Contextual Related Posts caches its resolved related-post list per post in a crp_cache postmeta key, with the algorithm using fulltext matches plus configurable taxonomy weights. Each cluster entry carries a relevance score, and the plugin exposes both the resolved list and the underlying scoring through a clean PHP API.

The reason an editor installs Contextual Related Posts is to keep readers in the cluster after the first click. The share of any one post is, by extension, the share of the entire cluster behind it. Default OG generators see only the single post and never look at the cluster, so the share strips out the very feature that the plugin was installed to provide.

SleekPixel reads crp_cache for the current post to find the resolved related list, counts entries above the configured threshold, and renders a per-post OG image that surfaces the cluster size. Optional fields include the shared categories driving the relevance and the top-related title as a teaser, so a richly clustered piece previews as part of a richer reading thread.

Contextual Related Posts is installed for the second pageview. The whole game is to convert a first click into a deeper reading session through the related widget. The default WordPress OG image strips out the cluster entirely and pretends every share is a standalone post.

That is not just inaccurate, it actively undersells the share. A SleekPixel card that surfaces cluster size, names the shared categories, and teases the top-related title turns the link into a piece of recruitment for the cluster as well as the single post. The fields already live in crp_cache.

The plugin computes them anyway for the widget. SleekPixel reads what CRP already writes and regenerates the OG image on every cache rebuild. Across a year of growing an evergreen content site, that is hundreds of automatically refreshed previews aligning every share with the depth that the rest of the site quietly provides.