How about an "exhibit" tag that points to an id value or some other selector 
value, like:

<p>
The list of top 10 frauds<exhibit style = "vertical-align: super;" href =
"#My_List">1</exhibit> shows that ...
</p>

It could be done with a "click = 'no-click'" attribute for an anchor tag 
too.

A sighted human might not need a real link to the exhibit. If the exhibit is 
wrapped by the block of text containing the link, a regular link in the text 
would be a waste to click because it wouldn't lead anywhere. Bots that want 
all information that goes with a paragraph might like it.

Maybe they should be called "referential links" or "semantic links."