Entity SEO is the work of making a company, person or product clearly recognisable to search engines as one specific real-world thing, with consistent facts attached to it. Instead of matching words on a page, Google connects entities, such as a company, its founder, its products and its location, in its Knowledge Graph.
Most entity problems are inconsistency problems, not missing-markup problems. Google builds its picture of an entity from public sources that compile facts, from licensed data, and from owners who claim their knowledge panel. When your site gives one company name, LinkedIn another, a directory a third, and three sources give three founding years, no markup fixes that. The work starts with making every description of the company agree.
What Google’s documentation supports
Google’s Organization structured data documentation is the clearest statement of what markup does for an entity. It says adding Organization markup to your home page can help Google understand your organization’s details and disambiguate it in search results. Some properties work behind the scenes to tell your company apart from others with similar names, such as industry codes like NAICS. Others can influence what people see, such as which logo appears in your knowledge panel.
| Step | What it does | Where it lives |
|---|---|---|
| One fixed name and description | Gives every source the same facts to repeat | Your site, LinkedIn, directories, review profiles |
| Organization structured data | Helps Google identify and disambiguate the company | Your home page |
sameAs links |
Connects your site to the official profiles that represent the same company | Inside the Organization markup |
| Third-party mentions | Independent sources describing you the same way | Industry publications, partner pages, review platforms |
| Claiming your knowledge panel | Lets you suggest corrections once a panel exists | Google’s Get verified process |
Structured data must match what the page says. Google’s guidance on AI features repeats this rule, and says no special schema is needed to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode.
Why entities matter more in AI search
AI answers describe companies by combining what several sources say about them. If those sources disagree, the answer may be vague, out of date or wrong. Buyers check. G2’s 2026 AI Search Insight Report found 64% of software buyers run into AI inaccuracies weekly or more, and that they turn to review platforms to verify what the AI told them. A company described the same way across its site, review profiles and third-party coverage gives both the AI and the buyer the same answer.
Entities for consultants and small B2B firms
For a consultancy, there are often two entities to establish: the business and the person behind it. Describe both consistently, connect them on the About page, and link the founder’s professional profiles. Google Business Profile helps only if you serve customers at a location or within a service area. Google says that’s who Business Profiles are for. A remote B2B consultancy may not need one at all.
Common mistakes
- Adding Organization markup that contradicts the visible page.
- Using a different company name or description on every platform.
- Listing press coverage or client sites in
sameAs. It’s for profiles that represent the same entity. - Treating a Google Business Profile as an entity tool for a business with no location or service area.
- Expecting markup alone to create a knowledge panel.
Related terms
Knowledge Graph · Knowledge panel · Structured data · E-E-A-T · Semantic SEO · Generative engine optimisation
