Query fan-out discovery.Know which questions decide the answer.
Fan-Out Discovery is the first thing Cognos runs and the reason nothing gets written on guesswork. We map the question tree a model walks before it answers in your category, then score every branch.
- Runs before any content
- Scored by commercial value
- Updated continuously
Query fan-out discovery is a Cognos process that maps the sub-questions a model retrieves against before it forms an answer. It scores each branch by commercial value so publishing work targets the questions that actually decide who gets named.
Query Fan-Out Discovery
When a buyer asks a model a real question, the model doesn't run one search. It decomposes the question into sub-questions, retrieves evidence for each one, and synthesizes an answer from whatever it found. Rank for the headline phrase and you can still be absent from every branch that actually decided the answer.
Cognos maps that tree first. We generate the fan-out for the questions your buyers ask, check which sources currently get pulled for each branch, and mark the branches where you're absent, weak, or already strong.
Every branch gets scored on commercial value and on how hard it would be to win. That scored map is the publishing plan, and it updates continuously rather than on a monthly refresh, because the branches move as models change.
What this fixes.
Guessing at topics
Without a fan-out map, teams pick topics from instinct or a keyword tool built for search boxes. They end up writing content that never touches the sub-questions a model actually checks.
Wasted writing budget
Content gets produced against the wrong branches, so it sits on the site without ever being retrieved. Every hour spent on it is an hour not spent on a branch that would have mattered.
No sense of priority
Without scoring, every topic looks equally worth doing. Teams either freeze from too many options or chase the loudest idea in the room instead of the one worth the most.
Four steps, every month.
Seed the real questions
We start from how your buyers actually phrase the problem, not from a keyword export. Sales calls, intake forms, and the queries already bringing people to you.
Expand the tree
Each seed question fans out into the sub-questions a model would retrieve against before answering it. That's usually twenty to forty branches per question.
Check who owns each branch
We look at what currently gets cited on each branch, so we know whether the gap is a missing page, a weak page, or a source we need to earn.
Score and sequence
Branches get ranked by commercial value against difficulty. The top of that list becomes the month's publishing plan.
What you get
- A scored fan-out map for your priority questions
- Current citation ownership per branch
- The publishing sequence that map produces
- Continuous updates as branches and models shift
Who it's for
Any business whose buyers research before they call. It matters most where the purchase is considered, the category is competitive, and the buyer asks comparison questions before ever hearing your name.
If you want a keyword list to hand a freelancer, this isn't that. The map only pays off when something publishes against it.
Included in every tier of the Cognos program. Month to month, thirty days notice.
You don't operate this yourself.
Cognos is the engine. Our team runs it on your account, publishes against what it finds, and reports the movement in one monthly document. The managed side, and what it costs, is spelled out on the services and pricing pages.
This is one part of the engine.
Nothing here works alone. Each capability feeds the next, and every one of them is included in the program.
Before you ask us.
How is this different from keyword research?
Keyword research tells you what people type into a search box. Fan-out mapping tells you what a model retrieves against after someone asks a question in plain language. Those are different lists, and the second one decides whether you get named in the answer.
How often does the map change?
The map updates continuously as prompts and answers change. Model behavior and the sources they favor move constantly, so a map built once and left alone goes stale fast.
Do I get to see the map?
Yes. The scored branch list and what we plan to publish against it are part of your weekly reporting.
Bring us the number you're trying to move.
We run the audit, then map your first thirty days against it.