Entity
A real, distinct thing AI can recognise, like your company, a service, a person or a city, rather than just a word.
In plain English
Search engines and AI think in entities and the links between them: this company, in this city, offers this service, owned by this person. The clearer and more consistent those facts are across the web, the more confidently AI can talk about you.
In practice
“Summit Plumbing” the entity is linked to Boise, to water heater repair and to its owner. The words “summit plumbing” alone are ambiguous.
Related terms
How AI reads the webPro Knowledge graph A map of facts about entities and how they connect, which search engines use to understand who you are. In practice, and related terms → Content & structureStarter Schema markup Labels in a page’s code that tell machines exactly what is a service, a price, a review, an FAQ or an address. In practice, and related terms → Citations & visibilityPro Local citation A listing of your business name, address and phone number on another site, like Yelp or a chamber directory. In practice, and related terms →