Google no longer just indexes keywords — it builds a model of entities: distinct, identifiable things in the real world (companies, people, products, places, concepts). When Google recognises your brand, your authors, and your products as entities in its Knowledge Graph, it can better understand your content's relevance, authority, and relationships — influencing rankings, AI Overviews citations, and Knowledge Panel generation. Schema markup with @id and sameAs is the most direct technical way to declare your entities.

1. What Is an Entity in Google's World?

Organisation entity

e.g. Apple Inc., NHS, local restaurant

Organization / LocalBusiness

Person entity

e.g. Elon Musk, a named author, a doctor

Person

Product entity

e.g. iPhone 17, a specific drug, a book ISBN

Product / Book / Drug

Place entity

e.g. Paris, Heathrow Airport, a specific park

Place / LandmarksOrHistoricalBuildings

Creative work entity

e.g. The Dark Knight film, an article, a song

Movie / Article / MusicRecording

Event entity

e.g. Glastonbury 2026, a specific conference

Event

2. The @id Property: Giving Your Entity an Identity

The @id property assigns a globally unique identifier to your entity — typically a URL on your own domain using a fragment identifier (#). Once set, this ID is used across all your pages to reference the same entity without repeating its full description.

// Define the entity once — in your root layout or homepage
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Organization",
  "@id": "https://example.com/#organization",  // ← The entity ID
  "name": "Example Corp",
  "url": "https://example.com",
  "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://example.com/logo.png" },
  "sameAs": [
    "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Example_Corp",
    "https://linkedin.com/company/example-corp"
  ]
}

// Reference it from every other page — no need to repeat details
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Article",
  "publisher": { "@id": "https://example.com/#organization" }
}

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "WebSite",
  "@id": "https://example.com/#website",
  "publisher": { "@id": "https://example.com/#organization" }
}

3. Building Your Site's Entity Graph

A complete entity graph connects all the main entities on your site. The typical pattern for a company website:

// Entity graph for a company website:

// 1. Organization (sitewide in layout)
"@id": "https://example.com/#organization"

// 2. WebSite (sitewide in layout)
"@id": "https://example.com/#website"
"publisher": { "@id": "https://example.com/#organization" }

// 3. WebPage (per page)
"@id": "https://example.com/about#webpage"
"isPartOf": { "@id": "https://example.com/#website" }
"about": { "@id": "https://example.com/#organization" }

// 4. Author Person (on author pages; referenced from articles)
"@id": "https://example.com/authors/jane-doe#person"
"worksFor": { "@id": "https://example.com/#organization" }

// 5. Article (on blog posts)
"publisher": { "@id": "https://example.com/#organization" }
"author": { "@id": "https://example.com/authors/jane-doe#person" }
"isPartOf": { "@id": "https://example.com/#website" }

4. sameAs: Connecting to the Global Knowledge Graph

sameAs tells Google that your entity is the same as an entity described on another authoritative source. Google can then merge the information from those sources — creating a richer, more confident entity model for your brand.

🎯 Entity corroboration sources (priority order)

Wikipedia:Highest — almost guarantees entity recognition

Wikidata:Google's primary structured knowledge source

LinkedIn:Strong for company entities

Crunchbase:Startup and company funding data

Google My Business:Local business entity anchoring

ORCID:For academic / researcher person entities

IMDb:For film / entertainment entities

ISBN / ISSN:For book / publication entities

5. Why Entity SEO Matters for Rankings

✓ Topical authority

When Google understands your entity and the topics it is associated with (via "knowsAbout", "hasOccupation", etc.), it is more likely to rank your content on those topics — especially against competitors with weaker entity signals.

✓ AI Overview citations

AI Overviews heavily favour content from entities Google has high confidence in. A strong entity graph — even without a Wikipedia article — improves your citation probability.

✓ Branded search ownership

A well-defined entity means Google shows your Knowledge Panel in branded searches, controls the first impression, and links to your official social profiles in the SERP.

✓ Disambiguation

If your brand name or author name is shared by others, @id and sameAs anchors help Google correctly associate content with the right entity — preventing cross-contamination of rankings.

6. Step-by-Step: Building Your Entity Presence from Zero

Entity SEO is a 6–12 month project, not a one-time schema dump. Here is the correct sequence:

Define your entity @id system

Choose a canonical URL pattern for your entity IDs. Standard practice: https://yourdomain.com/#organization, https://yourdomain.com/#website, https://yourdomain.com/authors/[name]#person. Write these in a schema style guide your team uses consistently.

Deploy Organization entity sitewide

Add Organization schema with @id, name, url, logo, and sameAs in your shared layout (every page). Include all authoritative external profiles in sameAs. This is the entity foundation everything else references.

Create external entity corroboration

Before or alongside schema deployment, create or claim entries on Wikidata, Google Business Profile, LinkedIn, and Crunchbase. These are the external sources Google checks to verify your entity claims.

Build Person entities for authors

For each author on your site, create an author page with Person schema: @id, name, jobTitle, worksFor (pointing to Organization @id), sameAs, knowsAbout. This builds topical authority signals for content those authors write.

Cross-reference entity @ids from all content

Every Article should reference publisher @id and author @id. Every WebPage should reference the WebSite @id. Create the web of entity references rather than restating full entity definitions on every page.

Monitor Knowledge Panel appearance

After 3–6 months of consistent entity signals, check whether a Knowledge Panel appears for your brand name in Google Search. Request a Knowledge Panel if eligible via the Google Knowledge Panel official process.

7. Entity Disambiguation: When Your Name Is Not Unique

If your brand name, author name, or product name is shared by other entities, disambiguation is critical. Without it, Google may conflate your entity with another, mixing rankings and Knowledge Graph data:

@id with your domain

A unique @id URL on your domain is unambiguous. Even if two companies are named 'Apex', https://apex-software.com/#organization is definitively your entity.

sameAs to Wikidata

Wikidata entities each have a unique Q-number (e.g. Q12345). Pointing sameAs to your specific Wikidata entry anchors your entity in the global knowledge graph with no ambiguity.

Unique location/address data

For local businesses with common names, PostalAddress on the Organization entity (including geo coordinates) uniquely identifies the physical entity.

Person schema with employer + role

For authors sharing names with others, worksFor pointing to your Organization @id plus jobTitle creates a unique person-role-organisation triple that disambiguates them.

8. Common Entity Schema Mistakes

🚩 Different @id values for the same entity across pages

✅ If your homepage uses https://example.com/#organization and your blog articles use https://www.example.com/#org, Google treats these as two different entities. Standardise and use exactly the same string everywhere.

🚩 sameAs pointing to a profile page, not the entity page

✅ If your Wikipedia sameAs URL redirects, has a different canonical, or points to a disambiguation page, Google may not correctly link the entities. Validate that your sameAs URLs resolve correctly and directly to the entity.

🚩 Person entities without sameAs

✅ An isolated Person schema with no sameAs links is an unknown entity — Google cannot cross-reference it. Add at least 2–3 sameAs references (LinkedIn, Twitter/X, academic profile) for any author you want Google to recognise.

🚩 Using Organization schema for individuals

✅ If a freelancer or independent consultant runs their own site, use Person as the primary entity (with @id), not Organization. Mixing up the entity type creates a mismatch in the Knowledge Graph.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a Wikipedia article to be recognised as a Google entity?▼

No — Wikipedia helps significantly but is not required. Many brands achieve Knowledge Panel recognition through a combination of Google Business Profile, Wikidata entry, LinkedIn company page, Crunchbase listing, and consistent Organization schema with sameAs. The threshold is “notability” by Google’s standard, not specifically Wikipedia presence.

What should I use as my @id URL?▼

The standard convention is a URL on your own domain with a fragment identifier (hash). For your organisation: https://yourdomain.com/#organization. For your website: https://yourdomain.com/#website. For authors: https://yourdomain.com/about/[person-name]#person. The URL does not need to resolve to anything — it is a logical identifier, not a page to fetch.

How many sameAs references do I need?▼

Quality over quantity. 3–5 high-authority, accurate sameAs references (Wikipedia, Wikidata, LinkedIn, Crunchbase, Google Business Profile) are more valuable than 20 references to low-authority directories. Google cross-checks these to validate your entity claims — ensure every sameAs URL accurately represents your entity.

Can I build entity authority without schema markup?▼

Partially — entity recognition also comes from Wikipedia, news mentions, link patterns, and Google Business Profile. But schema markup with @id and sameAs is the most direct, reliable way to communicate entity identity to Google’s structured data parser. It complements other entity signals rather than replacing them.

How long until I get a Knowledge Panel after adding entity schema?▼

There is no guaranteed timeline, and not all brands will get a Knowledge Panel. Brands with Wikipedia articles typically see panels within 1–3 months. Without Wikipedia, the timeline is 6–18 months of consistent entity signal building. Knowledge Panels are at Google’s discretion — schema markup is one input, not a guarantee.

Should each author have their own page for Person schema?▼

Yes — each author should have a dedicated author bio page where the Person schema with @id is defined. Blog post Article schema then references that @id as the author property. This is cleaner than repeating full Person schema on every article and creates a consistent entity reference across your content graph.

What happens if I change my @id after it is established?▼

Changing @id URLs breaks the entity graph — all pages referencing the old @id now point to a broken reference. If you must change domain or URL structure, update all @id and all cross-references simultaneously in a single deploy. Then request recrawl of key pages in GSC. Entity recognition will reset and need to be re-established over several months.

Does entity schema help with non-branded queries?▼

Yes — topical authority from entity schema (knowsAbout, hasOccupation on Person entities; knowsAbout or subjectOf on Organization entities) signals to Google which topic areas your content is authoritative on. This can improve rankings on informational queries in your topic area even if they don’t mention your brand.

Validate Your Entity Schema

Check your Organization and Person JSON-LD @id and sameAs properties are correctly structured.

Validate Schema →

Entity SEO & Schema Markup: How to Build a Knowledge Graph Presence