Direct Answer
Topical authority is Google's measure of how thoroughly and credibly a website covers a subject. A site with 50 deeply linked pages on 'plumbing in Salt Lake City' has higher topical authority than a generalist site with 5 plumbing pages. It compounds with E-E-A-T signals (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, trust).
Voice answer (≤30 words)
“Topical authority is how thoroughly your site covers a subject. The more interconnected expert pages on one topic, the higher the authority.”
Build out topic clusters: a cornerstone article + 5–15 supporting pages all linked together. This pattern is what Google rewards in 2026.
Authoritativeness comes from consistent depth, citations, original research, and named expert authors with bios.
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