Topical Research

Topical Research is where you turn a core idea, brand context and personas into a structured outline of topics and keywords. The output is a four level hierarchy that later feeds SERP Clustering and the Topical Map.

Use this page as a guide for setting up a research run, generating topics, editing the outline and exporting your work.

Topical Research helps you:

• Expand a core topic into Main Topics and subtopics in up to four levels
• Generate scoped keyword sets tied to those topics
• Shape and refine the outline before any clustering or map work starts
• Detect and resolve duplicate topics with semantic analysis

The outline you build here becomes the starting point for:

• SERP Clustering
• Topical Map

1. Open your project in Floyi.
2. In the left navigation, select Topical Research.
3. You will see the research workspace for that project, including context inputs and the outline views.

You will get better results if you set up Brand Foundation and at least one persona first.

• Brand profile: Brand Foundation
• Personas: Audience Insights

You can technically run Topical Research without them, but the topics will be less aligned with your positioning and buyers.

At the top of the Topical Research view you will see several input sections. Use them to frame the run.

Common fields include:

1. Brand Foundation

   • Select the brand profile that applies to this project.
   • Floyi will use this to align topics with your product, positioning and language.

2. Buyer personas

   • Choose one or more personas from Audience Insights.
   • This tells Floyi which buyer journeys to focus on.

3. Core topic

   • Enter the main theme you want to explore, for example
     • “Email deliverability for SaaS”
     • “Revenue recognition for B2B subscription companies”

4. Optional user inputs

   • Additional keywords, topics or entities you want to make sure are considered.
   • Notes about audience stage, product tier or constraints you care about.

After you fill or adjust these sections, make sure you save. Use the edit button in each block to update content, then click save inside that block.

Once your context looks right, move to the Generate Bar at the top of the outline section.

The Generate Bar is a four column panel. Each column represents one step in the generation process.

1. Generate MTs

   • Creates Main Topics from your core topic, brand context and personas.
   • Start here. Review and clean your pillars before expanding further.

2. Generate ST2 + ST3

   • Generates second and third level subtopics together for each Main Topic.
   • Each ST2 gets at least three ST3 children to prove depth.
   • This is the main expansion step after your MTs look right.

3. Generate ST4s

   • Adds a fourth level of subtopics under each ST3.
   • Scoped per ST2, so you can regenerate specific branches without touching others.
   • Use this for granular planning where you need more detail.

4. Generate Keywords

   • Generates keywords attached to the most granular topics.
   • A scope selector lets you choose the target: all leaf nodes, a specific Main Topic, or a specific ST2 branch.
   • If ST4 exists, keywords attach there. If not, they attach to ST3.

Each column in the Generate Bar shows:

• The count of items that will be generated
• The estimated credit cost based on your selected AI model
• A disabled state if the previous step has not been completed yet

You can run these steps in stages. For example, generate MTs, edit them, then generate ST2 + ST3.

Generation runs as a background task. While it runs:

• A progress banner appears at the top showing current progress, such as “Processing 3 of 8 Main Topics”
• You can cancel the task from the banner
• If you leave and come back, the banner picks up where it left off
• The banner dismisses automatically when generation completes

Topical Research offers three ways to look at your outline. Switch between them using the view toggle at the top of the outline section.

The default view. Each Main Topic gets its own vertical column, similar to a Kanban board.

• Columns are independently scrollable and resizable by dragging the right edge.
• Topics appear as a nested tree: ST2 nodes expand to show ST3, which expand to show ST4 and keywords.
• Use Expand All and Collapse All controls at the top left to open or close the entire tree.
• Color coded borders help distinguish Main Topics at a glance.
• Best for seeing the shape and balance of your topic map across pillars.

A hierarchical list with collapsible groups and search.

• Main Topics act as sticky section headers.
• Click any group header to expand or collapse its children.
• A search bar at the top filters across all levels and keywords in real time.
• Keywords display inline under their parent topic.
• Best for scanning through a large outline quickly or finding specific topics.

The traditional flat table with one row per topic or keyword entry. Columns for MT, ST2, ST3, ST4 and keywords.

• This is the same table used for edit mode and bulk row actions.
• Best for detailed row by row editing and manual data entry.

On smaller screens (under 1024px wide), the view automatically switches to Spreadsheet since the Silo layout needs more horizontal space.

Once topics and keywords appear, you can shape them before clustering.

You can edit topics directly without entering a formal edit mode:

• Double click any topic name to rename it inline. Press Enter to confirm or Escape to cancel.
• Right click any topic to open a context menu with Rename and Delete options.
• Deleting a topic removes it and all its children. A confirmation toast appears.
• Changes save automatically.

For bulk editing, switch to Spreadsheet view and click Edit.

Inside edit mode you can:

• Select all rows using the header checkbox.
• Select specific rows using individual checkboxes.
• Add a new row using the plus icon. Fill in the relevant columns, such as MT and ST2, then the keyword.
• Edit text inline by clicking any cell to rename a topic, adjust a label or correct a keyword.
• Delete selected rows to remove topics or keywords that are off scope or duplicates.

When you finish editing:

• Click Save to apply changes.
• Click Cancel to exit edit mode without saving your latest adjustments.

You can repeat this edit cycle as many times as you need. Manual edits do not use credits.

After generating several levels of topics, you may end up with near duplicate names across different branches.

1. Click Check Duplicates in the toolbar above the outline.
2. Floyi runs a semantic analysis that compares all topics and flags pairs that are too similar.
3. Results appear as warning icons next to flagged topics in the Silo and Outline views:
   • Red triangle for strong duplicates (very high similarity). These should be merged or removed.
   • Amber triangle for likely or possible duplicates. Review these and decide.
4. Hover over any warning icon to see the matched topic and similarity percentage.
5. The Summary Stats Bar at the bottom shows the total duplicate count. Click the count to rerun the analysis.

Use this to clean up your outline before moving into clustering, where duplicates would waste credits and create noise.

If you started with topics only, you can add keywords later.

1. Clean your topic hierarchy first, at least down to ST3.
2. Click Generate Keywords in the Generate Bar.
3. A scope selector appears. Choose where to generate keywords:
   • All leaf nodes generates keywords across your entire outline.
   • Specific Main Topic limits generation to one pillar.
   • Specific ST2 limits generation to one branch.
4. Review the new keywords:
   • Remove queries that do not fit your strategy.
   • Add missing variants that matter to your buyers.
   • Fix obvious naming issues.

Scoped generation is useful when you only want to add keywords to a new branch you just created, without regenerating keywords for the entire map.

You can rerun keyword generation after adjusting topics, but remember that each run uses credits.

Click the Export menu (download icon) in the toolbar to see your options:

• Export to XLSX downloads an Excel file that mirrors the outline structure with columns for MT, ST2, ST3, ST4 and keywords.
• Export to Google Sheets creates a live Google Sheet with the same structure. Floyi will prompt you to connect your Google account on first use.

Exports are helpful for:

• Sharing your plan with stakeholders
• Doing additional tagging or notes in a spreadsheet
• Keeping a static snapshot before you move on to clustering and maps

If you update the outline later, export a fresh copy instead of editing an old file.

You can also import an existing outline:

• Click Import from XLSX in the same export menu.
• Upload an Excel file with columns matching the MT, ST2, ST3, ST4 and keyword structure.
• Floyi will load the data into your outline, replacing the current contents.

This is useful when you have keyword research from another tool that you want to organize and expand inside Floyi.

At the bottom of the outline, a stats bar shows a quick inventory of your outline:

• Count of Main Topics, ST2s, ST3s, ST4s, keywords and flagged duplicates.
• The duplicate count is clickable and reruns the analysis.

Use this to check the balance and completeness of your outline at a glance.

Topical Research uses credits when you:

• Generate topics at any level
• Generate keywords
• Run duplicate detection

Key points:

• Each step in the Generate Bar shows a credit estimate before you confirm the run.
• Editing the outline by hand is free.
• Larger outlines cost more to generate, especially when using heavier models.

The Generate Bar shows model recommendations for each step:

• Basic models (GPT-5 Mini, Gemini 3 Flash): Lower cost, good for ST4 expansions and keyword generation where volume matters more than nuance.
• Advanced models (Claude Sonnet 4.5, GPT-5, Gemini 3 Pro): Higher cost, better for initial MT and ST2 + ST3 generation where strategic alignment matters most.

Typical approach:

• Use an advanced model for your initial MT and ST2 + ST3 generation.
• Switch to a basic model for ST4 or keyword expansions if you want to conserve credits.

If you are out of credits, Floyi will stop you before starting the job and prompt you to add or manage credits.

Topical Research outputs drive later parts of your Floyi workflow.

• SERP Clustering

  • Send the keyword column or selected rows into SERP Clustering to group by search intent and real SERPs.

• Topical Map

  • Use the combination of outline and clustered keywords to build a clean Topical Map for your site.

• Planning and briefs

  • The themes you validate here influence what appears later in your Planner and briefs.

If you are new to Floyi, a simple pattern is:

1. Set your Brand Foundation and one main persona.
2. Run Topical Research for one core theme.
3. Generate MTs, then ST2 + ST3. Review and clean.
4. Generate keywords with a scoped target.
5. Check duplicates and resolve any issues.
6. Move those keywords into SERP Clustering for deeper work.

That gives you a focused, strategy aligned topic set instead of a random keyword list.