Is there a way to show a list of associated sites to a hub site, without using top navigation bar?

[Miguel_B_M]

We are creating collaboration sites with clients, which are all associated with a Hub Site (Let's name it Clients Hub Site). Of course, those sites are private, and we don't want one client accessing -nor even knowing about the existence- of another private site.

Therefore we don't want to list the private sites in the navigation bar at the Clients Hub Site, which in any case should be done manually.

The question is: Is there any function/application to be included in the Clients Hub Site contents which automatically shows an updated list of associated private sites?

This was available in the past when using the sub-sites feature (They were listed in the parent site contents).

May I insist on the limited access requirement: External users, members of the private groups/sites, shouldn't be aware of the existence of other groups/sites.

Thanks in advance for any help.

m.

[#2 · Accepted solution]

Use the sites web part and show all sites in the hub. It applies security trimming so only shows sites you have access to. Definetly test this before you go live. If it does show other sites, check if that user can navigate.

[#3]

@Alan Marshall, thank you very much. Your solution is really elegant.

My steps to check the privacy were:

1. I edited the hub by adding the web part "Sites" as you suggested. I selected the option to show only the associated sites.
2. I created an Office 365 group from Outlook, including an external guest (Dummy Gmail account), and after activating the Sharepoint site I associated it to the hub site. It automatically appears in the list of sites (Step 1 above) alongside the other associated sites.
3. By reacting to the invitation email as a guest, I created the MS account and I was able to access the site.

Minor issues found:

• (Solved) The link to the hub site is appearing at the top navigation bar. If the guest tries to enter, the usual "Request access " form is shown. This would lead to a number of undesired requests from clients team members. Solution: Go to the hub site settings, and choose not to allow requests to access. The guest is therefore shown a plain page "Denied access".
• (Not related to my original question) The link to Sharepoint site included in the invitation email does point to the Documents section, and not to the site home. Wonder why.

Now evevybody in the sales team can create a working group with the client and organise the site in the hub. NOTE: To allow the sites to be associated to the hub by any colleague, whenever creating the hub, the option of who's associating sites to the hub must be left blank. 

Thanks again Alan.

[#4]

@Alan Marshall @Miguel_B_M  We're using the Sites web part to display the associated sites of a hub. However, it doesn't always display all the associated sites. I double checked the permissions. Even the sites where the end user is a site collection admin or a site owner doe't show up in the list. So, it's not a security trimming issue. Have you experienced a similar behavior?

I wonder if this web part is using search. Even after a couple of days, the results are the same. It shouldn't take more than that to update the search index.

[#5]

I experienced that issue indeed. But the site appeared in the list after some -many- minutes or one hour, not a day.

[#6]

@Miguel_B_M  It's been 3 days!

[#7]

@ErkanCh did you find out why the site was not listed? 
I have just tested and it looks like a private team's site or private M365 group's site is not listed.