diff --git a/tests/e2e-data-fixtures.test.mjs b/tests/e2e-data-fixtures.test.mjs
index 92ed1e35..c3027a89 100644
--- a/tests/e2e-data-fixtures.test.mjs
+++ b/tests/e2e-data-fixtures.test.mjs
@@ -326,6 +326,15 @@ test('a data file patched by both directories collects both overlays', () => {
   const groups = join(DATA_DIR, 'community-groups.json');
   assert.deepEqual(overlayPathsFor(groups, { E2E_COVERAGE_VARIANT: '1' }), [
     join(FIXTURE_DIR, 'community-groups.json'),
+    join(VARIANT_FIXTURE_DIR, 'community-groups.json'),
+  ]);
+  // The contrast case: a file the ordinary coverage build overlays and the
+  // variant build has nothing to add to still collects one path, which is
+  // what proves the variant directory is consulted only when it has
+  // something to say rather than always appended.
+  const catalog = join(DATA_DIR, 'architectures', 'catalog.json');
+  assert.deepEqual(overlayPathsFor(catalog, { E2E_COVERAGE_VARIANT: '1' }), [
+    join(FIXTURE_DIR, 'architectures', 'catalog.json'),
   ]);
 });
 
diff --git a/tests/e2e/fixtures/data-variants/community-groups.json b/tests/e2e/fixtures/data-variants/community-groups.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..eabfa177
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/e2e/fixtures/data-variants/community-groups.json
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+{
+  "description": "Appends a second drifted group and makes checkedAt unparseable, so GroupLinkStatus renders the plural arms of its drift warning (src/components/GroupLinkStatus/index.js lines 32-33) and takes formatDate's Number.isNaN guard at line 7. The ordinary coverage overlay appends exactly one archived group, so that build renders the singular grammar and the verification line; both arms are only reachable in one Playwright run because the variant build is served beside the real one. The appended group drifts through reachable:false rather than archived:true so the filter's second operand decides it, as a link-check run that cannot reach the repository produces.",
+  "set": {
+    "checkedAt": "not a timestamp"
+  },
+  "append": {
+    "groups": [
+      {
+        "slug": "e2e-coverage-unreachable",
+        "name": "Second Coverage Fixture User Group",
+        "repository": "https://github.com/cncf/endusers",
+        "archived": false,
+        "reachable": false
+      }
+    ]
+  }
+}
diff --git a/tests/e2e/group-link-status-variant.spec.js b/tests/e2e/group-link-status-variant.spec.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..130203b5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/e2e/group-link-status-variant.spec.js
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+// End-to-end coverage for the plural arms of src/components/GroupLinkStatus/
+// index.js and for formatDate's invalid-date guard, which need a build of
+// their own.
+//
+// The component reads data/community-groups.json at module scope and renders
+// two things the checked-in corpus cannot vary:
+//
+//   line  7  `if (Number.isNaN(parsed.getTime())) return null;` — formatDate
+//            returns null for a checkedAt that does not parse, which drops
+//            the "Upstream group links last verified on ..." line entirely;
+//   lines 32-33  `stale.length === 1 ? 'has an' : 'have'` and
+//            `stale.length === 1 ? 'repository' : 'repositories'` — the
+//            plural grammar of the drift warning.
+//
+// Neither is reachable against the data the site ships. Both real groups are
+// archived:false / reachable:true, and tests/e2e/fixtures/data/
+// community-groups.json appends exactly one archived group, so the ordinary
+// coverage build has `stale.length === 1` and always takes the singular arm.
+// The real checkedAt is a valid ISO timestamp, so line 7 never returns.
+//
+// Two groups drifting at once is an ordinary shape rather than defensive dead
+// code: `npm run check:community-group-links` sets `archived` and `reachable`
+// on every group independently, so a run that finds two repositories gone is
+// exactly what produces it.
+//
+// This is not a case tests/e2e/data-fixtures.spec.js can take. That file
+// covers the branches an *additive* overlay reaches, where an extra record
+// renders beside the real ones and nothing already covered stops rendering.
+// Here the two arms of each ternary are mutually exclusive on one page, and
+// clearing checkedAt removes the verification line that the ordinary build
+// covers — so overlaying once would swap which arm is reachable rather than
+// add a case. They belong to the variant build for the same reason
+// AwardsTimeline's provenance paragraph does; see the preamble of
+// tests/e2e/data-variants.spec.js for the mechanism. `npm run
+// build:e2e:coverage` compiles a second site under /e2e-coverage-variant/
+// with tests/e2e/fixtures/data-variants/** layered on, one `docusaurus serve`
+// offers both, and the report unions what each build reached.
+//
+// The real route is asserted alongside the variant one. On its own, an
+// assertion that the variant page says "repositories" passes just as well
+// when the page failed to build or the route is wrong; pairing it with the
+// real route rendering "repository" is what makes the pair evidence that the
+// arms *switched* rather than that one of them is all the site ever renders.
+import { test, expect } from '../tools/e2e-coverage.cjs';
+import { loadSiteData } from '../tools/e2e-data-fixtures.cjs';
+
+const COMMUNITY_PATH = '/community';
+const VARIANT_BASE = '/e2e-coverage-variant';
+const VERIFIED_LINE = /Upstream group links last verified on/;
+const SINGULAR = /has an archived or unreachable upstream repository —/;
+const PLURAL = /have archived or unreachable upstream repositories —/;
+
+// The variant site is only built by the coverage run; outside it the base
+// path does not exist and the ordinary page still has a parseable checkedAt.
+const describeCoverage =
+  process.env.E2E_COVERAGE === '1' ? test.describe : test.describe.skip;
+
+const COVERAGE_ENV = { E2E_COVERAGE: '1' };
+const VARIANT_ENV = { E2E_COVERAGE: '1', E2E_COVERAGE_VARIANT: '1' };
+
+// Read the corpus through the overlays rather than hard-coding names or a
+// count, so an edited overlay fails here instead of leaving a test that
+// asserts nothing.
+const isStale = (group) => group.archived || group.reachable === false;
+const groups = loadSiteData('community-groups.json', COVERAGE_ENV);
+const variantGroups = loadSiteData('community-groups.json', VARIANT_ENV);
+const stale = groups.groups.filter(isStale);
+const variantStale = variantGroups.groups.filter(isStale);
+
+describeCoverage('a link check that found more than one group drifting', () => {
+  test('the real page dates its verification line and uses the singular', async ({
+    page,
+  }) => {
+    // The premise of the whole file: against the data the coverage build
+    // ships, both arms below are unreachable.
+    expect(stale).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(new Date(groups.checkedAt).getTime()).not.toBeNaN();
+
+    await page.goto(COMMUNITY_PATH);
+    await expect(page.getByText(VERIFIED_LINE)).toBeVisible();
+    const warning = page.getByText(SINGULAR);
+    await expect(warning).toBeVisible();
+    await expect(warning).toContainText(stale[0].name);
+    await expect(page.getByText(PLURAL)).toHaveCount(0);
+  });
+
+  test('the variant page drops the verification line and uses the plural', async ({
+    page,
+  }) => {
+    expect(variantStale.length).toBeGreaterThan(1);
+    // What line 7 turns on: the overlaid checkedAt is present but does not
+    // parse, so formatDate reaches its guard instead of returning early on a
+    // missing field.
+    expect(variantGroups.checkedAt).toBeTruthy();
+    expect(new Date(variantGroups.checkedAt).getTime()).toBeNaN();
+
+    await page.goto(`${VARIANT_BASE}${COMMUNITY_PATH}`);
+    // The route built and served: the page's own heading is prose around the
+    // component, so it renders whether or not the corpus has anything to say.
+    await expect(
+      page.getByRole('heading', { name: 'Community', level: 1 }),
+    ).toBeVisible();
+    // formatDate returned null, so the verification line is gone rather than
+    // rendering "Invalid Date".
+    await expect(page.getByText(VERIFIED_LINE)).toHaveCount(0);
+    await expect(page.getByText(/Invalid Date/)).toHaveCount(0);
+    const warning = page.getByText(PLURAL);
+    await expect(warning).toBeVisible();
+    // Both drifted groups are named, which is what distinguishes the plural
+    // arm rendering from the list simply having changed.
+    for (const group of variantStale) {
+      await expect(warning).toContainText(group.name);
+    }
+    await expect(page.getByText(SINGULAR)).toHaveCount(0);
+  });
+});