Definition
An entity is a distinct, well-defined thing, such as a company, person, product or place, that search engines and AI models recognize and connect to facts.
Entity explained
Search engines moved from matching words to understanding things. Google's Knowledge Graph stores entities and the relationships between them: a company has a founder, a location, products and a website. Language models build a similar, looser picture from the text they learn from.
Entity SEO is making sure your brand is understood as one clear entity with consistent facts. The basics are the same name, description, founding details and category everywhere; an About page that states them plainly; Organization structured data with sameAs links to your real profiles; and consistent listings in the directories and databases that matter in your sector.
When the signals conflict, for example an old company name on some sites, a different description on LinkedIn, or a product name shared with another company, search engines and AI assistants may confuse you with someone else, or leave you out of answers because they aren't sure who you are.
Example
Your company, Northwind Analytics, shares part of its name with an unrelated retailer, and assistants sometimes mix the two up. Making your Organization schema, About page and profiles state the same category, founder and location helps AI models answer “what does Northwind Analytics do” correctly.
Why it matters
AI assistants can only recommend a brand they can identify with confidence. Clear entity signals reduce wrong facts and missed mentions.
Related service
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
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Related terms
- Schema markupSchema markup is structured data using the schema.org vocabulary that describes a page's content, such as a product, article or business, for machines.
- Brand mentionA brand mention is any reference to your company, product or founder by name on another website, forum, video or AI answer, whether or not it links to you.
- GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)GEO (generative engine optimization) is making your brand easy for AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini to find, trust and cite.
- E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness)E-E-A-T stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness, the qualities Google uses to describe reliable, helpful content.
- NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number)NAP is a business's name, address and phone number, which should be identical everywhere online so search engines can trust your local details.