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AI Search Score Independent AI-readiness audits for WordPress.

How to use native links and buttons instead of clickable divs

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AI Search Score checks that interactive elements are real <a> links and <button> buttons — not <div>s or <span>s with click handlers bolted on.

Why this matters

AI agents navigate by the accessibility tree, and they rely on real interactive elements they can recognise and operate. A <div onclick="..."> looks clickable to a sighted human but is invisible or unusable to an agent or screen reader. Native <a> and <button> elements are understood everywhere, keyboard-accessible, and agent-ready.

How to fix it

  • Use <a href="..."> for anything that navigates somewhere.
  • Use <button> for anything that triggers an action on the page.
  • Avoid <div>/<span> with onclick as interactive controls. If you’ve inherited some, convert them to native elements.

This is also a Google agentic-readiness signal — native controls are what agents can reliably click.

How to check it worked

Re-scan. “Native interactive elements” should turn green. If it’s failing, look for clickable divs/spans (often from a page builder) and convert them.

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