Entity Optimization for AI Search: How to Make Your Brand Easier to Identify

What is entity optimization?

An entity is something that can be identified separately from other things. On a website, that can include the following.

Type	Examples
Organization	A company, nonprofit, or brand
Person	An author, founder, or subject-matter expert
Product	A SaaS product, app, or physical product
WebSite	A company or product website
Article	A blog post or research article

Entity optimization means publishing each entity's name, URL, attributes, and relationships consistently. For a company, this may include its legal name, brand name, official URL, logo, location, and external profiles. For an author, it can include their name, affiliation, profile page, and published work.

What Google documents about entities

Use Organization structured data for company information

Google recommends Organization structured data on a home page or a page that describes the organization. It can help Google understand the organization and distinguish it from others. (Google Search Central: Organization structured data)

Useful properties may include:

• name
• alternateName
• url
• logo
• address
• telephone
• sameAs

There are no required properties. Add only attributes that exist and match the information visible on the page.

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Organization",
  "@id": "https://example.com/#organization",
  "name": "Example Analytics",
  "url": "https://example.com/",
  "logo": "https://example.com/logo.png",
  "sameAs": [
    "https://www.linkedin.com/company/example-analytics/",
    "https://x.com/exampleanalytics"
  ]
}

A stable @id lets Article and Person structured data refer to the same Organization.

Use sameAs only for the same organization or person

Schema.org defines sameAs as a URL for a page that clearly identifies the same item. (Schema.org: sameAs)

An Organization can link to its official LinkedIn profile, company directory listing, or Wikipedia article. The important part is not the number of links: use only pages that identify the same organization.

Do not use sameAs for another company's page, a search result, or an article that merely mentions the company.

Make authors identifiable with profile pages

Authors are entities too. Google documents ProfilePage structured data, which can use mainEntity to identify the person or organization that a profile page is about. A profile page can connect an author's name, description, image, and external profiles to their articles. (Google Search Central: ProfilePage structured data)

An author profile can include:

• Name
• Affiliation
• Areas of responsibility or expertise
• Biography
• Published articles
• External profiles

This gives readers more information to verify who wrote an article than a byline alone.

Use the same names and relationships across the site

Structured data should not be the only place where a brand is defined. The visible copy should state the same information.

For example, a service page could say:

Example Analytics is an analytics platform developed by Example Inc. for marketing teams.

That sentence establishes the product, category, operating company, and audience. If different pages call the company Example Inc., Example Corporation, and Example Co., choose a legal name and a standard brand name, then use them consistently.

For each product, verify its official name, operating company, official URL, category, and primary use across company pages, product pages, press releases, and author pages.

Use WebSite structured data to state the site name

When a brand name differs from its domain, review WebSite structured data too. Google says it considers home page content, og:site_name, titles, headings, and WebSite structured data when choosing a site name for Search. (Google Search Central: Site names in Google Search)

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "WebSite",
  "name": "Example Analytics",
  "alternateName": "Example",
  "url": "https://example.com/"
}

Use the same brand name in the home page copy, structured data, and Open Graph metadata.

Use Wikidata only when it meets its criteria

Wikidata is a public knowledge base operated by Wikimedia. It records people, companies, products, and other entities as Items with identifiers, names, official sites, and related information. (Wikidata: Help:Items)

Whether a company or SaaS product belongs in Wikidata depends on its Item-creation criteria, not its category. Wikidata lists a corresponding Wikimedia page, reliable public references that clearly describe the subject, and a necessary structural need as possible grounds for an Item. It also says Items should not be created for promotional purposes. (Wikidata: Help:Items)

Do not create a Wikidata Item solely for AI search optimization.

When an Item already exists, check that its official website and other facts are accurate. Use it only when the subject meets Wikidata's criteria.

Review brand information on external profiles

Review the content of the main profiles the organization actually maintains, not only the pages referenced by sameAs. These may include LinkedIn, X, GitHub, YouTube, Crunchbase, industry directories, and review sites.

Keep the name, official URL, company description, and product names current. The objective is not to create more profiles; it is to keep meaningful identity information accurate where it already exists.

Check entity information systematically

List the brand, product, and author separately before comparing the site with its structured data.

Item to review	Information to compare
Brand	Legal name, alternate name, official URL, logo
Company	Legal entity name, location, official profiles
Product	Name, operating company, category, official URL
Author	Name, affiliation, profile page
External pages	Name, description, official URL
Structured data	Organization, Person, WebSite, sameAs

Google's general structured data guidelines require markup to represent the page content accurately. (Google Search Central: General structured data guidelines)

Keep the information in structured data consistent with the company and author pages that visitors can read.

Record how AI search describes the brand

After implementation, use the same queries across AI search services over time. Natural queries might include:

• What is [Brand]?
• What does [Brand] do?
• Who operates [Product]?
• What is the official website of [Brand]?

Record whether the answer shows the correct brand name, category, operating company, URL, description, and sources. Responses can vary by service and date, so compare a record of repeated checks rather than a single answer.

No special schema is needed for AI search

Google does not set separate technical requirements for appearing in AI Overviews or AI Mode. (Google Search Central: AI features and your website)

There is no special Schema.org markup for AI search. Focus on crawlability, indexing, useful page content, internal links, and accurate structured data. Use Organization, Person, and WebSite markup correctly instead of adding large volumes of new markup.

For the access, indexing, and structured-data checks behind that foundation, use our technical SEO checklist.

Check entity information and page content together

Correct identity information alone is not enough if a page does not contain the information needed to answer a user's question. Review both entity information and page content.

Please Cite Me! analyzes a public URL to check whether AI systems can access, understand, and verify the page, and whether information useful for citation is missing.