lens is Search Atlas’ advanced visualization layer designed to transform raw crawl data into clear, actionable visual intelligence.
Instead of scanning tables of URLs, Site Lens allows you to see your site’s structure, crawl behavior, internal linking, and topical coverage across multiple visual dimensions.
This guide explains every Site Lens visualization, how it works, where it lives in the UI, and what insights to look for, using the exact behavior shown in the product.
📍 How to Access Site Lens (Exact UI Path)
📍 How to Access Site Lens (Exact UI Path)
Search Atlas → AI SEO → Site Audit → Site Lens
Once loaded, you’ll see:
Project name
Total pages crawled
Visualization tabs (2D, 3D, Tree, Crawl Tree, Link Flow, LDA Topics)
Global filters and export options
🧠 What All Site Lens Views Have in Common
🧠 What All Site Lens Views Have in Common
Across every visualization:
Each node represents a page
Connections represent internal links
Node size reflects the selected metric (traffic, impressions, keywords, etc.)
Node color reflects depth or health
Filters allow you to isolate sections, hide pages, or emphasize specific page types
These views are different ways of looking at the same crawl data, each optimized for a different kind of insight.
🧭 Global Controls & UI Elements
🧭 Global Controls & UI Elements
Left Control Panel
Left Control Panel
Go to URL → jump to and highlight a specific page
Fix nodes on drag → lock node position
Show labels → toggle URL labels
Size by → choose metric that controls node size
(Depth, Traffic, Impressions, Keywords, etc.)Color by → choose color metric
(Depth, Page Health Score)Emphasis → highlight hubs, traffic leaders, paid pages
Max Depth → limit crawl depth shown
Link Length → spacing between nodes
Reset → restore default view
Top Controls
Top Controls
Filter Pages → isolate specific sections
Show Prunable → highlight low-value pages
Hide Orphans → hide disconnected pages
Export PNG → download visualization
Light / Dark Mode
🟢 2D Node Cluster
🟢 2D Node Cluster
A visual map of your site’s internal linking structure.
▶ What this view shows
A force-directed graph showing your site’s pages as interconnected nodes in a two-dimensional space.
Each node = one page
Lines = internal links
Nodes naturally group into clusters based on linking relationships
The homepage typically appears near the center
▶ How to read it visually
Node size → selected metric (traffic, impressions, keywords, etc.)
Node color → crawl depth from the homepage
Depth 0 = homepage
Depth 1 = first-level pages
Blue rings → hub or emphasized pages
Red rings → pages flagged as prunable
Dense clusters → strong topical or structural grouping
Isolated nodes → orphan or weakly linked pages
▶ What problems this helps you detect
Pages that are hard for search engines to discover
Important content with insufficient internal links
Over-isolated sections of the site
Pages that add little SEO value
Hubs that are not distributing authority effectively
▶ Recommended actions
Add internal links to isolated or deep pages
Strengthen hub pages and link them to priority URLs
Consolidate or prune low-value pages
Rebalance internal linking across clusters
Align architecture with content strategy
▶ How to interact with the UI
Scroll → zoom
Click + drag → pan
Click a node → page details
Size by → change the metric driving node size
Filter Pages → isolate sections
Show Prunables → highlight low-performing pages
⚙️ How this view works
Pages are positioned using a force-based layout where linked pages attract each other and unlinked pages repel, allowing natural clusters to form based on internal linking density.
🟣 3D Crawl Diagram
🟣 3D Crawl Diagram
An immersive, three-dimensional view of your site structure.
▶ What this view shows
Pages represented as spheres in 3D space
Internal links connecting pages
Depth visualized spatially
Homepage typically near the center
▶ How to read it visually
Vertical spread → hierarchy depth
Dense regions → strongly linked sections
Floating nodes → weakly linked pages
Larger spheres → higher metric values
▶ What problems this helps you detect
Excessively deep site architecture
Pages buried too far from the homepage
Structural bottlenecks
Hidden clusters not obvious in 2D views
▶ Recommended actions
Flatten deep sections where possible
Add shortcut links to buried pages
Strengthen internal linking to floating nodes
Validate architecture changes visually
▶ How to interact with the UI
Left-click + drag → rotate
Right-click + drag → pan
Scroll → zoom
Click a node → page details
Use depth filters to isolate levels
⚙️ How this view works
The 3D diagram uses the same crawl data as the 2D view but distributes nodes across three axes, revealing depth and separation more clearly.
🌳 Tree Diagram (URL Hierarchy)
🌳 Tree Diagram (URL Hierarchy)
A hierarchical view based on URL structure.
▶ What this view shows
Parent–child relationships derived from URL paths
Sections and subsections of your site
Page counts per section
▶ How to read it visually
Top nodes = higher-level pages
Deeper branches = nested URLs
Wide branches = large sections
Collapsible nodes = expandable subsections
▶ What problems this helps you detect
Pages buried too deep in the URL structure
Overcrowded sections
Unbalanced or confusing hierarchies
Structural inconsistencies
▶ Recommended actions
Simplify deep URL paths
Reorganize oversized sections
Improve navigation and breadcrumbs
Align URL structure with content intent
▶ How to interact with the UI
Click nodes to expand or collapse
Toggle depth levels
Hover for page details
Drag and scroll to navigate
⚙️ How this view works
URLs are parsed into hierarchical segments, forming a tree structure based on path depth.
🌲Crawl Tree (Actual Crawl Path)
🌲Crawl Tree (Actual Crawl Path)
A visualization of the actual crawl path taken by search engines.
▶ What this view shows
Real crawl discovery order
Parent-child crawl relationships
Crawl depth from the homepage
Pages flagged as prunable
▶ How to read it visually
Left-to-right flow shows crawl progression
Deeper levels = more clicks required
Highlighted nodes indicate low-value pages
▶ What problems this helps you detect
Important pages discovered too late
Crawl inefficiencies
Pages requiring too many clicks
Weak internal link signals
▶ Recommended actions
Reduce crawl depth for priority pages
Add internal links earlier in the crawl path
Remove unnecessary crawl paths
Improve crawl efficiency
▶ How to interact with the UI
Toggle depth levels
Hover for metrics
Click nodes to open URLs
Reset view to re-center
⚙️ How this view works
This view reflects the crawler’s real traversal order, not just theoretical hierarchy.
🔗 Link Flow Diagram
🔗 Link Flow Diagram
A visual map of how internal link equity flows between sections.
▶ What this view shows
Site sections arranged in a circular layout
Ribbons representing internal links
Ribbon thickness indicating link volume
▶ How to read it visually
Thick ribbons = strong link flow
Thin or missing ribbons = weak connections
Balanced sections = healthy architecture
▶ What problems this helps you detect
Siloed content
Uneven authority distribution
Missed cross-linking opportunities
▶ Recommended actions
Add links between related sections
Strengthen authority flow to priority areas
Balance internal linking strategy
▶ How to interact with the UI
Hover sections to highlight connections
Hover ribbons for link counts
Click sections to filter
⚙️ How this view works (advanced)
Internal links are aggregated by section and visualized as directional flows.
🧠 LDA Topic Analysis
🧠 LDA Topic Analysis
A semantic view of what your content is actually about.
▶ What this view shows
Topics represented as bubbles
Topic size reflecting prevalence
Keywords associated with each topic
Pages probabilistically mapped to topics
▶ How to read it visually
Large bubbles = dominant topics
Overlapping bubbles = related themes
Distant bubbles = distinct topics
▶ What problems this helps you detect
Overlapping or redundant content
Missing topical coverage
Weak topical authority areas
▶ Recommended actions
Fill content gaps
Consolidate overlapping articles
Strengthen internal linking within topics
Align content with search intent
▶ How to interact with the UI
Click topics to view keywords
Adjust relevance weighting
Switch between bubble and detailed views
Click topics to see associated pages
⚙️ How this view works
Topic modeling groups pages based on semantic similarity across the site.
🎯 Why Site Lens Matters
🎯 Why Site Lens Matters
Site Lens turns SEO from analysis into visual understanding.
By combining:
Crawl depth
Internal links
Hierarchy
Link equity
Topical relevance
…Site Lens gives you a complete mental model of your website, exactly as search engines experience it.
Site Lens is not one visualization — it’s six complementary lenses on the same truth:
Your site’s structure determines how value flows, how pages rank, and how content is discovered.
Use Site Lens to:
Find what’s hidden
Fix what’s broken
Strengthen what matters
Build with intention