Entities & Entity SEO: Make Brands Machine-Readable

Traditional search engine optimization (SEO)Search Engine Optimization (SEO) covers all measures that help a website become more visible in unpaid (organic) search results.Open glossary entry → often asks: Which keywordsA keyword is the search term users enter into a search engine to find information, products or providers. Keywords are the basis against which rankings and visibility are measured.Open glossary entry → do we rank for?
Entity SEOEntity SEO ensures that search engines and AI systems can clearly recognise brands, people, products, services and topics and relate them to one another. It goes beyond pure keyword optimisation.Open glossary entry → adds another question: Do search engines and artificial intelligence (AI) systems clearly understand who we are, what we offer and which topics we are connected to?

This distinction is becoming increasingly important. Search engines and AI systems do not process information only as strings of characters. They process things, concepts, organizations, people, places, products and the relationships between them.

This is exactly where the RankScan measure “Core entitiesAn entity is a uniquely identifiable thing or concept, such as an organisation, person, brand, product, place or technical term. Search engines and AI systems process information as entities and their relationships.Open glossary entry → described unclearly” comes in: the home page or the About page does not say clearly who the organization is and what it offers.

If your company is missing from Wikidata, RankScan shows a separate measure. It has its own article: Create a Wikidata entry for your company.

The right framing matters:

Entity SEO does not guarantee a Knowledge Panel or a mention in AI answers. But it improves the conditions for machines to classify your brand, people, products and topics clearly.

This article shows how to define entities, implement entity markup properly, use sameAs correctly and keep your brand identityBrand identity refers to the consistent description of a brand across its website, structured data and external profiles. It helps machines recognise the brand clearly and distinguish it from others.Open glossary entry → consistent across your website, structured dataSchema markup is code that describes a page's content in a structured way, so search engines understand it not just as text but as clearly classified information.Open glossary entry → and external profiles.

What Is an Entity? #

An entity is a clearly identifiable object or concept.

Examples:

The difference from a keyword:

Keyword: apple
Entity 1: Apple Inc.
Entity 2: apple as a fruit
Entity 3: Apple Records

Humans often recognize the context immediately. Machines need clear signals: text, links, structured data, external confirmation and consistent profiles.

From Keywords to Entities #

In the past, SEO was often understood as pure keyword optimization: placing terms in the title, H1The H1 is a web page's main heading. It names the central topic, is visible to users and should generally appear only once per page.Open glossary entry →, text and links.

Modern search is more semantic. Google, Bing, AI systems and knowledge graphs try to identify things and relationships.

A knowledge graph represents entities as nodes and relationships as edges. An overview of knowledge graphs describes that real-world entities such as people, places or events are modeled as nodes, while relationships connect these nodes.
Source: arXiv, Knowledge Graphs on the Web: An Overview

Example:

RankScan → is a → SaaS tool
RankScan → measures → Search Visibility
RankScan → measures → AI Visibility
RankScan → belongs to → Website Health / Monitoring
RankScan → target audience → SMEs and agencies

The clearer these relationships are, the easier it is for machines to classify your brand.

What Does “Core entities described unclearly” Mean? #

The RankScan measure “Core entities described unclearly” means: the home page or the About page does not say clearly who the organization is and what it offers. The markup lacks this sentence, or the home page does not show it visibly.

Rating in RankScan: medium severity · medium effort · work type Development.

RankScan checks exactly two pages for this: the home page and the About page. About page means an address such as /about-us/ or /company/about-us/. Pages below it, such as news, jobs or press releases under /about-us/, do not count.

Unclear entities often show in these symptoms. The list is general; RankScan only measures the sentence in text and markup:

• The homepage does not clearly explain what the brand is.
• The About page is highly promotional but low on facts.
• The company name is written in different ways.
• Legal form, headquarters or contact details are missing.
• Organization Schema is missing or incomplete.
• sameAs does not point to official profiles.
• The brand is rarely named clearly in the content.
• Product names are not clearly separated from categories or features.
• Authors only appear as “Admin” or “Editorial team”.
• External profiles contradict the website.
• AI answers describe the brand incorrectly or very vaguely.

Example of a weak definition:

We develop innovative solutions for modern companies.

Better:

RankScan is a SaaS monitoring tool for Search VisibilitySearch visibility describes how present and findable a website is in the organic search results. It is not the same as traffic, but reflects theoretical findability.Open glossary entry →, AI VisibilityAI Visibility describes whether and how visible a brand, website or person is in AI-generated answers. It measures mention, position, description and source linking across multiple platforms and prompts.Open glossary entry → and Website Health. It helps marketing teams and agencies continuously monitor rankings, AI mentions, citation rateCitation Rate measures the share of relevant AI answers in which a website is linked or named as a source. It is a monitoring metric, not an official ranking factor.Open glossary entry → and technical website issues.

The second version names the category, value, target audience and topical context.

Why Entity SEO Matters for Website Health #

Entity SEO is not a separate luxury topic. It connects several Website Health areas:

• structured data,
• Organization Schema,
• author profiles,
• trust signalsTrust signals are visible elements of a website that build credibility, such as an imprint, contact details, privacy information, sources, reviews, update dates and transparent company information.Open glossary entry →,
• internal linking,
• content qualityHigh-quality content comes from better information value, not from more words. It fully answers the search intent, provides concrete facts, shows expertise and supports key statements with sources.Open glossary entry →,
• sources,
• brand consistency,
• AI visibility.

Google describes structured data as a standardized format for providing information about a page and classifying its content. Google can use structured data to better understand the content of a page.
Source: Google Search Central: Introduction to structured data

For RankScan, this means:

If entities are unclear, content, schema, trust and AI visibility become weaker too.

Organization Schema: Defining the Company Entity #

For company websites, Organization Schema is usually the central building block.

Google explains that Organization structured data on the homepage can help Google better understand administrative details about an organization and disambiguate it. These details include name, logo, contact information and other organization data.
Source: Google Search Central: Organization structured data

A simple example:

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Organization",
  "@id": "https://example.ch/#organization",
  "name": "Example AG",
  "legalName": "Example AG",
  "url": "https://example.ch/",
  "logo": "https://example.ch/logo.svg",
  "description": "Example AG is a Swiss B2B SaaS provider for Search Visibility and Website Health monitoring.",
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "streetAddress": "Bahnhofstrasse 10",
    "postalCode": "8001",
    "addressLocality": "Zurich",
    "addressCountry": "CH"
  },
  "sameAs": [
    "https://www.linkedin.com/company/example-ag",
    "https://www.youtube.com/@example"
  ]
}
</script>

Important:

• keep @id stable,
• use absolute URLs,
• make the logo accessible,
• keep visible company data consistent,
• use only real official profiles in sameAs,
• do not add invented profiles, reviews or awards.

The description in the markup is the sentence that RankScan checks for “Core entities described unclearly”. It appears word for word visibly at the top of the home page.

sameAs: Linking Identity Clearly #

The sameAs field is an important disambiguation signal.

Schema.org defines sameAs as the URL of a reference page that clearly indicates the identity of an item, for example Wikipedia, Wikidata or the official website.
Source: Schema.org: sameAs

Suitable sameAs targets:

• official LinkedIn company profile,
• official YouTube profile,
• official GitHub profile,
• official X/Twitter profile,
• official Facebook/Instagram profile,
• Wikidata entry, if present and justified,
• Crunchbase or industry profiles, if relevant,
• App Store or marketplace profiles,
• official product profiles.

Not suitable:

• private profiles,
• unofficial fan pages,
• outdated profiles,
• profiles with contradictory names,
• low-quality paid directory entries,
• third-party brand profiles,
• artificial or unverifiable wiki entries.

The rule is:

Use sameAs only for profiles that truly confirm the same entity clearly.

Wikidata Entry for Your Company #

Wikidata is a free knowledge base run by the Wikimedia Foundation. A referenced entry that names your website as the official website identifies your company unambiguously. There is no evidence that it increases AI mentions.

RankScan checks the entry in a separate measure. How RankScan searches, what Wikidata requires and how you create the entry is covered in the article Create a Wikidata entry for your company.

Entity Markup Is More Than Organization Schema #

Depending on the website type, additional Schema types can be useful.

Google’s general structured data guidelines state that markup should represent the visible content of the page and should not be used for content that is not visible to users or is misleading.
Source: Google Search Central: General structured data guidelines

So Schema is not a replacement for clear content. It is a machine-readable addition.

The Visible Entity Definition: Not Just JSON-LD #

A common mistake: companies implement Organization Schema, but the visible website remains vague.

Weak:

We are your innovative partner for digital transformation.

Stronger:

Example AG is a Swiss digital agency based in Zurich. The company helps B2B organizations with websites, marketing automation, CRM integrations and Search Visibility.

A good visible entity definition includes:

• name,
• category,
• location or market,
• target audience,
• service area,
• core products,
• differentiator,
• evidence or trust signals.

Example formula:

[Brand] is a [category] for [target audience] focused on [topics/services] in [market/region].

For RankScan:

RankScan is a SaaS monitoring tool for marketing teams and agencies. It measures Search Visibility, AI Visibility and Website Health and helps identify technical SEO problems, ranking changes and AI mentions early.

Covering Entities Clearly in Content #

Whether entities become understandable is decided by the visible content.

A strong page does not only answer a question. It also classifies central entities, attributes and relationships.

EAV-E Pattern #

A useful pattern is:

Entity → Attribute → Value → Evidence

Example:

RankScan → measures → Citation Rate → based on repeated prompt sets and source links in AI answers.

Or:

Organization Schema → describes → company data → with fields such as name, url, logo, contactPoint and sameAs.

This pattern helps turn vague claims into verifiable information.

Internal Linking as an Entity Network #

Internal links connect entities and topics.

Example:

AI Readiness Score → JavaScript SEO → Schema Markup → E-E-A-T → AI mentions

When these pages are linked internally in a meaningful way, a semantic network emerges.

Good internal entity linking:

• pillar pageA pillar page is the central overview page of a topic cluster. It covers a subject broadly and links to in-depth detail pages, which in turn link back to it.Open glossary entry → links to detailed articles,
• detailed articles link back to the pillar page,
• product pages link to relevant use cases,
• author profiles link to articles,
• glossaries link to guides,
• case studies link to services,
• organization links to team, products and contact.

Google recommends making links crawlableCrawling is the process by which a search engine bot fetches a URL and downloads its content. It is the first step before a page can be indexed.Open glossary entry → and using descriptive anchor textAnchor text is the clickable, visible text of a link. It gives users and search engines clues about what the linked target page is about.Open glossary entry → so that users and Google can better understand the linked content.
Source: Google Search Central: Links best practices

Entities, E-E-A-T and Trust #

Entity SEO is closely connected to E-E-A-T.

When a website publishes expert content, the relevant people and organizations should be clearly identifiable:

• Who wrote the content?
• Which organization publishes it?
• What experience or expertise is present?
• Are there sources?
• Is there an author page?
• Do author, organization and markup match?

In its documentation on creating helpful, reliable, people-first contentHelpful content refers to content created primarily for people that delivers a clear answer and shows substance, originality and trust, rather than being optimized mainly for search engines.Open glossary entry →, Google recommends checking whether content demonstrates originality, substance, sources and trustworthiness, among other things.
Source: Google Search Central: Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content

For RankScan, this means:

• weak author entities weaken expert content,
• weak organization data weakens brand trust,
• missing sources weaken credibility,
• contradictory profiles make machine classification harder.

Entity SEO and AI Visibility #

Entity SEO is especially relevant for AI visibility, but it is not magic.

A clear entity helps AI systems assign answers more accurately:

• Which brand is meant?
• Which products belong to it?
• In which market is the brand active?
• Which topics does it cover?
• Which sources confirm this classification?
• Is the brand confused with competitors?

Google describes AI OverviewsAI Overviews are AI-generated answer boxes from Google that appear above the classic search results. They summarize information from the web and can change click distribution.Open glossary entry → and AI Mode as search features where content from the web can appear. Website owners should continue to provide helpful, reliable content and ensure that the technical requirements for Google Search are met.
Source: Google Search Central: AI features and your website

Important:

Entity SEO does not automatically increase the citation rate. But it improves the conditions for a brand to be recognized as clear, topically relevant and trustworthy.

Prioritization: Which Entity Problems Matter? #

The table is a general professional assessment. Only two rows correspond to a measure in RankScan: the unclear description and the missing Wikidata entry. The missing Wikidata entry has its own article.

The most important rule:

Clarify the core entity first: name, category, URL, profile, organization, offer and official external references.

What to Do About “Core entities described unclearly” #

The measure asks for a single sentence. It appears visibly on the home page and word for word in the markup.

1. Write a sentence following this pattern: name is role for core services and target group, with the location if you work locally.
2. Name your industry and services, not a slogan. “We build the future” tells a machine nothing.
3. Place the sentence at the top of the home page, as a subline of the H1 or as the first paragraph.
4. Have your developers or agency add the same sentence word for word as description to the Organization markup of every page in the list.
5. If the website represents an individual, the markup uses the type Person instead of Organization.
6. Publish the pages and mark the measure as done.

How RankScan checks it: The next full crawl checks the home page and the About page. RankScan then reports “Fixed” or “Not fixed yet” with the number of pages still missing.

Example:

Visible on the home page:
Example AG is a digital agency in Zurich for websites, marketing automation and CRM integrations for B2B companies.

In the Organization markup:
"description": "Example AG is a digital agency in Zurich for websites, marketing automation and CRM integrations for B2B companies."

Going Further: Sharpening Entities Across the Website #

The following steps go beyond this measure. RankScan checks the Organization markup of the home page in its own measure “Home page without Organization markup”, but nothing else. The steps help if you want to make the brand machine-readable as a whole.

Step 1: Identify Core Entities #

List the most important entities:

• brand,
• organization,
• products,
• services,
• people,
• locations,
• topics,
• target markets,
• competitors,
• tools,
• methods.

Step 2: Define the Entity for Each Page #

Ask for every important page:

Which main entity does this page describe?
Which secondary entities need to appear?
Which relationships should become clear?

Example:

Page: /ai-readiness-score/
Main entity: AI Readiness Score
Secondary entities: GEO audit, AI visibility, JavaScript SEO, Schema Markup, Citation Rate, RankScan

Step 3: Improve the Visible Definition #

Check:

• Is the entity clearly named?
• Is it defined?
• Are there attributes?
• Are there examples?
• Is there evidence?
• Are there internal links?
• Is there suitable markup?

Step 4: Add Schema Markup #

Depending on the page:

• Organization,
• LocalBusiness,
• Person,
• ProfilePage,
• Article,
• Product,
• Service,
• BreadcrumbList,
• FAQPage.

Make sure that:

• visible content and markup match,
• @id is used consistently,
• the canonical URLThe canonical tag is an HTML link element that tells search engines the preferred (canonical) URL of a page. It helps consolidate duplicate or similar URLs onto a main version.Open glossary entry → is used,
• absolute URLs are used,
• no contradictory types are set,
• no fake profiles are added to sameAs.

Step 5: Check External Profiles #

Review:

• LinkedIn,
• Google Business Profile,
• industry directories,
• partner pages,
• review platforms,
• app stores,
• GitHub,
• Crunchbase,
• Wikidata, if justified,
• trade media,
• customer cases.

Ask:

Is the brand described consistently everywhere?
Are name, URL, logo and category consistent?

Step 6: Test After the Fix #

Check:

• Rich ResultsRich results are enhanced displays in Google, for example with ratings, prices or breadcrumbs, which can be enabled by suitable structured data.Open glossary entry → Test,
• Schema Markup Validator,
• Google Search ConsoleGoogle Search Console (GSC) is a free Google tool that shows how a website performs in organic search, with data on impressions, clicks, click-through rate and average position, plus indexing and technical issues.Open glossary entry →,
• brand search,
• Knowledge Graph Search APIAn application programming interface (API) is an interface through which software systems communicate and exchange data. It defines how requests are made and answered.Open glossary entry →,
• ChatGPT/Perplexity test,
• prompt monitoring.

The Google Knowledge Graph Search API can search for entities in the Google Knowledge Graph and uses schema.org types as well as JSON-LD compatibility. It is useful for checks, but it is not a complete view into all Google systems.
Source: Google Knowledge Graph Search API

General Checklist: Checking Entity SEO #

RankScan measures three things about the entity: the sentence on the home page and About page, the Wikidata entry and, in its own measure, the Organization markup of the home page. The following list is a general checklist for your own review:

• clear visible definition of the organization,
• consistent brand naming,
• Organization Schema,
• @id,
• sameAs,
• logo,
• URL,
• contact and address,
• Name, Address, Phone (NAPNAP stands for a company's Name, Address and Phone number. Consistent NAP data across the website and external profiles is an important entity and trust signal.Open glossary entry →) and their consistency,
• Person/Author markupAuthor markup is structured data that identifies authors or responsible organisations in a machine-readable way, typically via the author field in Article or BlogPosting schema.Open glossary entry →,
• ProfilePage markup,
• Product/Service markup,
• breadcrumbsBreadcrumb navigation shows a page's path within the website hierarchy. It improves user orientation and complements internal linking.Open glossary entry →,
• internal links between entities,
• external profiles,
• contradictory profiles,
• brand search,
• AI description of the brand,
• competitor confusion,
• visible evidence and sources.

Example: Brand Is Confused With Another Company #

Starting Point #

A Swiss consulting company has the same or a similar name as another company in the DACH region.

RankScan reports:

“Core entities described unclearly”
“Home page without Organization markup”
“No Wikidata entry for your company”

Analysis #

• The company name is written inconsistently.
• Organization Schema is missing.
• The About page is promotional and fact-light.
• The LinkedIn profile uses a different short description.
• Google Business Profile and website show different categories.
• Expert articles only say “we” instead of the full brand name.
• AI answers mix up the two companies.

Solution #

1. Define a consistent brand name.
2. Write one sentence on role, services and target group and place it at the top of the home page.
3. Add Organization Schema with a stable @id, with the same sentence as description.
4. Create a referenced Wikidata entry and link it together with the official profiles in sameAs.
5. Update LinkedIn, Google Business Profile and directories.
6. Add author profiles and trust signals.
7. Strengthen internal links to central brand and service pages.
8. Mark the measures as done.
9. Recheck AI and brand searches after a few weeks.

Result #

The brand is described more clearly and better distinguished from other entities. This does not guarantee a Knowledge Panel or AI citation, but it reduces confusion risks and weak identity signals.

Common Entity SEO Mistakes #

Mistake 1: Schema Without Visible Substance #

Structured data should reflect visible content, not replace it.

Mistake 2: sameAs With the Wrong Profiles #

sameAs may only point to profiles that truly represent the same entity.

Mistake 3: Forcing Wikidata or Wikipedia #

A Wikidata entry needs references from public sources. Entries without references are often deleted. Wikipedia has much stricter notability criteria.

Mistake 4: Writing Company Names Inconsistently #

“Example”, “Example AG”, “EXAMPLE GmbH” and “Example Switzerland” can confuse machines if the relationship is not clearly explained.

Mistake 5: Ignoring Authors #

For expert content, people are entities too. “Admin” is not a trust signal.

Mistake 6: Too Many Schema Types Without a Main Entity #

A page should have one clear main entity. Multiple markup types can be useful, but they must not become contradictory.

Mistake 7: Not Maintaining External Profiles #

If external sources contain outdated information, they weaken entity clarity.

Checklist: Check Entity SEO #

Use this checklist:

• Is the brand clearly defined on the homepage?
• Is the legal form or organization clearly named?
• Is there a fact-based About page?
• Is Organization Schema present?
• Is there a stable @id?
• Are name, URL, logo and description correct?
• Does sameAs contain only official profiles?
• Are external profiles consistent?
• Are NAP details consistent?
• Are there author profiles for expert content?
• Is there Person or ProfilePage markup?
• Are product or service entities clearly named?
• Are there internal links between brand, services, products, people and topics?
• Are important technical entities defined in the content?
• Are there sources or evidence for central claims?
• Is the brand described correctly in AI answers?
• Is there confusion with similarly named organizations?

In addition, semantic HTML helps narrow down the cause cleanly and prioritize the next SEO measures.

Conclusion: A Brand Must Be Recognizable as an Entity #

Entity SEO is the foundation that allows search engines and AI systems to understand a brand not just as a website, but as a clearly describable entity.

The RankScan measure “Core entities described unclearly” shows where this foundation is missing: the sentence on the home page and About page is unclear. If the basic record on Wikidata is missing, the article Create a Wikidata entry for your company helps.

The best approach is:

1. place one sentence on role, services and target group in text and markup,
2. identify core entities and sharpen visible definitions,
3. add Organization, Person, Product or Service markup,
4. use sameAs only for official profiles,
5. make external profiles and NAP data consistent,
6. name entities concretely in the content,
7. build internal links as a semantic network,
8. create a referenced Wikidata entry and link it in sameAs,
9. regularly check brand searches and AI answers.

This makes your brand not only findable, but machine-readable: clearer, more consistent and easier to classify for classic search, knowledge graphs and modern AI answer systems.

Sources and Further Reading #

• Google Search Central: Introduction to structured data
• Google Search Central: Organization structured data
• Google Search Central: General structured data guidelines
• Google Search Central: Links best practices
• Google Search Central: Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content
• Google Search Central: AI features and your website
• Google Knowledge Graph Search API
• Schema.org: Organization
• Schema.org: sameAs
• Wikidata: Notability
• Wikidata: Property P856, official website
• arXiv, Knowledge Graphs on the Web: An Overview