A knowledge panel is the information box Google shows when someone searches for a person, organisation, place or thing in its Knowledge Graph. It gives a quick summary of who or what the entity is, drawn from Google’s understanding of what’s published about it across the web.
You can’t create a knowledge panel, and once you have one you still don’t control it. Google’s help page says panels are generated automatically, sometimes with data from partners who supply authoritative information on topics like films or music. The subject of a panel can claim it and suggest changes, and Google treats those suggestions as one source among several. Panels can also stop showing. Google says when a panel appears is decided automatically and isn’t something it can or would influence.
Knowledge panels and Business Profiles
| Knowledge panel | Business Profile | |
|---|---|---|
| What it covers | People, organisations, places and things in the Knowledge Graph | Businesses serving customers at a location or within a service area |
| How it’s created | Automatically, when Google has enough information from the open web | By the business, through Google Business Profile |
| How you take control | Get verified on Google, then suggest changes | Create or claim the profile and edit it directly |
| B2B fit | Software companies, founders and products buyers search by name | MSPs and service firms with offices or service areas |
The two look alike on a results page, but they run on different systems. An MSP with offices may need both: a Business Profile for local searches, and a knowledge panel for searches on the company and its founders.
How to claim and update a panel
If you’re the subject of a panel or an official representative of the entity, Google lets you claim it through Get verified on Google and then suggest changes to its facts. Anyone else can use the feedback link on the panel to suggest an edit for review.
Claiming has one practical benefit people overlook: images. Google says a claimed owner can choose a featured image from images already on the web. On an unclaimed panel, the images are a preview of Google Images results, picked automatically.
Why panels matter for B2B
The brand search after an AI recommendation is where a panel earns its place. G2’s 2026 AI Search Insight Report found 33% of software buyers bought from a brand they’d never heard of after an AI chatbot recommended it, and that buyers check AI answers against other sources. A buyer who searches your name to check you out sees the panel first. An accurate panel with the right logo, founding year and description supports the recommendation. An outdated one undermines it.
Common mistakes
- Waiting for a panel to appear without making the company’s facts consistent across the web.
- Never claiming an existing panel, which leaves the image choice to Google.
- Treating a Business Profile as a substitute for a knowledge panel, or the reverse.
- Assuming a panel that disappeared was removed by Google staff. Google says display is decided automatically.
- Asking for corrections without evidence from a primary source.
Related terms
Knowledge Graph · Entity SEO · Structured data · SERP · E-E-A-T
