Link rot
Link rot is the way links on the web break over time, as the pages they point to move, change or disappear.
Link rot is what happens to links as the web ages. Pages move, sites close, articles are edited, and the links pointing at them stop working. A link that worked when it was written now leads to an error page, or to something else entirely.
For a marketer it cuts both ways. Links to your site rot, so you lose visitors and some of the value those links gave your pages. And links on your site rot, so your own pages send readers to dead ends.
How it happens
The most common cause is a change of address. A site moves to a new platform, renames its sections or merges two blogs, and nobody redirects the old addresses. Other links rot because the page they point to is deleted, the domain expires, or the content behind them is swapped for something unrelated.
For example, say Harrow & Pine publishes a guide to caring for oak furniture, and fifty other sites link to it over three years. Then the site moves to a new shop platform, and the guide's address changes. All fifty links now lead to an error page, and nothing on Harrow & Pine's side tells it so.
Link rot and AI answers
AI platforms link to the pages they used. If the page an answer cites is moved without a redirect, the link in the answer leads nowhere, and the next time the platform's bot comes back it finds an error. A page a bot can't read can't be used in the next answer.
So when you move or retire a page, redirect its old address to the closest page that still exists. It keeps links working for people, for search engines and for the AI platforms' bots.
In AnswerOrbit
The Bot visits tab in Website shows which pages the AI bots read and which of their requests failed, once you connect your server logs. Recommendations can suggest fixing pages on your site that return an error to bots.