Entities and Knowledge Graph

What is an entity?

In SEO and GEO, an entity is a clearly defined, identifiable real-world object: a person, organization, place, concept, or product. Unlike a keyword (a string of characters), an entity has a unique identity in a knowledge base.

Google's Knowledge Graph (KG) is Google's central knowledge base, containing entities with their properties and the relationships between them. Each entity is identified by a unique MID (Machine Identifier) such as /m/0k2kfpc (classic KG) or /g/11j45xyz (extended KG).

Why entities matter for GEO

In generative search systems (AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT, Perplexity), entities serve several roles:

• Disambiguation: anchoring the response to a specific entity to avoid confusion ("Apple" the company vs "apple" the fruit)
• Fact-checking: using structured KG facts to verify the model's claims and reduce hallucinations
• Response enrichment: injecting facts (founder, creation date, website, etc.) directly from the graph
• Vertical integration: connecting Shopping Graph (products), Places Graph (Maps), images, and news into a unified response

In Google's AI Mode, when a query concerns a named entity, the system exposes the MID it uses to anchor its response. Being a recognized entity in the KG is one of the most powerful levers for generative search visibility.

Verify if your brand is a KG entity

1. Search for your brand on Google — if a Knowledge Panel appears on the right, you are a KG entity.
2. Look up your MID via Google's Knowledge Graph Search API.
3. Check your presence on Wikidata — a major source that feeds Google's KG.

How to create or strengthen your entity

1. Wikidata presence

Wikidata is the open-source database most directly ingested by Google for the Knowledge Graph. If your organization, product, or concept is notable, create or enrich its Wikidata item with:

• Official name (all relevant languages)
• Short description
• Links to official sources (website, social profiles)
• Key properties (founding date, founders, industry, etc.)

2. Wikipedia (if eligible)

A Wikipedia page is a very strong entity signal. It must meet Wikipedia's notability criteria (reliable, independent secondary sources). Don't create a page if your organization doesn't qualify.

3. sameAs markup in JSON-LD

The sameAs property in your Schema.org markup connects your entity to its representations on other platforms. It's the most direct technical signal for Google to understand that your site is the entity:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Organization",
  "name": "Web4Agents",
  "url": "https://web4agents.org",
  "logo": "https://web4agents.org/logo.png",
  "sameAs": [
    "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q...",
    "https://twitter.com/web4agents",
    "https://linkedin.com/company/web4agents",
    "https://github.com/web4agents",
    "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/web4agents"
  ]
}

For people:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Person",
  "name": "First Last",
  "url": "https://yoursite.com/about",
  "sameAs": [
    "https://www.linkedin.com/in/first-last",
    "https://twitter.com/firstlast",
    "https://github.com/firstlast",
    "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q..."
  ]
}

4. Consistent information across platforms

Google compares information on your site with your external profiles to consolidate the entity. Ensure consistency of:

• Exact official name (identical spelling everywhere)
• Website URL
• Short description
• Logo
• Contact information and address (for local businesses)

5. Mentions in recognized sources

Unlinked mentions in press articles, authoritative blogs, or industry directories help reinforce your entity recognition, even without a backlink. These are co-occurrences that Google uses as a signal.

6. Structured data for authors (E-E-A-T)

For author-persons, Person markup with sameAs reinforces entity recognition and E-E-A-T signals:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Person",
  "name": "First Last",
  "jobTitle": "SEO Director",
  "worksFor": {
    "@type": "Organization",
    "name": "Web4Agents"
  },
  "knowsAbout": ["GEO", "Technical SEO", "AI Agents"],
  "sameAs": ["https://linkedin.com/in/first-last"]
}

Other Knowledge Graphs

Google is not the only system that uses entities:

System	Knowledge Base	Usage
Google AIO/AIM	Google Knowledge Graph	Disambiguation, fact-checking
Google AI Mode	+ Shopping Graph, Places Graph	Product and location integration
Bing / Copilot	Bing Entity Store	Copilot answers
ChatGPT / OpenAI	Wikidata, training data	Generative answers
Perplexity	Live web + external databases	Real-time citations

The entity strategy is universal: a well-defined Wikidata entity reinforced by consistent sameAs markup benefits all these systems.

Entity checklist

• Verify if your brand has a Wikidata item (create one if notable)
• Check the Google Knowledge Panel for your brand
• Add sameAs in Organization/Person JSON-LD on all key pages
• Consistency of name, logo, URL, and description across your site and all social platforms
• Comprehensive About page with full Organization markup
• Author bios with Person markup and sameAs links
• Seek mentions (not necessarily links) in recognized sources in your industry

See E-E-A-T, AI Overviews and AI Mode, and Backlinks & Link Authority.