diff --git a/packages/exojs-bench/src/suite/catalog.ts b/packages/exojs-bench/src/suite/catalog.ts
index bbde2b17f..b34ed4105 100644
--- a/packages/exojs-bench/src/suite/catalog.ts
+++ b/packages/exojs-bench/src/suite/catalog.ts
@@ -102,11 +102,6 @@ export const loadIdFor = (value: number): string => {
  * scene on those, so they are development rows and never a published comparison.
  * They keep running under `full` through the domain ladder.
  */
-/**
- * `fx-blur` is deliberately absent. It is measured, but its two arms do not
- * produce the same picture (see its archetype), so it is an internal probe
- * rather than a published comparison and has no business in a reference plan.
- */
 export const RENDERING_SCENARIOS: readonly ScenarioLoads[] = [
   {
     scenarioId: 'static-heavy',
diff --git a/scripts/ci/lanes.ts b/scripts/ci/lanes.ts
index 027f9921b..999104a0b 100644
--- a/scripts/ci/lanes.ts
+++ b/scripts/ci/lanes.ts
@@ -227,6 +227,7 @@ const ALL_AREAS: LaneAreas = {
   benchStructural: true,
   release: true,
   guides: true,
+  siteData: true,
   createExoApp: true,
 };
 
diff --git a/scripts/ci/select-lanes.ts b/scripts/ci/select-lanes.ts
index 8378e942e..93d0e6400 100644
--- a/scripts/ci/select-lanes.ts
+++ b/scripts/ci/select-lanes.ts
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ export interface LaneAreas {
   benchStructural: boolean;
   release: boolean;
   guides: boolean;
+  siteData: boolean;
   createExoApp: boolean;
 }
 
@@ -259,6 +260,41 @@ const isBenchStructuralPath = (file: string): boolean => {
  */
 const isGuidesPath = (file: string): boolean => file.startsWith('site/src/content/');
 
+/**
+ * Site-data area: the sources the remaining `test/site/**` suites read. Same
+ * reasoning as `isGuidesPath` - those suites live under `test/`, so they run on
+ * every engine change and would otherwise never run on the change they exist to
+ * check.
+ *
+ *   - `site/src/lib/`                    every site suite that is not a guide
+ *                                        suite imports from here (bench cards
+ *                                        and profiles, playground navigation,
+ *                                        URL state, the example catalog, source
+ *                                        snippets, footgun diagnostics).
+ *   - `examples/`                        the catalog sources and their generated
+ *                                        twins, which `examples-sync`,
+ *                                        `runtime-dts` and `assets-global-dts`
+ *                                        read directly.
+ *   - `packages/exojs-bench/results/`    the committed profiles, which
+ *                                        `site/src/lib/bench-profiles` globs and
+ *                                        three suites validate. The bench
+ *                                        package is not a runtime package and
+ *                                        the structural gate covers only `src/`,
+ *                                        `test/` and `baselines/`, so a
+ *                                        profile-only commit reaches no other
+ *                                        area that runs a test.
+ *
+ * Deliberately not `site/src/pages/` or `site/src/components/`: no suite reads
+ * them, and the site build already gates on the wider `site` area.
+ */
+const isSiteDataPath = (file: string): boolean => {
+  if (isDocPath(file)) return false;
+  if (file.startsWith('site/src/lib/')) return true;
+  if (file.startsWith('examples/')) return true;
+  if (file.startsWith('packages/exojs-bench/results/')) return true;
+  return false;
+};
+
 /**
  * create-exo-app area: the scaffolding CLI is a standalone package with no
  * engine or browser impact, so it is deliberately outside `RUNTIME_PACKAGES`
@@ -294,6 +330,7 @@ export const selectAreas = (changedFiles: readonly string[]): LaneAreas => {
   let benchStructural = false;
   let release = false;
   let guides = false;
+  let siteData = false;
   let createExoApp = false;
   for (const raw of changedFiles) {
     // Normalise Windows separators and trim stray whitespace/blank entries.
@@ -307,10 +344,11 @@ export const selectAreas = (changedFiles: readonly string[]): LaneAreas => {
     if (!benchStructural && isBenchStructuralPath(file)) benchStructural = true;
     if (!release && isReleasePath(file)) release = true;
     if (!guides && isGuidesPath(file)) guides = true;
+    if (!siteData && isSiteDataPath(file)) siteData = true;
     if (!createExoApp && isCreateExoAppPath(file)) createExoApp = true;
-    if (engine && site && audioFx && tilemapWorker && exampleCatalog && benchStructural && release && guides && createExoApp) break;
+    if (engine && site && audioFx && tilemapWorker && exampleCatalog && benchStructural && release && guides && siteData && createExoApp) break;
   }
-  return { engine, site, audioFx, tilemapWorker, exampleCatalog, benchStructural, release, guides, createExoApp };
+  return { engine, site, audioFx, tilemapWorker, exampleCatalog, benchStructural, release, guides, siteData, createExoApp };
 };
 
 /**
@@ -328,16 +366,17 @@ export const selectAreas = (changedFiles: readonly string[]): LaneAreas => {
  *   - bench-structural-gate gates on `benchStructural` (rendering source, the
  *     bench harness, or the committed counter baseline);
  *   - the unit lane also gates on `guides` (guide content under
- *     `site/src/content/**`, which the `test/site/guide-*` suites validate);
+ *     `site/src/content/**`, which the `test/site/guide-*` suites validate) and
+ *     on `siteData` (the sources the remaining `test/site/**` suites read);
  *   - create-exo-app-verify gates on `createExoApp`, independent of `engine`
  *     (the scaffolder has no engine or browser impact of its own).
  */
 export const effectiveLanes = (areas: LaneAreas): EffectiveLanes => {
-  const { engine, site, audioFx, tilemapWorker, exampleCatalog, benchStructural, release, guides, createExoApp } = areas;
+  const { engine, site, audioFx, tilemapWorker, exampleCatalog, benchStructural, release, guides, siteData, createExoApp } = areas;
   return {
     typecheck: true,
     lint: true,
-    unit: engine || guides,
+    unit: engine || guides || siteData,
     coverage: engine,
     browserWebgl2: engine,
     browserWebgpu: engine,
diff --git a/scripts/lanes.ts b/scripts/lanes.ts
index c55953833..7da14b04b 100644
--- a/scripts/lanes.ts
+++ b/scripts/lanes.ts
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ const ALL_AREAS: LaneAreas = {
   benchStructural: true,
   release: true,
   guides: true,
+  siteData: true,
   createExoApp: true,
 };
 
diff --git a/scripts/verify-bench-results.ts b/scripts/verify-bench-results.ts
index d619cf166..b602851bb 100644
--- a/scripts/verify-bench-results.ts
+++ b/scripts/verify-bench-results.ts
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import { readdirSync, readFileSync, statSync } from 'node:fs';
 import { basename, extname, join, resolve } from 'node:path';
 
 import { isProfileSlug, SUPPORTED_BENCH_PROFILE_SCHEMA_VERSIONS } from '../packages/exojs-bench/src/profile/schema.ts';
+import { scenariosFor } from '../packages/exojs-bench/src/suite/catalog.ts';
 import { computeProfileSignature, PROFILE_SIGNATURE_ALGORITHM } from '../packages/exojs-bench/src/profile/signature.ts';
 
 const REPO_ROOT = resolve(import.meta.dirname, '..');
@@ -208,6 +209,46 @@ const CELL_FIELDS = ['competitor', 'referenceMs', 'competitorMs', 'verdict', 'ti
  */
 const ROW_FIELDS_SINCE = 7;
 
+/**
+ * Cells the `reference` plan selects for one domain, as `archetype/loadId`.
+ */
+const referencePlanOf = (domain: 'rendering' | 'physics'): ReadonlySet<string> =>
+  new Set(scenariosFor(domain).flatMap(scenario => scenario.loads.filter(load => load.reference).map(load => `${scenario.scenarioId}/${load.loadId}`)));
+
+/**
+ * A published profile has to be a `reference` run. The `full` suite adds the
+ * development rungs and the ExoJS-internal probes, whose competitor arms render
+ * some other scene - publishing them would put a comparison on the page that was
+ * never one. Nothing else in this gate can tell the two suites apart: both carry
+ * the same shape, the same provenance and a signature that recomputes, because
+ * both were measured rather than typed.
+ *
+ * Only the extra rows fail. A profile may hold fewer cells than the plan - an arm
+ * that refused a scenario leaves a gap, and that is a measurement outcome.
+ */
+const checkReferencePlan = (domain: 'rendering' | 'physics', section: unknown, where: string, problems: string[]): void => {
+  const rows = isRecord(section) ? section['rows'] : undefined;
+
+  if (!Array.isArray(rows)) return;
+
+  const plan = referencePlanOf(domain);
+
+  for (const [index, row] of rows.entries()) {
+    if (!isRecord(row)) continue;
+
+    const archetype = row['archetype'];
+    const loadId = row['loadId'];
+
+    if (typeof archetype !== 'string' || typeof loadId !== 'string') continue;
+
+    if (!plan.has(`${archetype}/${loadId}`)) {
+      problems.push(
+        `${where}.rows[${String(index)}] publishes '${archetype}/${loadId}', which the reference plan does not select - this looks like a 'full' run`,
+      );
+    }
+  }
+};
+
 /** Every row and cell of one published section carries the fields its schema version promises. */
 const checkModelRows = (section: unknown, where: string, problems: string[]): void => {
   const rows = isRecord(section) ? section['rows'] : undefined;
@@ -405,7 +446,10 @@ const checkProfile = (path: string): string[] => {
           const sections = isRecord(block) ? block['sections'] : undefined;
 
           for (const [sectionIndex, section] of (Array.isArray(sections) ? sections : []).entries()) {
-            checkModelRows(section, `rendering.backends[${String(index)}].sections[${String(sectionIndex)}]`, problems);
+            const sectionWhere = `rendering.backends[${String(index)}].sections[${String(sectionIndex)}]`;
+
+            checkModelRows(section, sectionWhere, problems);
+            checkReferencePlan('rendering', section, sectionWhere, problems);
           }
         }
       }
@@ -436,6 +480,7 @@ const checkProfile = (path: string): string[] => {
         problems.push('physics.section is missing');
       } else if (version >= ROW_FIELDS_SINCE) {
         checkModelRows(physics['section'], 'physics.section', problems);
+        checkReferencePlan('physics', physics['section'], 'physics.section', problems);
       }
 
       armVersions.push(...checkLibraries(physics, 'physics', problems));
diff --git a/test/ci/lane-commands.test.ts b/test/ci/lane-commands.test.ts
index eccaca754..79a435b7b 100644
--- a/test/ci/lane-commands.test.ts
+++ b/test/ci/lane-commands.test.ts
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ const allLaneKeys = Object.keys(
     benchStructural: true,
     release: true,
     guides: true,
+    siteData: true,
     createExoApp: true,
   }),
 );
diff --git a/test/ci/select-lanes.test.ts b/test/ci/select-lanes.test.ts
index 63080a507..cfa7efc8e 100644
--- a/test/ci/select-lanes.test.ts
+++ b/test/ci/select-lanes.test.ts
@@ -342,8 +342,11 @@ describe('CI lane selection - example-smoke lane', () => {
     expect(lanes.siteBuild).toBe(true);
     // The catalog is not engine code.
     expect(areas.engine).toBe(false);
-    expect(lanes.unit).toBe(false);
     expect(lanes.browserWebgl2).toBe(false);
+    // It IS site data: `examples-sync` fails a `.ts` edit whose generated `.js`
+    // twin was not regenerated, and that suite runs in the unit lane.
+    expect(areas.siteData).toBe(true);
+    expect(lanes.unit).toBe(true);
   });
 
   it('the generated `.js` twin and the catalog manifest run the lane too', () => {
@@ -478,3 +481,44 @@ describe('CI lane selection - bench structural gate', () => {
     expect(decide('.github/workflows/ci.yml').lanes.benchStructural).toBe(true);
   });
 });
+
+describe('CI lane selection — site data gates the unit lane', () => {
+  it('a committed bench profile runs the unit lane that validates it', () => {
+    const { areas, lanes } = decide('packages/exojs-bench/results/rtx-5070-ti-windows-11-chromium.json');
+    expect(areas.siteData).toBe(true);
+    expect(areas.engine).toBe(false);
+    expect(areas.benchStructural).toBe(false);
+    expect(lanes.unit).toBe(true);
+    expect(lanes.coverage).toBe(false);
+    expect(lanes.packageVerify).toBe(false);
+    expect(lanes.browserWebgl2).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('a site library change runs the unit lane, without pulling in the rest of engine', () => {
+    const { areas, lanes } = decide('site/src/lib/bench-cards.ts');
+    expect(areas.siteData).toBe(true);
+    expect(areas.engine).toBe(false);
+    expect(lanes.unit).toBe(true);
+    expect(lanes.browserWebgl2).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('an example source change runs the unit lane alongside the smoke', () => {
+    const { areas, lanes } = decide('examples/rendering/sprites/basic.ts');
+    expect(areas.siteData).toBe(true);
+    expect(lanes.unit).toBe(true);
+    expect(lanes.exampleSmoke).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('site pages and components stay out of the area: no suite reads them', () => {
+    const { areas, lanes } = decide('site/src/pages/index.astro', 'site/src/components/Nav.astro');
+    expect(areas.siteData).toBe(false);
+    expect(lanes.unit).toBe(false);
+    expect(lanes.siteBuild).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('a bench package README stays prose: no unit lane', () => {
+    const { areas, lanes } = decide('packages/exojs-bench/README.md');
+    expect(areas.siteData).toBe(false);
+    expect(lanes.unit).toBe(false);
+  });
+});