Topic cluster
One broad hub page plus focused articles on its subtopics, all interlinked, so a site reads as the authority on one subject.
See it
What it is
A topic cluster is one broad pillar page covering a subject end to end, plus a set of narrower articles that each take one subtopic in depth. The pillar links out to every cluster page, and every cluster page links back to the pillar. HubSpot popularized the model in 2017, and it stuck because it maps to how engines actually read a site: coverage and interlinking, not one page stuffed with keywords.
Reach for it when you want to own a subject rather than a phrase. The structure builds topical authority, gives every new article an obvious home and an obvious set of internal links, and stops pages fighting each other because each one owns exactly one search intent.
Gotcha: clusters rot when subtopics overlap. If two cluster pages answer the same question with different titles, you have built cannibalization with extra steps. Draw the boundaries by intent, one page per question a reader would actually ask. Second trap: a pillar that is only a table of contents is thin content. It has to stand alone as the best single overview of the subject, with the links living inside real editorial sentences rather than a dumped list at the bottom.
Ask AI for it
Design a topic cluster for [subject] aimed at [audience]. Give me one pillar page plus 8 to 12 supporting articles. For each row: working title, the exact search intent it owns (stated as the one question a reader is asking), the primary query, and the 2 to 3 sibling pages it should link to with suggested descriptive anchor text. Rules: no two pages may answer the same question; the pillar must work as a standalone overview, not a link list; order the supporting articles by what I should publish first based on how winnable each one is. Flag any existing page of mine that a new one would overlap with.