Am I not understanding what "Clearance Sacrifice" means? Or is this puzzle just mis-categorized?

Is this not just a trade?

I really don't want to get into the habit of calling tactics by names that don't define them.

So the question is, can a trade that opens up a "clearance" path leading to mate or a win of material actually be called a "Clearance Sacrifice" if no sacrifice actually occurs?

Are these categorizations sometimes loosely defined?

If not, how should this tactic be correctly defined?

I agree. It looks like a trade. You could call it Attraction. The exchange is intended to attract Black's bishop onto c6 (otherwise the rook is lost) where it becomes the target for a fork. Black's bishop is the target and the pawn is a little bonus.

Yes, the tags are not always correct. They apparently come from users voting for them, which obviously depends on the users knowing their terminology.