# Keyword clustering tool: from one seed to a pillar-and-spoke plan. A keyword clustering tool that starts from a seed topic, reads the live SERP, researches the subtopics and returns a pillar-and-spoke plan mapped to pages. _Source: https://mentionova.com/product/keyword-clustering-tool_ Start from the topic you want to own. A Mentionova grid template reads what Google ranks for it, mines the subtopics with grounded research, and returns a pillar page with its spokes, each with the keywords it should target. _Illustrative product view: The Cluster keywords & analyze SERP template on a payments keyword set: topics found, each mapped to a page._ ## Two thousand keyword rows. Which ones share a page? A keyword export tells you volume, not structure. Grouped by eye or by shared words, it turns into pages that compete with each other and topics nobody owns. ## A keyword list isn't a plan. This is. Watch one seed turn into the pages to write: the results Google ranks, the subtopics they cover, and a pillar with its spokes. ## A flat list, or a plan with a pillar. - A keyword export is sorted by volume. The template starts from one seed keyword and reads its live Google results first. - Instead of grouping rows by shared words, a grounded research column mines the subtopics buyers search around the seed. - What comes back is a plan, not a list: one pillar page and the spoke pages around it, each with its keywords, as validated JSON. ## Inside the template - **1** seed keyword (The plan starts from one keyword and its live Google results.) - **3** columns (Google search, grounded research and an AI prompt.) - **1 + 6** pillar and spokes (In the plan on this page: one pillar page, six spokes, each with its keywords.) ## From plan to drafts, in one table. Send the pillar and spokes to a grid and each page becomes a row: its live results, grounded research, a brief, the article, then its title and meta, all in one table. - A research brief per page - A full draft, then title and meta - Grounded in the live results for each topic > The AI-visibility workflows have been a goldmine for booked calls and closed deals. Up and up and to the right — the only direction it goes! > > Mark Regal, SaaS Founder ## Questions, answered. ### What is a keyword clustering tool? A keyword clustering tool groups keywords into sets one page can target together, so you write one strong page instead of several that compete. Some tools sort an existing export by the ranking URLs its keywords share. Mentionova works from the other end: start from a seed topic, read what Google ranks for it, research the subtopics, and get back a pillar page with the spoke pages around it, each with the keywords it should target. ### What is a pillar-and-spoke plan? A pillar-and-spoke plan, often called a topic cluster, is one broad pillar page on a topic linked to narrower spoke pages that each answer one subtopic in depth. The pillar targets the head term; each spoke targets its own group of keywords and links back. The structure keeps your pages from competing with each other and gives search engines and AI answers one clear page per question. ### What do I need to start keyword clustering? A seed keyword for each topic you want to own. Add one row per seed, set the location, and run the template. It reads the seed's top 10 Google results, mines subtopics with grounded research, and returns a pillar page with its spokes and the keywords each should target. ### How is this different from clustering a keyword export by SERP overlap? Overlap tools start from a long export and group keywords whose results share URLs. This template starts from a seed: it reads what Google ranks for it, researches the subtopics searchers and AI answers cover, and plans the pillar and spoke pages to cover them. It's built for planning a topic, not for sorting a spreadsheet you already have. ### What happens after the plan is built? Send the spokes to a content grid and each becomes a row: draft a brief, write it, check citations across the six AI engines and keep it in your brand voice. Nothing publishes until you approve it. ### Does keyword clustering help with AI search too? It helps you build the pages AI search draws on. A page built around one spoke answers a set of related questions in one place instead of spreading them across several thin pages. Track the matching prompts in Mentionova and you can see whether ChatGPT, Perplexity and the other engines cite that page once it ships. ### Is the keyword clustering tool a separate product? No. It runs as a grid template inside Mentionova, next to workflows, prompt tracking and the opportunities queue. Workflows and grids are part of every paid plan, from Starter for brands and Launch for agencies upward, and every paid plan starts with a free trial. ## Related products - [Content Gap Analysis](https://mentionova.com/product/content-gap-analysis): Every prompt where a rival is named and you're not, grouped into topics, each mapped to the page that closes it. - [Content Optimizer](https://mentionova.com/product/content-optimizer): Search Console, AI citations and the live SERP for every slipping page, with a refresh brief drafted per row. - [SEO Automation](https://mentionova.com/product/seo-automation): Scheduled workflows that pull your data, research, draft and publish, pausing for a person's review before anything goes live. --- _Mentionova, https://mentionova.com. Markdown rendering of the page above for AI readers._