Entity SEO
An optimization approach that secures recognition from search engines and LLMs at the entity level — treating a brand as a unique, identifiable object rather than a keyword
What is Entity SEO?
Entity SEO is the practice of making your brand recognizable to search engines and LLMs as a distinct, identifiable entity — not just a string of text. Where traditional SEO targets keyword rankings, Entity SEO targets the question: "Does the AI know this brand exists as a real-world object?"
The concept originates from Google's 2012 Knowledge Graph launch, where Google described its goal as "things, not strings." In the LLM era, this principle has become central to GEO and AEO strategy.
Why does it matter for LLMs?
LLMs don't retrieve documents — they recall entities. When a user asks "recommend a tool for AI visibility diagnostics," the model draws from its internalized knowledge of which entities exist in that category. If a brand is not registered as an entity in the model's knowledge graph, it cannot appear in the answer regardless of content volume.
On-page vs. off-page entity assets
| On-page | Off-page | |
|---|---|---|
| Examples | schema.org Organization, sameAs |
Wikidata, Wikipedia, press coverage |
| Control | Full (you edit directly) | Partial (community-edited) |
| Speed | Immediate | Weeks to months |
How to build entity authority
- Declare on your site — Add
OrganizationJSON-LD withsameAslinking to Wikidata, Wikipedia, LinkedIn, and social profiles - Register in Wikidata — Create a Q-ID with core properties (instance of, country, official website) and attach references
- Earn Wikipedia notability — Accumulate independent in-depth press coverage that meets Wikipedia's notability threshold
- Maintain NAP consistency — Keep Name, Address, Phone identical across all platforms