A year ago, I wrote in Search Engine Land about how Google is making entities smarter. Since that time, entities have become more important to Google — which means they are more important to businesses that want to be found on Google. It’s time for brands to get better acquainted with entities and why they matter.
What are entities, and how have they shaped Google search?
An entity, as defined by Google in a recent patent, is:
[a] thing or concept that is singular, unique, well-defined and distinguishable. For example, an entity may be a person, place, item, idea, abstract concept, concrete element, other suitable thing, or any combination thereof.
The most visible use of entities by Google is the Knowledge Graph panels that sometimes appear in search results. These panels typically provide a summary of relevant information about an entity — information that is collected from various sources around the web and compiled into a “card” display format.
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