📘 DKN vs Topical Maps
Planning content at scale can feel overwhelming, especially when you're deciding where to start — your website or your
keywords. Search Atlas offers two tools to solve this: DKN and Topical Maps. While both are designed to help you
generate high-quality content efficiently, they approach the problem from different angles. Understanding how each one
works — and when to use them — will help you build a stronger, more strategic content engine from day one.
🧭 What's in this article
- What are DKN and Topical Maps?
- When should I use each?
- The recommended workflow
- Side-by-side comparison
- How to use DKN
- How to use Topical Maps
- Why Brand Vault matters
- Troubleshooting
- FAQ
🧠 What are DKN and Topical Maps?
Both DKN and Topical Maps are Search Atlas tools for planning and generating content at scale. They solve different
problems and work best when used together — but you can use either on its own.
🧱 Domain Knowledge Network (DKN)
DKN starts with your website. You give it a URL and it analyzes the site to understand:
- What your business is about
- Who your customers are
- How you make money
- What pages your site should have
It then builds a complete site architecture — a tree of recommended pages with titles, URLs, descriptions, and target
keywords.
Think of it as an AI strategist that reads your site and tells you exactly what content to create.
🧩 Topical Authority Map
A Topical Map starts with a keyword you choose. You tell it:
- The pillar topic (e.g., "plumbing services")
- How many topic clusters you want
- How many keywords per cluster
- How many article titles per keyword
It generates a grid of article ideas organized into clusters that you can review, edit, and convert into full articles.
Think of it as a bulk article-idea generator for topics you already know you want to cover.
🧭 The simplest way to remember it
DKN starts from a website and figures out what content should exist. Topical Maps start from a keyword and plan content
around it.
⚖️ When should I use each?
- Plan an entire content strategy from scratch: Use DKN. Topical Maps work best after DKN, for specific clusters.
- Let AI figure out what your site is about: DKN does this. Topical Maps do not.
- Build out content around a specific topic you've already chosen: Topical Maps are the fastest option; DKN can do
this too, but it's optional here.
- Quickly generate dozens of articles on one subject: Topical Maps are designed for this; DKN is possible but slower.
- Find competitors and keyword gaps: DKN supports this; Topical Maps do not.
- Get a recommended URL structure for the whole site: DKN provides this as a hierarchy; Topical Maps generate flat
lists, not hierarchies.
- Capture brand colors, fonts, and styling from a site: DKN supports this; Topical Maps do not.
🚀 The recommended workflow
For best results, use the tools in this order. You can stop at any step — every step produces something useful on its
own.
🛡️ Set up your Brand Vault first
Add your brand voice, tone preferences, target audience, and any uploaded brand documents. Both DKN and Topical Maps
pull from this, so the content sounds like your brand from the very first article.
🔍 Run DKN on your website
Enter your site URL. DKN analyzes your business and produces a recommended site architecture. This typically takes a few
minutes.
✏️ Review and edit the topic map
DKN shows you a tree of recommended pages. You can add, remove, or rename pages. Use the natural-language editor (Vibe
Code) to ask for changes in plain English (for example, "add a section about emergency services" or "remove pages about
residential plumbing").
📝 Generate articles from selected DKN pages
Pick the pages you want and generate. Each one becomes a full article with SEO optimization, images, and your brand
voice.
🧩 Create Topical Maps for focused content pushes
Once your foundation is in place, use Topical Maps to plan deep dives into specific topics. Set how many clusters and
articles you want, and the system generates ideas in a spreadsheet-style grid.
⚡ Bulk-generate from your Topical Map
Select rows from the grid and generate. They'll publish as full articles using the same quality pipeline as DKN
articles.
📤 Publish
Push articles to WordPress, HubSpot, Drupal, GoHighLevel, or other connected CMS, or export them.
🔁 You can use either tool on its own
You don't have to run DKN before creating a Topical Map, and you don't need a Topical Map to use DKN. The recommended
sequence above just produces the strongest results.
📊 Side-by-side comparison
- What you give it: DKN takes a website URL and business name. Topical Maps take a keyword plus cluster/article
counts.
- What it gives you: DKN gives you a site map of recommended pages. Topical Maps give you a grid of article ideas.
- Time to first result: DKN takes a few minutes (multi-step analysis). Topical Maps are faster (single-step
generation).
- Best for: DKN is best for site strategy, new sites, and full content plans. Topical Maps are best for bulk article
creation on known topics.
- Editing: DKN uses a natural-language editor plus manual edits. Topical Maps use spreadsheet-style row editing.
- Competitor analysis: DKN supports it. Topical Maps do not.
- Brand style capture: DKN captures colors and fonts from your site. Topical Maps do not.
- Output: DKN organizes pages in a tree (parent/child). Topical Maps produce a flat list of article titles in
clusters.
- Article generation: Both tools use the same quality pipeline.
🧱 How to use DKN
🆕 Creating a DKN
- Go to the DKN section in your dashboard.
- Click Create New DKN.
- Enter your website URL and business name.
- Select a Brand Vault (recommended) so the AI uses your voice and tone.
- Submit. The system starts analyzing your site.
🔄 What happens next
DKN runs a multi-step analysis to build a deep understanding of your business. You'll see progress as each step
completes. The full analysis usually takes a few minutes.
Once analysis finishes, DKN generates a topic map — a tree of recommended pages organized into core sections (your main
service areas) and outer sections (supporting content like guides and FAQs). Each page comes with a suggested title, URL
slug, description, and target keywords.
✏️ Editing the topic map
You have two ways to refine the map:
- Direct edits — Click on any page to rename it, change its description, edit keywords, or remove it. You can also add
new pages manually.
- Vibe Code editor — Type natural-language instructions like "add a section about commercial plumbing" or "remove
anything not related to emergency services." DKN remembers your earlier edits, so each change builds on the last.
📝 Generating articles from DKN pages
Select one or more pages from your DKN tree and click Generate. Each becomes a full article with brand voice, SEO
optimization, internal links, and images. You can review and edit before publishing.
🔐 Your edits are safe
If you regenerate your DKN later, any pages with already-generated articles are preserved. You won't lose published or
in-progress content.
🧩 One DKN per website
Each DKN is unique to a single website per account. If you try to create a second DKN for the same site, the system
returns your existing one instead — keeping all your site planning in one place.
🧩 How to use Topical Maps
🆕 Creating a Topical Map
- Go to Content → Topical Maps (Topical Map).
- Click Create Topical Map.
- Enter a pillar topic (your main keyword, e.g., "plumbing services"), an optional pillar URL, the number of clusters,
keywords per cluster, titles per keyword, and language.
- Pick a Brand Vault if you have one. Submit.
The system produces a grid: clusters × keywords × titles. For example, 5 clusters × 4 keywords × 3 titles = 60 article
ideas.
✏️ Reviewing and editing
Each row in the grid is one potential article — with a working title, target keywords, and a starting prompt. You can
edit any field, delete rows you don't want, or add your own.
⚡ Generating articles
Select the rows you want and click + Create articles. The system queues them in batches and produces full articles using
the same pipeline as DKN — with brand voice, SEO, internal links, and images.
⏱️ Batch sizing tip
Topical Maps process articles in batches with automatic spacing so the system isn't overwhelmed. Large batches (50+) are
normal — they'll show as "Pending" while waiting their turn, then move through generation automatically.
🛡️ Why Brand Vault matters
Brand Vault is where you store the settings that make AI-generated content sound like you. Both DKN and Topical Maps
pull from your Brand Vault when one is connected.
⚙️ What Brand Vault controls
- Brand voice / tone: Sets the writing style — formal, casual, technical, friendly, etc.
- AI model preference: Picks which model is used for generation.
- Article length: Short, optimized, or long-form output.
- Default language: Used unless overridden on a specific Topical Map.
- Microagents: Specialized AI helpers (humanizer, tone adjuster, etc.) that run on every article.
- Uploaded brand materials: Style guides, product docs, etc. — used as research input.
🧠 How settings get picked
If a setting is configured in your Brand Vault, that wins. If not, it falls back to your project's default. If neither
is set, the system uses safe defaults (English, optimized length, images on).
🚀 Set up your Brand Vault first
Configuring Brand Vault before running DKN or creating a Topical Map ensures every article you generate sounds on-brand
from the start, instead of you having to retro-edit each one.
🛠️ Troubleshooting
⏳ DKN seems stuck on "Setting up" or "Analyzing"
Most DKN runs complete in a few minutes. If yours has been running noticeably longer (more than 15 minutes without
progress), refresh the page first. If it's still stuck, reach out to support — there may be a temporary issue with the
analysis pipeline that the team can re-run.
🎯 My DKN didn't capture the right business focus
DKN reads your site's HTML to figure out what the business is about. If your homepage isn't representative, the analysis
can drift. Two fixes:
- Edit the business details directly in the DKN settings — you can override what was auto-detected.
- Use the Vibe Code editor to refine the topic map (for example, "focus more on B2B clients" or "remove residential
content").
🤔 Topical Map ideas feel generic
The output is only as good as the inputs. Try:
- A more specific pillar topic ("commercial HVAC servicing in Florida" beats "HVAC").
- Linking a Brand Vault with uploaded content — the AI will use it for inspiration.
- Reducing cluster count and keywords-per-cluster — fewer, sharper ideas usually outperform a sprawling grid.
⏱️ Articles take a long time to generate
Each article goes through several quality stages — research, outlining, drafting, link insertion, fact-checking, image
generation, and final polish. Bulk generations are spaced out automatically so the system stays stable. A batch of 50
may take a while to fully complete; you can leave the page and check back.
🔍 I can't find an article that was supposed to generate
Articles always start in Pending, move to Generating, then become Generated (ready to review) or Published (live on your
CMS). Check the article list filtered by status — most "missing" articles are simply still in Pending.
🎨 Brand voice isn't being applied to my articles
Make sure the Brand Vault is selected on the DKN or Topical Map (not just created in your account). If a project doesn't
have a Brand Vault attached, content generation falls back to project-level defaults or system defaults.
❓ FAQ
Do I have to use DKN before Topical Maps? No — they're independent tools. Many users only use one or the other. Using
DKN first does give the AI a deeper understanding of your business, which can improve later Topical Map articles.
Can I use both on the same project? Yes. A project can have one DKN (one per website) and as many Topical Maps as you
want. They complement each other — DKN handles strategy, Topical Maps handle volume.
Are DKN articles and Topical Map articles the same quality? Yes. Both flow through the same article generation pipeline
with the same SEO, brand voice, fact-checking, and image generation steps. The only difference is the input — DKN
provides richer site context, while Topical Maps provide focused keyword inputs.
How many articles can I generate at once? Both tools support bulk generation. There's no hard cap, but the system
processes articles in spaced batches to stay reliable. Larger requests just take longer to finish — they don't fail.
Can I edit the DKN topic map after it's generated? Yes — you can manually edit any page (rename, change description,
edit keywords, delete) or use the Vibe Code editor for natural-language changes. DKN remembers your previous edits, so
each round of changes builds on the last.
What's the Content Planner, and how is it different? The Content Planner is a third option for managing content across
multiple projects at once — useful for agencies handling several client sites. It uses the same article generation
pipeline as DKN and Topical Maps, with extra controls for project-level scheduling and per-page Brand Vault overrides.
What happens to my articles if I regenerate my DKN? Pages that already have generated articles are preserved during
regeneration. Only empty pages (no article yet) are cleared and replaced. You won't lose any work.
Can I publish directly to my CMS? Yes. Connect your CMS (WordPress, HubSpot, Drupal, GoHighLevel, and others) to your
project, then articles can be drafted, scheduled, or published directly from Search Atlas.
What languages are supported? Many. The default is English. You can override the language at the Topical Map level, or
DKN can detect it from your site automatically. Articles are generated in the chosen language end-to-end (titles, body,
headings).
DKN and Topical Maps aren't competing tools — they're complementary pieces of a complete content strategy. Whether
you're building your site architecture from scratch or scaling content around specific topics, using them together
allows you to move from strategy to execution with clarity and speed. By aligning both tools with your Brand Vault, you
ensure that everything you publish not only ranks well, but also sounds consistently like your brand.
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.
