## **🔍 What Is the DKN and Why Might It Need a Reset?**

Your **Domain Knowledge Network (DKN)** is the foundation Search Atlas uses to understand your website's topical structure. It maps your content into interconnected nodes — one per page or topic — to power recommendations across Content Genius and OTTO SEO.

Over time, your DKN may develop issues such as:

- **Duplicate or overlapping nodes** — the same page is recognised as multiple distinct nodes.
- **Stale or poisoned keywords** — node keywords carry over incorrect or mismatched data from earlier builds.
- **Corrupted titles** — node titles contain disambiguation code that was not cleaned up automatically.
- **Mismatched data after a project switch** — data from a previous project appears in a new project's DKN.

If your DKN contains any of these problems, resetting it and rebuilding from scratch is usually the fastest way to restore accurate topical mapping.

## **⚠️ Before You Reset: What to Know**

Please read the following carefully before proceeding:

- A **full DKN reset is irreversible**. All existing nodes, keyword assignments, and topical connections for the project will be permanently deleted.
- After a reset, the DKN must be **fully rebuilt**. Rebuilding time depends on the size of your domain and the number of pages crawled.
- Any **Content Strategy work tied to existing nodes** — such as briefs or cluster assignments — may be affected. Review your active content work before resetting.
- Do **not** use the **Sync with Brand Vault** button on the Content Strategy page as a workaround for DKN issues. A known issue means this action can wipe DKN nodes without triggering a proper rebuild, leaving your network in an incomplete state.

## **🛠️ How to Request a Full DKN Reset**

At this time, a full DKN reset must be performed by the Search Atlas support team. There is no self-serve reset button in the platform. Follow these steps to get it done quickly:

1. Confirm which **project** needs the reset. Note the exact project name as it appears in Search Atlas.
2. Decide whether you need a **full reset** (wipe everything and rebuild from scratch) or **bulk deletion of specific duplicate nodes** (partial cleanup). Both options are supported.
3. Open the **chat widget** in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type **human teammate** to connect with the support team.
4. Provide the following information:
   - Project name and URL
   - Whether you want a full reset or targeted node deletion
   - A brief description of the issue you are seeing (e.g., duplicate nodes, corrupted titles, stale data)
5. The team will confirm the action with you before making any changes.

## **🔄 How to Rebuild Your DKN After a Reset**

Once the reset is complete, follow these steps to rebuild a clean DKN:

1. Go to your **Project Settings** and verify that the correct domain and crawl settings are configured.
2. Trigger a **new site crawl** from the dashboard. This allows Search Atlas to rediscover your pages with fresh data.
3. Navigate to the **Content Strategy** section and allow the DKN to **regenerate automatically** as the crawl completes.
4. Once the DKN is rebuilt, review the new nodes to confirm they map correctly to your pages — look for any remaining duplicates or mismatched titles before resuming content work.

## **❓ Why Are Duplicate Nodes Being Created?**

Duplicate nodes can appear when the system has difficulty determining whether a page already exists in the network. This can happen in several scenarios:

- **URL variations** — the same page is accessible via multiple URLs (e.g., with and without a trailing slash, or HTTP vs HTTPS), causing the crawler to treat them as separate pages.
- **Crawl interruptions** — a previous crawl did not complete cleanly, leaving partial node data that conflicts with a new crawl.
- **Disambiguation code leaks** — a known bug caused internal code used to differentiate similar topics to appear in node titles and keywords. This issue has been patched, and a backfill was run to clean affected data. If you still see symbols or codes in your node titles, contact support for a targeted cleanup.

If you notice duplicates appearing shortly after a rebuild, check your **canonical tags and redirect settings** in your CMS before running another crawl. Fixing URL consistency at the source prevents the same issue from recurring.

## **✅ Quick Checklist Before and After a Reset**

- Note all active briefs and cluster assignments linked to existing nodes.
- Confirm the correct project is selected before requesting a reset.
- Do not use **Sync with Brand Vault** as a cleanup workaround.
- After the reset, trigger a fresh crawl before reviewing new nodes.
- Check canonical tags and redirects in your CMS to prevent duplicate nodes from reappearing.

## **💬 Still Need Help?**

If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type **human teammate** to be connected with a member of our team.