🎯 Key Takeaways

• A hub page (also called a pillar page) is the central overview page in a topic cluster that links to detailed spoke pages, creating a connected content network that builds topical authority.
• Websites using topic cluster architecture have seen an average 23% increase in organic visibility, according to analysis of sites affected by Google’s 2024 core updates (Whitehat SEO, 2026).
• First Page Sage recommends law firms target 3–4 hub topics, each supported by 10–25 spoke pages, to achieve meaningful competitive positioning in search results (First Page Sage, 2024).
• Research published at KDD ’24 found that well-structured, citation-rich content can improve AI visibility by up to 40% — and hub pages are ideally suited for this because they provide comprehensive topic coverage (Aggarwal et al., 2024).
• According to Pew Research Center (June 2025), 34% of U.S. adults have used ChatGPT, making AI platform optimization increasingly important alongside traditional SEO for law firms.

Hub pages solve this problem. They act as the central organizing nodes of your website, connecting related content into structured clusters that demonstrate depth and expertise. This is the same content hub strategy that major brands and top-ranking law firms use to dominate search results — and it is increasingly critical for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), where AI systems evaluate your site’s overall topic coverage to determine whether to cite you.

This guide is part of InterCore’s Complete Guide to Website Page Types for SEO, GEO, AEO & AI Visibility. Here, we go deep on hub pages specifically — what they are, why they matter, and exactly how to build one for your law firm.

🏛️ What Is a Hub Page?

A hub page is a comprehensive overview page that covers a broad topic at a high level and links out to more specific, detailed pages — called spoke pages — that explore individual subtopics in depth. Think of it like the table of contents in a textbook: the hub tells you what the book covers and directs you to the right chapter for deeper reading.

In a law firm context, a hub page might be your main “Personal Injury” page that provides an overview of personal injury law and links to specific spoke pages about car accidents, slip-and-fall cases, workplace injuries, medical malpractice, and wrongful death. Each of those spoke pages links back to the hub, creating a closed network of related content.

Hub Pages vs. Traditional Service Pages

A traditional service page tries to do everything on one page — describe the service, establish authority, answer questions, and convert visitors. A hub page takes a different approach. It provides a high-level orientation and then channels visitors toward the most relevant detailed pages. The hub does not need to be exhaustive itself; its job is to organize and connect.

This distinction matters because search engines reward sites that demonstrate topic depth across multiple interlinked pages rather than a single long page that tries to cover everything. According to First Page Sage (2024), the hub-and-spoke model is the most effective content structure for building the niche expertise that Google’s algorithm rewards with higher rankings.

Hub Pages vs. Pillar Pages — Are They the Same Thing?

In practice, “hub page” and “pillar page” are used interchangeably across the SEO industry, though there is a subtle distinction. A pillar page typically consolidates extensive detail into a single long-form resource (often 3,000–5,000+ words), while a hub page functions more as a navigational center that directs readers to separate, dedicated pages. Both approaches create topic clusters. Many successful law firm websites use a hybrid — a hub page that provides substantial overview content (1,500–3,000 words) while also serving as the central linking node for spoke pages.

🔍 Why Hub Pages Are Critical for Law Firm Websites

Hub pages are not merely an organizational convenience — they are a strategic asset that directly impacts your visibility across traditional search engines, AI answer platforms, and Google AI Overviews. Here is why they matter for law firms specifically.

Building Topical Authority with Google

Google’s algorithm has shifted significantly since updates like Hummingbird (2013) and RankBrain (2015) toward evaluating topical authority — the depth and breadth of a site’s coverage of a subject — rather than just matching individual keywords. When your law firm has a hub page on personal injury law that links to 12 detailed spoke pages covering specific case types, Google recognizes that your site offers more comprehensive coverage than a competitor with a single generic personal injury page.

Analysis of sites following Google’s March 2024 core update found that sites with clear topic authority demonstrated through deep content clusters gained an average 23% in organic visibility, while generic sites covering unrelated topics lost approximately 18% on average (Whitehat SEO, 2026). For law firms competing in markets with dozens of competitors, this kind of structural advantage compounds over time.

Getting Cited by AI Platforms

AI platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews evaluate content differently than traditional search. They look for comprehensive, well-organized, authoritative sources when generating responses. A hub page that clearly defines a topic, links to detailed supporting content, and demonstrates expertise through proper citation is exactly the type of resource AI systems prefer to cite. Research published at the 30th ACM SIGKDD Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDD ’24) identified that structured, citation-rich content can improve AI citation visibility by up to 40% (Aggarwal et al., 2024; DOI: 10.1145/3637528.3671900).

InterCore’s approach to building expert and authority signals for law firms relies heavily on hub-and-spoke architecture to create the kind of interconnected content network that AI platforms recognize as authoritative. The 9 GEO tactics that drive better results include several strategies that are most effective when deployed within a hub-and-spoke framework.

Reducing Content Cannibalization

Content cannibalization occurs when multiple pages on your site compete for the same keywords, diluting each other’s ranking potential. This is one of the most common problems on law firm websites — firms often have a service page, a blog post, and an FAQ page all targeting “personal injury lawyer” without any clear hierarchy.

Hub-and-spoke architecture eliminates this problem by assigning each page a distinct role. The hub targets the broad, competitive keyword (“personal injury law”). Each spoke targets a specific long-tail keyword (“car accident injury lawyer,” “slip and fall attorney near me”). Because the hub and spokes are clearly linked and differentiated, Google understands which page should rank for which query.

🎡 How Hub Pages Work — The Hub-and-Spoke Architecture

Understanding the mechanics of hub-and-spoke content architecture is essential before you start building. The model is straightforward, but the execution details matter significantly for both SEO and AI visibility.

The Relationship Between Hubs and Spokes

The hub-and-spoke model operates on one core principle: bidirectional linking between a central page and its supporting pages. Every spoke links back to its hub, and the hub links out to every spoke. This creates a closed network that search engines can crawl efficiently and that distributes ranking authority (often called “link equity”) across the entire cluster.

First Page Sage (2024) recommends that each hub support between 10 and 25 spoke pages, depending on the topic’s breadth and the competitive landscape. For most law firm practice areas, 8 to 15 spokes represent a practical starting point. Each spoke should target a unique long-tail keyword that contains elements of the hub’s primary keyword, ensuring that Google sees the entire cluster as topically coherent.

Internal Linking Rules for Hub Pages

The linking structure within a hub-and-spoke cluster follows specific rules that maximize SEO benefit:

Anchor text — the clickable text of each link — should be descriptive and keyword-relevant. Use phrases like “car accident injury claims” rather than generic text like “click here” or “learn more.” This provides additional semantic signals to both search engines and AI platforms about the content relationship between pages.

Real-World Example: InterCore’s Content Architecture

InterCore Technologies uses hub-and-spoke architecture extensively. The Legal Marketing Hub serves as a central resource page that links to dozens of detailed spoke pages covering specific topics like AI SEO strategies, content publishing frequency for AI visibility, and authority-building tactics.

Similarly, the GEO Services Hub connects to platform-specific optimization guides for ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, Grok, and Copilot — each a dedicated spoke page. The Areas We Serve directory functions as a geographic hub linking to 35+ individual office location pages across the United States. Each of these represents the hub-and-spoke model in action at different scales.

🛠️ How to Build a Hub Page for Your Law Firm

Building an effective hub page is a five-step process. Each step matters — skip one and the entire cluster loses effectiveness.

Step 1 — Choose Your Hub Topic

Your hub topic should be a broad keyword that represents a major area of your practice. It needs to be broad enough to support 8–15 spoke pages but specific enough to align with your firm’s actual services. Good hub topics for law firms include practice area names (“personal injury law”), service categories (“estate planning”), or geographic-service combinations (“criminal defense in Chicago”).

First Page Sage (2024) recommends most firms limit their initial content strategy to 3–4 hub topics. Spreading content across too many topics dilutes the topical authority signal that makes hub-and-spoke effective. It is better to build comprehensive clusters around three practice areas than thin coverage across eight.

Step 2 — Map Your Spoke Pages

Once you have selected your hub topic, identify the specific subtopics that will become spoke pages. Each spoke should target a long-tail keyword related to the hub topic. For a personal injury hub, potential spokes include specific case types (car accidents, motorcycle accidents, truck accidents), process-oriented pages (how to file a claim, what to expect at a deposition), geographic variations (personal injury lawyer in [city]), and comparison content (settlement vs. trial).

Use keyword research tools to verify that each spoke keyword has meaningful search volume and clear search intent. The ideal spoke keyword is specific enough that a dedicated page can provide the best answer on the internet for that query.

Step 3 — Write the Hub Page Content

The hub page itself should be 1,500–3,000 words and should provide a comprehensive overview of the topic without going into exhaustive detail on any subtopic. Structure the page with clear H2 headings for each major subtopic area, a brief explanation of each subtopic (2–4 paragraphs), and a contextual link to the relevant spoke page where the reader can learn more.

The page should open with a direct answer to the primary search query in the first 30–50 words, include a table of contents for easy navigation, and use clear, factual language optimized for both human readers and AI extraction. This follows the same principles described in InterCore’s guide to structuring content for AI search visibility.

Step 4 — Build Your Internal Linking Structure

After creating your hub and at least 3–5 initial spoke pages, build the bidirectional linking structure. The hub should contain contextual links to every published spoke. Each spoke should link back to the hub within the first few paragraphs — ideally using the hub’s target keyword as anchor text. Each spoke should also cross-link to 1–2 related spokes where the reference is natural and helpful.

Target a density of 5–8 internal links per 1,000 words across both hub and spoke pages. Do not cluster all links in one section; distribute them throughout the content so that readers encounter relevant links at natural decision points. InterCore’s 200-Point SEO Technical Audit Checklist includes specific internal linking criteria that can help you evaluate your cluster structure.

Step 5 — Add Schema Markup

Schema markup tells search engines exactly what type of content your hub page contains and how it relates to other pages on your site. For hub pages, the most important schema types include WebPage or Article schema with keywords and image properties, BreadcrumbList schema to establish the page’s position in your site hierarchy, and FAQPage schema if your hub includes a FAQ section.

If the hub page represents a legal service, add LegalService schema with areaServed properties at city, county, and metropolitan levels. InterCore’s free Attorney Schema Generator can help you create the basic structure, and the Schema Code for Law Firms guide provides detailed implementation instructions.

⚖️ Hub Page Examples for Different Practice Areas

To make this concrete, here is how hub-and-spoke architecture maps to three of the most common law firm practice areas. Each example shows the hub topic, its target keyword, and the spoke pages that would form its cluster.

Personal Injury Hub Page

Hub keyword: “personal injury law” or “personal injury attorney [city]”

Hub page content: Overview of personal injury law, types of cases handled, the claims process, and what makes a strong case.

Spoke pages (10–15): Car accident injuries, motorcycle accidents, truck accident claims, slip-and-fall liability, workplace injuries, medical malpractice, wrongful death, dog bite injuries, construction accidents, product liability, how to calculate damages, statute of limitations by state, settlement vs. trial comparison.

InterCore’s Personal Injury Marketing solutions are built around exactly this type of hub architecture, helping firms create the content infrastructure that drives both organic search rankings and AI platform citations.

Family Law Hub Page

Hub keyword: “family law” or “family lawyer [city]”

Hub page content: Overview of family law services, the emotional and legal considerations involved, and how the firm approaches these sensitive cases.

Spoke pages (8–12): Divorce process, child custody and visitation, child support calculations, spousal support/alimony, property division, prenuptial agreements, adoption, domestic violence protective orders, paternity, modification of court orders, mediation vs. litigation.

Family law is an excellent hub-and-spoke candidate because the subtopics are distinct, each has its own search demand, and clients often search for very specific questions. Family Law Marketing strategies benefit significantly from this structured approach.

Criminal Defense Hub Page

Hub keyword: “criminal defense” or “criminal defense lawyer [city]”

Hub page content: Overview of criminal defense law, the defendant’s rights, what to do if arrested, and the firm’s approach to building a defense.

Spoke pages (10–15): DUI/DWI defense, drug charges, assault and battery, theft crimes, white-collar crimes, domestic violence defense, juvenile crimes, federal crimes, felony vs. misdemeanor differences, bail and bond process, plea bargaining, expungement, probation violations.

Criminal defense content benefits from hub architecture because potential clients often search for specific charge types. A firm that has dedicated pages for each charge type — all connected through a central criminal defense hub — presents a far more authoritative picture than one with a single generic page. Learn more about InterCore’s approach to Criminal Defense Marketing.

🤖 Optimizing Hub Pages for AI Platforms

With 34% of U.S. adults now using ChatGPT (Pew Research Center, survey of 5,123 U.S. adults, February 24–March 2, 2025; published June 25, 2025), optimizing hub pages for AI citation is no longer optional. Hub pages are particularly well-suited for AI optimization because they provide the comprehensive, structured overviews that AI systems look for when generating responses.

What Makes a Hub Page Citable by ChatGPT and Perplexity

AI platforms prioritize content that is factual, well-organized, and verifiable. For hub pages, this means writing in a neutral, explanatory tone rather than promotional language, including authoritative citations for statistics and claims, structuring content with clear headings that match the questions users ask AI platforms, and providing direct-answer leads that AI systems can extract as concise responses.

Research by Aggarwal et al. (2024), published in the Proceedings of the 30th ACM SIGKDD Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDD ’24), found that content incorporating citation fluency, quotation integration, and authoritative source references achieved significantly higher visibility in generative engine results. Hub pages naturally lend themselves to these qualities because their comprehensive scope requires drawing on multiple authoritative sources. For detailed tactics, see InterCore’s guide on how to get listed on ChatGPT.

Schema Markup for Hub Pages

Hub pages should include Article or WebPage schema with image properties, a keywords array reflecting the topic cluster, speakable markup targeting the direct-answer lead and FAQ sections, and BreadcrumbList schema establishing the page’s hierarchical position. If the hub represents a legal service area, include LegalService schema with multi-granularity areaServed properties (city, county, metropolitan area) and the required fields: address, telephone, priceRange, and image.

For academic or research citations referenced on the hub page, include ScholarlyArticle entities in the schema’s citation array with complete metadata — headline, author with URL, datePublished with timezone, publisher, and DOI link. This level of schema detail helps both Google Rich Results and AI platforms verify the claims on your page. See AI platform citation patterns for more on how different platforms evaluate structured data.

Measurement Framework

🚫 Common Mistakes Law Firms Make with Hub Pages

Mistake 1 — Creating Hub Pages That Are Too Thin

A hub page that is merely a list of links with one-sentence descriptions does not build topical authority. While the hub does not need to be as detailed as its spoke pages, it should still provide substantial overview content (1,500–3,000 words) that demonstrates genuine expertise. Google and AI platforms need enough text on the hub to evaluate its relevance and authority.

Mistake 2 — Forgetting the Spoke-to-Hub Link

The most common technical error in hub-and-spoke implementation is creating spoke pages that never link back to the hub. Without the return link, Google cannot fully recognize the cluster relationship, and the hub does not receive the ranking benefit of its supporting content. Every spoke page should link to its parent hub within the first few paragraphs using descriptive anchor text.

Mistake 3 — Targeting Overly Broad Topics

Choosing a hub topic that is too broad — like “law” or “legal services” — makes it nearly impossible to build the focused topical authority that the model requires. Your hub topic should be specific enough that a reader could reasonably expect one website to be the best resource for it. “Personal injury law in Texas” is achievable; “legal services” is not. Start with your highest-revenue practice area and build outward from there.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Ready to Build a Hub-and-Spoke Content Architecture for Your Law Firm?

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📚 References

1. Aggarwal, P., Murahari, V., Rajpurohit, T., Kalyan, A., Narasimhan, K., & Deshpande, A. (2024). GEO: Generative Engine Optimization. In Proceedings of the 30th ACM SIGKDD Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDD ’24), Barcelona, Spain, August 25–29, 2024, pp. 5–16. DOI: 10.1145/3637528.3671900
2. Pew Research Center. (2025, June 25). “34% of U.S. adults have used ChatGPT, about double the share in 2023.” Survey of 5,123 U.S. adults, February 24–March 2, 2025. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/06/25/34-of-us-adults-have-used-chatgpt-about-double-the-share-in-2023/
3. First Page Sage. (2024). “The Best SEO Content Plan: The Hub & Spoke Model.” https://firstpagesage.com/advanced-seo/best-seo-content-plan-the-hub-and-spoke-model-fc/
4. Whitehat SEO. (2026). “Topic Clusters for SEO: Build Content That Ranks.” Analysis of organic visibility changes following Google’s March 2024 core update. https://whitehat-seo.co.uk/blog/understanding-topic-clusters
5. Conductor. (2025). “Topic Cluster and Pillar Page SEO Guide.” https://www.conductor.com/academy/topic-clusters/
6. Google Search Central. (2026). Introduction to Structured Data Markup in Google Search. https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/intro-structured-data

Conclusion

Hub pages are the architectural foundation of a modern law firm website. They organize your content into structured clusters that demonstrate topical authority to Google, provide comprehensive coverage that AI platforms can cite, and create intuitive navigation paths that help potential clients find the information they need. Without hub pages, even excellent content exists as isolated islands that search engines and AI systems struggle to contextualize.

The firms that invest in hub-and-spoke architecture now are building a compounding advantage. Each new spoke page strengthens the hub, each hub strengthens the site, and the entire network becomes increasingly difficult for competitors to replicate. Whether you are starting with a single practice area hub or building a comprehensive multi-hub strategy, the principles remain the same: choose a focused topic, create detailed spokes, build bidirectional links, and add proper schema markup.

This guide is one chapter in InterCore’s Complete Guide to Website Page Types for SEO, GEO, AEO & AI Visibility. For a deeper understanding of the spoke pages that support your hubs, the Law Firm Marketing in 2026 guide provides additional context on content strategy execution, and the LLM SEO Checklist covers the technical requirements for AI platform optimization.

Scott Wiseman

CEO & Founder, InterCore Technologies

Scott has led InterCore Technologies since 2002, pioneering AI-powered marketing solutions for law firms across the United States. With 23+ years of development experience, he specializes in Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and content architecture strategies that help law firms build authority across both traditional search engines and AI platforms.

📅 Published: February 10, 2026  |  Last Updated: February 10, 2026  |  ⏱️ 12 min read