# Entity

Category: [On-Page & Content](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/category/on-page-content/) › [On-page keywords & semantics](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/category/on-page-content/on-page-keywords-semantics/)

In SEO, an **entity** is a uniquely identifiable thing, such as a person, organization, place, product or concept, that search engines can recognize regardless of how it is spelled. This entry covers the SEO meaning, not the term as used in databases or philosophy.

## What does it mean for SEO?

Google introduced its Knowledge Graph on May 16, 2012 with the phrase "things, not strings". At launch, the post said it contained more than 500 million objects and more than 3.5 billion facts about and relationships between them. The idea is that a search engine works with the thing behind a word. "Jaguar" can mean an animal or a car maker, and entities make such cases distinguishable (assessment).

For a website, entity work mostly means making clear which entity a page is about. Schema.org offers the `sameAs` property for this. It takes the URL of a reference page that unambiguously indicates the item's identity, for example its Wikipedia page, Wikidata entry or official website.

## Example

```json
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Organization",
  "name": "Example Inc.",
  "url": "https://www.example.com",
  "sameAs": ["https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q000000"]
}
```

The Wikidata ID `Q000000` and the domain are placeholders.

## FAQ

**What is entity SEO?**
Aligning content with entities and their relationships rather than with single keywords. How strongly Google weighs such signals has not been stated by Google (assessment).

*Diagram: Entities and relationships.* A knowledge graph describes entities such as people, places, organizations and things and connects them through named relationships. sameAs points to pages that unambiguously identify an entity. Google generates knowledge panels automatically. Fictional example; how Google stores entities internally is not public.

## Related terms

- [Knowledge Graph](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/knowledge-graph/index.md)
- [Knowledge panel](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/knowledge-panel/index.md)
- [Schema.org](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/schema-org/index.md)
- [Structured data](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/structured-data/index.md)
- [Semantic search](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/semantic-search/index.md)

## Sources

- [Introducing the Knowledge Graph: things, not strings – Google, May 16, 2012](https://blog.google/products/search/introducing-knowledge-graph-things-not/)
- [sameAs – Schema.org](https://schema.org/sameAs)
- [Entity SEO – Inlinks (supplementary)](https://inlinks.com/insight/entity-seo-targeting/)

---

Last updated: October 8, 2026
URL: https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/entity/