Topic Expansion

Generate supporting topic items, publish them automatically or manually, and review the saved expansion records before they go live.

Overview

Topic Expansion generates related topic items that help a page cover the subject more deeply.

Admin path: Airygen SEO -> AI Assist -> Topic Expansion

This module is useful when you want readers to discover related angles of the topic without manually building the full list yourself.

Settings

The page is divided into Settings, Layout, Preview, and Records.

Settings tab

Use this tab for generation rules and output behavior.

  • Language, topic Count, topic Length, Content type, Scenario, and Tone shape the generated topic items.
  • Manual output controls whether the topic list can be placed through a template function, shortcode, or block.
  • Automatic insertion controls whether Airygen should inject the topic list into content automatically.
  • Insert position decides whether automatic output appears before or after the content.
  • Disable indexing controls whether generated virtual topic pages should be blocked from indexing.
  • Nofollow virtual links controls whether links to virtual topic pages should use nofollow.
  • Title enabled, title text, and title level define the section heading.

Template function:

<?php if ( function_exists( 'airygen_the_topic_expansion' ) ) { airygen_the_topic_expansion(); } ?>

Shortcode:

[airygen_topic_expansion]

Block:

<!-- wp:airygen/topic-expansion /-->

Layout tab

Use this tab to style the section.

  • Container settings control borders, spacing, and background.
  • Title settings control the heading appearance.
  • List settings control whether the list is plain, bulleted, or numbered.
  • Link settings control the visual style of the topic links.

Preview tab

Use this tab to inspect a simplified sample with device switching before testing the live frontend.

Records tab

Use this tab to review generated topic records and remove the ones you do not want to keep.

Editor Panel

In the editor, Topic Expansion helps you generate related topic items for the current post.

  • You can generate new topic items based on the current page.
  • You can review the results before deciding what should remain.
  • The panel works best when you treat the output as suggestions, not as automatic final content.

How to Use

  1. Open Airygen SEO -> AI Assist -> Topic Expansion.
  2. In the Settings tab, choose the generation defaults such as Language, topic Count, topic Length, Content type, Scenario, and Tone.
  3. Decide whether the module should support Manual output, Automatic insertion, or both.
  4. If you use automatic output, choose the Insert position.
  5. Decide whether Disable indexing and Nofollow virtual links should apply to the generated virtual topic pages and links.
  6. Set the section title behavior with Title enabled, title text, and title level.
  7. If you use manual placement, copy the template function, shortcode, or block snippet that matches your workflow.
  8. Open Layout and adjust the container, title, list, spacing, and link appearance.
  9. Use Preview to inspect the sample before saving.
  10. Open the post in the editor, generate topic items, and keep only the ones that genuinely support the current article.
  11. Review Records, remove weak items, and verify the live frontend output.

Check these items after saving:

  • The section appears in the correct position.
  • The generated topics still feel relevant to the article.
  • Link behavior matches your indexing and nofollow preferences.
  • The live design fits the surrounding theme layout.

SEO Benefits

Relevant topic expansion helps a page cover nearby questions and subtopics more clearly, which can strengthen topical depth and create more useful exploration paths for readers.

User Cases

Long-form articles that need broader subtopic coverage

Before: A page covers the main topic, but readers have no easy path to related follow-up topics.

After: Topic Expansion gives the article a clearer set of next-step topic ideas that can support broader discovery.

Editorial teams building content hubs

Before: Editors know they need related topic links, but the process of brainstorming and formatting them is inconsistent.

After: The module generates a structured starting point that can be reviewed and refined before publishing.

FAQ

What do Disable indexing and Nofollow virtual links control?

They control how the generated virtual topic pages and links should behave for search engines.

Can I use manual output and automatic insertion together?

Yes, but you should still check the live page. Automatic insertion is skipped when the content already contains the Topic Expansion shortcode or block.

Why can the live page look different from the preview?

The preview is simplified for layout review. The real page can still be affected by your theme, CSS, and the saved records for that post.