Pillar page
A long page that covers a whole topic and links to shorter pages that go into each part of it in detail.
A pillar page is a long page that covers a whole topic from end to end, and links out to shorter pages that each go deeper into one part of it. Those shorter pages link back to the pillar. Together they're often called a topic cluster.
How it works
Think of a pillar page as the chapter list of a book, with a page of its own for each chapter. A coffee roaster might have a pillar page on coffee subscriptions, covering how they work, what they cost, how to choose one and how to cancel. Each of those then has its own detailed page, linked from the pillar.
The links do two jobs. People find the detail they want from one starting point. Search engines see which pages belong together and which one is the main page for the topic.
Pillar pages and AI answers
AI assistants answer one question at a time, and people ask many questions about the same topic. A set of pages that answers each of those questions clearly, linked from one page that covers the whole topic, gives a platform a page to use for almost any question in it.
For example, say your prompts on coffee subscriptions ask which is cheapest, whether you can pause one, and which roasters deliver to Scotland. Each question can have a section on the pillar page, or a page of its own, with the answer in its first lines.
In AnswerOrbit
Topics group your prompts by subject, much like a pillar groups its pages, and Recommendations can suggest creating a page on a topic, or improving one of your pages for a prompt. See Topics and prompts and Recommendations.