Entity salience
Entity salience is how central an entity is to a piece of text. Google Cloud’s Natural Language API scores it from 0 to 1.0, describing it as “the importance or centrality of that entity to the entire document text.” For SEO the lesson is simple: make the main entity the clear subject of the page, early and consistently, rather than chasing a number.
How is salience measured?
In the Natural Language API (v1), each entity has a salience score in the 0 to 1.0 range; scores closer to 1.0 are highly salient.[1] Officially documented Scores across a document are relative, so adding more entities lowers each one’s share. How you run the analysis is covered in finding entities with the Natural Language API.
Does Google Search use salience?
Google has not said that Search uses this API or its scores. The general idea that a page has a main subject is uncontroversial; the specific number is a diagnostic from a separate product. Practitioner practice
How do you write with clear salience?
- Name the main entity in the title, H1 and first sentence.
- Make it the grammatical subject: “Example Co repairs roofs” rather than “Roofs are repaired by…”.
- Define it in one sentence near the top (an answer-first introduction).
- Keep secondary entities secondary; give them their own pages if they need depth.
- Use consistent names; switching between many variants can split mentions.
These are writing practices, not documented ranking rules. Practitioner practice
What does over-optimisation look like?
Repeating an entity name in every sentence reads badly and resembles keyword stuffing, which Google’s spam policies prohibit.[2] Officially documented Write for the reader; clarity usually produces good salience on its own.
How does salience relate to AI answers?
Answer engines extract passages. A passage whose subject is explicit (“Local SEO is…”) can stand alone when quoted. AEO.wiki covers passage-level writing in content structure. Practitioner practice
Frequently asked questions
What is a good entity salience score?
There is no target. Check that your main entity scores highest on its own page; beyond that, the number is not a goal.
Is salience the same as keyword density?
No. Salience reflects the role an entity plays in the text (subject, position, mentions), not just how often a word appears.
See also
References
Pages accessed September 29, 2026 unless a date is given. See all sources and our editorial policy.
- ^ "Entity (REST reference, v1)". Google Cloud.
- ^ "Spam policies for Google web search". Google Search Central. Updated May 2026 to cover generative AI responses.