Topic clusters are groups of related keywords and content ideas organized around a central theme. Covering a subject in depth builds topical authority, which signals expertise to both search engines and AI platforms and improves your visibility across both.

When you set up a Brand, SnowSEO analyses your domain and automatically generates topic cluster suggestions from your existing content and keyword landscape. You do not need to enter seed keywords manually. Clusters appear on their own and keep updating as your site grows.

Each cluster is filled with two kinds of thing:

Treating both as first-class members of a cluster is what makes the map useful. A topic you dominate on Google can still be invisible in AI answers, and the map shows you both at once.

Go to Topic Clusters in the sidebar and switch from List to Map using the toggle in the top left.

Your brand sits at the center. Every topic cluster orbits around it, and distance from the center means topical closeness. The rings are labelled:

Each cluster shows as an outlined circle with a short badge and its name. Around it sit the individual keywords and prompts, and the shape tells you which is which:

Color tells you the coverage status:

Coverage is worked out by matching each keyword and prompt against the articles and scheduled items across your whole Brand, so an article written months ago still counts. A single keyword can be covered by more than one article.

Two controls in the bottom right are worth knowing. Filter narrows the map by status or type, and Competitors lets you view the map through the lens of a specific competitor rather than all of them at once.

Click any keyword or prompt to plan an article for it. The legend in the top left says exactly that, and it is the main thing the map is for.

Clicking one opens a small panel showing:

The thing you clicked becomes the article's primary target. SnowSEO then automatically picks a complementary target of the opposite kind from the same cluster: click a keyword and it finds a matching prompt, click a prompt and it finds a matching keyword. It prefers something that is also uncovered, so one article closes two gaps.

Every planned article covers both a keyword and a prompt. That is deliberate: an article written only for Google tends not to get cited by AI assistants, and an article written only for AI tends not to rank. Targeting both is what moves an atom from Uncovered to Covered on both sides.

If you prefer a table, the List view shows the same clusters with counts and lets you sort by coverage.

No. SnowSEO keeps clusters updated automatically. New keyword and prompt suggestions surface without you re-entering seed keywords each time, and competitor gaps refresh as your competitors publish.

You can still add your own with New Topic in the top right, or add keywords and prompts to an existing cluster.

Do topic clusters or the map use AI credits?
No. Building, refreshing, and browsing clusters is free. Only generating the article itself costs credits.

How is topical authority scored?
SnowSEO tracks how well your content covers each cluster relative to competitors, and reflects this in the Topical Authority score on your Overview dashboard.

Can I create custom clusters?
Yes. Use New Topic to add your own, and add keywords and prompts to any existing cluster to match your content strategy.

Is there a limit on clusters?
No. Topic clusters are unlimited on all paid plans.

Why is something still Uncovered when I wrote about it?
Coverage matches on the keyword or prompt text. If your article approaches the topic with different wording, add that keyword or prompt to the article so the map can connect the two.

Need help?
Email [email protected] or use the in-app chat.