What is an entity?
In SEO, an entity is a single, uniquely identifiable thing (a person, organization, place, product, event, creative work or concept) that a search engine can store as a node with attributes and relationships. A keyword is a string of text; an entity is the thing that string refers to, and one entity can have many names.
How is an entity defined?
Search engines model the world as a graph: nodes are things and edges are the relationships between them. Google’s 2012 Knowledge Graph announcement described objects (entities) and “facts about and relationships between these different objects.”[1] Schema.org uses the same idea: every type descends from Thing, and properties link one item to another.[2] Officially documented
What makes something an entity?
- It is singular. “Encinitas, California” is one place; “beach towns” is a category.
- It can be identified. Wikidata gives each item a Q-number, for example Q42 for Douglas Adams.[3]
- It has attributes. A company has a founding date, a website and a headquarters.
- It has relationships. A person works for an organization; a business is located in a city.
Entity vs keyword: what is the difference?
| Keyword | Entity | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A string people type | The thing the string refers to |
| Ambiguity | “Jaguar” can mean an animal or a car maker | Each meaning is a separate entity |
| Names | One string | Many names, languages and aliases |
| Identifier | None | Wikidata Q-ID, Knowledge Graph ID, URL |
Which entity types matter most for SEO?
For most sites: your Organization or LocalBusiness, the people who author and lead it, your products or services, the places you serve, and the topics you want to be known for. Google Cloud’s Natural Language API, for comparison, labels entities with types such as PERSON, ORGANIZATION, LOCATION, EVENT, WORK_OF_ART and CONSUMER_GOOD.[4] Officially documented
Where do identifiers come from?
Common public identifiers include Wikidata Q-IDs,[3] Knowledge Graph IDs returned by Google’s Knowledge Graph Search API,[5] and authority identifiers such as ISNI and ORCID.[6][7] On your own site, a stable URL plus a JSON-LD @id acts as your identifier (see @id and entity graphs).
Frequently asked questions
Is a keyword an entity?
No. A keyword is text; an entity is the real-world thing it refers to. One keyword can refer to several entities, and one entity can be searched with many keywords.
Are topics entities?
Many are. Concepts such as 'search engine optimization' have Wikidata items and Knowledge Graph IDs, so they can be treated as entities.
Can a small business be an entity?
Yes. Any real, distinguishable business is an entity. Whether Google shows a knowledge panel for it depends on the information Google finds.
See also
References
Pages accessed September 29, 2026 unless a date is given. See all sources and our editorial policy.
- ^ "Introducing the Knowledge Graph: things, not strings (Amit Singhal)". Google (The Keyword). Published May 16, 2012.
- ^ "Data model". Schema.org.
- ^ "Help: Items". Wikidata.
- ^ "Analyzing entities". Google Cloud.
- ^ "Google Knowledge Graph Search API". Google for Developers.
- ^ "ISNI: International Standard Name Identifier". ISNI International Agency.
- ^ "ORCID". ORCID.