Welcome everyone to Episode #85 of the Chiropractic Marketing Podcast.
I’m your host, Dr. Patrick MacNamara, and today we’re talking about content silos — specifically what they are, why they matter enormously for AI search visibility, and how chiropractors who build them intentionally are the ones getting recommended by platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews while everyone else wonders why the phone isn’t ringing.
This is a topic that sounds technical but is actually very strategic, and once you understand the logic behind it, the way you think about your website content will never be the same.
Let me start with a misconception I see constantly. Most chiropractors think about AI search visibility as a content volume problem — publish more articles, answer more questions, and eventually AI platforms will start recommending your practice. That thinking isn’t entirely wrong, but it’s missing the most important variable. It’s not how much content you publish. It’s how that content is organized. A chiropractic website with fifty loosely connected blog posts signals significantly less topical authority to AI systems than one with twenty posts arranged into a deliberate, interlocking architecture.
That architecture is a content silo. And for chiropractors who want to show up in AI-generated answers, understanding silos — and building them on purpose — is the difference between content that compounds over time and content that just sits there.
So let me explain exactly what a content silo is. A content silo is a structured grouping of related content organized around a central topic. At the top of the silo sits a pillar page — a comprehensive, authoritative resource that covers a topic broadly and in depth. Supporting that pillar are cluster articles: focused pieces that each explore a specific subtopic, question, or aspect of the main topic. Every cluster article links up to the pillar page. The pillar links down to the most relevant cluster articles. And where cluster articles address related angles, they link across to each other. The result is an interconnected web of content that, taken together, demonstrates exhaustive expertise on one subject.
Let me give you a concrete example. Imagine a pillar page on sciatica treatment — covering what sciatica is, its causes, how chiropractic addresses it, what patients can expect. Supporting that pillar are cluster articles on sciatica symptoms, the difference between sciatica and piriformis syndrome, exercises that complement chiropractic care, how long sciatica treatment typically takes, and whether imaging is needed before starting care. Each cluster article explores a specific angle the pillar doesn’t cover in full depth. Each links back to the pillar. The pillar links to each cluster article. The silo as a whole sends one clear, unambiguous signal: this practice knows sciatica deeply.
Now here’s why silos matter specifically for Generative Engine Optimization — for AI search — and this is the part I want you to really understand.
Traditional SEO benefits from content silos because search engines interpret the internal linking structure as a topical authority signal. Cluster articles pass relevance and authority up to the pillar, and the pillar anchors the whole cluster’s rankings for that topic. But GEO works through a fundamentally different mechanism. Large language models don’t rank pages — they learn from patterns in training data. When an AI system processes a chiropractic website, it encounters a collection of content and forms an understanding of what that practice knows, what it treats, and how authoritatively it covers its subject matter. A website with thin, scattered content on twenty different topics signals shallow expertise across all of them. A website with deep, interconnected content on five or six topics — organized into silos — signals deep expertise in those specific areas.
The silo is the mechanism by which your website teaches AI systems what your practice is genuinely expert in. And AI systems that have learned to associate your practice with a specific condition or treatment area are the ones that recommend you when a patient asks about that condition. I covered the broader GEO framework in a previous episode on GEO for chiropractors — check the show notes if you want to start there before going deeper into silos.
Let me illustrate the contrast with two scenarios, because this is where it really clicks.
Imagine a practice that’s been publishing blog content for several years. There’s a post on back pain, one on neck adjustments, one on workplace ergonomics, one on nutrition for spinal health, one on a community event, one on prenatal care, and another dozen loosely connected topics with no structural relationship to each other. From a volume standpoint, this website has more content than many competitors. But from a topical authority standpoint, the AI system that processed this site found no concentrated depth on any single subject. The content covers many things without mastering any of them. When a patient asks ChatGPT to recommend a chiropractor who specializes in disc herniation, this practice’s website provides no strong signal that disc herniation is a core area of expertise — because the content architecture never built that case.
Now imagine a different practice that published ten articles over the same period — but all ten are organized into two tightly focused silos. Five articles on disc herniation, five on sports injury rehabilitation. The AI system that processed this website found concentrated, interconnected, substantive content on two specific topics. It formed a clear picture of what this practice knows. When a patient asks about disc herniation, this is the practice the model recommends. The second practice published fewer articles and invested less total content effort — but the strategic architecture made all the difference.
So let’s talk about how to actually build one of these silos, because the components matter. The pillar page is the anchor of the entire silo. It needs to cover its topic comprehensively — broad enough to define the full scope of the subject, deep enough to demonstrate genuine expertise. For most chiropractic practices, pillar pages correspond to the core conditions treated or primary services offered: back pain, sciatica, sports injuries, prenatal chiropractic care, headaches, neuropathy, spinal decompression — whatever represents the actual clinical identity of your practice. A well-built pillar page answers the foundational questions patients have about that topic and links out to the cluster articles that go deeper on each specific angle.
The cluster articles are focused pieces that each address one specific question or subtopic related to the pillar. The goal is not to repeat what the pillar covers — it’s to go deeper on one specific angle that the pillar summarizes but doesn’t fully explore. Each cluster article serves three purposes: it provides a thorough, standalone answer to a specific patient question; it demonstrates clinical depth on a sub-aspect of the pillar topic; and it passes topical authority back up to the pillar through its internal link.
And the internal linking structure is what turns a collection of related articles into a true silo. Every cluster article links up to the pillar using descriptive anchor text that reflects the pillar’s focus topic. The pillar links down to each cluster article where relevant. This interconnected web tells both search engines and AI systems that these pages belong together — that they collectively represent an organized body of knowledge on one subject. For a deeper look at how this integrates with the full chiropractic content strategy, I’ve covered that in a previous episode as well.
A question I get asked often is how many silos a practice needs. The answer is: depth beats breadth. A practice with three fully developed silos — eight to twelve articles each, tightly structured around a strong pillar — will outperform a practice with eight shallow silos of two to three articles each in virtually every AI visibility metric. Resist the temptation to publish one post on every condition you treat. That produces the scattered architecture that AI systems deprioritize. For most practices, a reasonable starting target is three to five silos corresponding to the conditions and services that generate your highest patient volume and represent your most important clinical priorities. Build each silo to depth before expanding to new topics.
And here’s the broader strategic picture I want to leave you with. Content silos are not a tactic layered on top of other strategies — they are the structural foundation that makes all other AI visibility work compound effectively. Schema markup helps AI systems interpret your content structure, but the structure has to be there first. External brand mentions and citations reinforce the AI model’s understanding of your expertise, but topical depth needs to exist on your own site before external signals can amplify it. GBP management and review velocity signal local authority, but when those signals point back to a website with no topical depth, that authority has nowhere to build. The silo is the foundation. Everything else builds on it.
If your practice website has content but no silo structure, start with an honest audit. List everything currently on the site, group related pieces by topic, and identify which topics have enough material — or enough patient importance — to anchor a silo. Pick one high-priority condition, build a strong pillar page for it, publish four to six cluster articles, and then move to the next topic. A single complete silo built with genuine depth is worth more to your AI search visibility than a dozen fragmented posts spread across topics with no structural relationship to each other.
This is exactly what Phase 3 of the DCRank Search Everywhere Optimization strategy is built around — the content silo architecture that positions your practice to be recommended by AI search platforms. If you’re ready to build that foundation, head over to DCRank and get started. We’ll look at where you are, what your current content architecture looks like, and map out the silo strategy that fits your practice’s clinical identity. The link is in the show notes.
Alright, that wraps things up for today’s episode…
Thanks for tuning in to the Chiropractic Marketing Podcast.
Before you go, remember to subscribe to my podcast on your favorite platform.
Whether it’s Apple Podcasts, Audible, YouTube Podcasts, Spotify, or others, I’ve got you covered.
If you need to see a full list of supported platforms, simply visit Chiropractic Marketing Podcast dot com.
Last but certainly not least, I’d love to hear your thoughts on Apple Podcasts.
Your reviews not only help build awareness of what I’m talking about but also give me a good indication of how I’m doing.
Be nice, be fair, but definitely be honest.
I would greatly appreciate it and so will future listeners!
Thanks for listening and I’ll catch you next time…
Share Your Thoughts
To share your thoughts:
- Leave a note in the comment section below.
- Ask a question.
- Subscribe to the show on YouTube.
To help out the show:
- Leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one. 🙂
- Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Amazon, Audible, YouTube Podcast, or Spotify.