Someone searches your business name and Google shows a phone number you gave up years ago. Or an AI assistant says you still offer a service you dropped in 2022. That’s an entity problem, even if nobody called it that.
An entity is something Google recognises as one distinct real-world thing, rather than a string of words. For you, it’s your business. Entity SEO for local businesses is making sure Google and AI search tools know which business you are, and find the same facts about you wherever they look.
Nobody outside Google can see exactly how it decides two mentions are the same business; anyone who says otherwise is guessing. But what Google publishes is enough to act on. This guide covers what an entity is, why your Business Profile is the centre of it, and four jobs: one official name, an About page with real facts, schema that matches the page, and other people confirming who you are.
What Is an Entity in SEO?
An entity is a specific real-world thing (a person, place, organisation or object) that Google stores as one item with facts attached, instead of treating it as a set of keywords. Your business is an entity. So is your town, and so are the services you offer.
The idea goes back to May 2012, when Google launched its Knowledge Graph under the line “things, not strings”. Its example was [taj mahal]: to a search engine, just two words. The Knowledge Graph was meant to recognise they could mean a monument, a musician, a casino or a restaurant.
So the system was built to tell apart things that share a name. That’s exactly the problem a local business has. Google’s developer documentation now says “The Knowledge Graph has millions of entries that describe real-world entities like people, places, and things.”
Say there are several firms called something like “Premier Roofing” across the North West, one in Warrington and one in St Helens. The name alone can’t separate them. The address, phone number, website, company number and the profiles that link to each other can.
For a business that serves customers locally, Google already has a place where it keeps that one item.
For a Local Business, Your Google Business Profile Is the Entity
If you’ve ever logged into your Business Profile and found your opening hours changed by someone who isn’t you, you’ve already seen entity resolution at work.
Plenty of articles treat a knowledge panel as the prize. Google describes knowledge panels as “information boxes that appear on Google when you search for entities”, “automatically generated” from “various sources across the web”. Then the line that matters: “Business Profiles look similar to knowledge panels, but are specific to businesses that serve customers at a particular location or within a designated service area.”
So if you’ve been reading up on the Google Knowledge Graph as a local business, stop chasing a panel. Your Business Profile is the thing to get right.
Google doesn’t leave it alone. It “gathers info from different sources, like user reports and licensed content”, and can publish updates backed by other public information, such as your website. In the profile editor, blue text “shows info changed by Google”.
Google is comparing your profile with the rest of the web, and if the web disagrees, it can win. AI assistants look beyond your site too: OpenAI says ChatGPT may use trusted third-party providers for local information such as nearby business listings.
Haven’t opened your profile’s edit screen in six months? Do it today and look for blue text.
How Google Recognises the Same Business in Different Places
Your business already exists as a record in more places than you might think:
- your website
- your Google Business Profile
- the Companies House register, if you’re a limited company (“We register company information and make it available to the public”)
- directories and trade body listings
- your social profiles
- review sites and local news mentions
Each carries some of the same facts: name, address or area, phone, website, what you do. When they agree, it’s easy to treat them as one business. When one says “Smith Plumbing”, another “J Smith Plumbing Services Ltd” and a third lists a mobile you stopped answering years ago, there’s room for doubt. That’s the plain logic of matching records, not a claim about Google’s system.
Google’s system isn’t public. It does its best “to keep the search algorithm details confidential”, and nobody outside Google can see how it decides two mentions are the same business. Some practitioners argue, from Google’s 2024 leaked API documents, that your name and primary category decide which searches you’re eligible for. That’s theory: the leak didn’t show weights or current use, and Google warned against assumptions based on “out-of-context, outdated, or incomplete information.”
Checking your name, address and phone number across directories is its own job, covered in our guide to local citations and the business-facts step of a GEO audit.
Think of it as a reference check, not a ranking trick. The more independent places tell the same story, the easier you are to vouch for.
Start With One Official Name and Use It Everywhere
This is the cheapest fix in the guide, usually a morning’s work.
UK firms have a wrinkle most entity SEO articles ignore. GOV.UK says: “You can trade using a different name to your registered name. This is known as a ‘business name’.” That business name can’t include “Limited” or “Ltd”. Sole traders can use a trading name or their own name. So two names can be legitimate. Five is the problem.
Google wants your Business Profile name to “reflect your business’ real-world name, as used consistently on your shopfront, website, stationery and as known to customers.” No taglines, locations or keywords, and Ltd only with real-world proof (signage, invoices) that it’s part of the name. Unnecessary information “could result in the suspension of your Business Profile.” So “Smith Plumbing Warrington Boiler Repairs” isn’t an entity signal. It’s a suspension risk.
Your website counts too. Google’s site-name guidance says to “use your site name consistently across your home page”, including in WebSite structured data. If it’s less confident in your name, Google may generate one from other sources or show your domain.
What to do:
- Pick the trading name you actually use on the van, the sign and your invoices.
- Use it character for character on your website, Business Profile and social profiles.
- Keep the registered name for the legal disclosure and the schema
legalNameproperty, both covered below.
Rebranded, merged or taken over a business? Start here. If your name has never changed and matches everywhere, skim on.
Put Real, Checkable Facts on Your About Page
Most About pages could belong to any business in the country. Swap the logo and nobody would notice.
For a UK limited company, some facts aren’t optional. GOV.UK says your website must show your registered number, your registered office address, where the company is registered (England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland) and that it’s a limited company. Most firms put it in the footer. Put it on the About page too: these facts tie your website to your Companies House record.
Then add facts a stranger could check:
- your trading and registered names side by side (“Smith Plumbing is the trading name of J Smith Plumbing Services Ltd, company number…”)
- where you’re based and the towns you cover
- when you started
- who runs it, and their relevant qualifications or registrations
- the trade body or regulator you’re registered with, linked to your listing
- links to your Business Profile and main social profiles
Google’s Organization structured data guidance also recommends putting your details on “your home page, or a single page that describes your organization, for example the about us page.” So the About page is where your facts live and where your schema should describe you.
If a stranger couldn’t check a single claim on your About page, neither can Google.
Describe Your Business in Schema, and Only What’s on the Page
Schema is the most oversold part of entity SEO, and where Google has been most direct. Structured data (schema) is code that labels facts for machines: this is our name, this is our address.
What Google documents
Google says organisation markup “can help Google better understand your organization’s administrative details and disambiguate your organization in search results.” For a local business, Google recommends the most specific LocalBusiness subtype that fits, with name and address required. Useful properties: name (your trading name), legalName (“The registered, legal name of your Organization”), url, logo, address and telephone.
What sameAs means
Schema.org defines sameAs as the “URL of a reference Web page that unambiguously indicates the item’s identity”. Google’s Organization guide calls it “The URL of a page on another website with additional information about your organization”. Google lists it in its Organization guide, not its LocalBusiness one; it still applies because LocalBusiness is a type of Organization in schema.org.
In practice: your Business Profile, Companies House page, main social profiles and trade body listing, if they’re genuinely yours and show the same details. Skip Knowledge Graph IDs: Google’s John Mueller said in 2021 they “could change over time”.
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Plumber",
"name": "Example Plumbing",
"legalName": "Example Plumbing Services Ltd",
"url": "https://www.example.co.uk/",
"telephone": "+44 0000 000000",
"address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "addressLocality": "Exampletown", "postalCode": "AB1 2CD", "addressCountry": "GB" },
"sameAs": ["https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00000000"]
}The rules
Google’s policies say: “Don’t mark up content that is not visible to readers of the page”, and your markup “must be a true representation of the page content.” If your schema says you’re open 24 hours, or names a town missing from the page, fix one or the other. That’s why the About page comes first.
What it won’t do
“Google does not guarantee that your structured data will show up in search results.” Mueller was blunter in April 2025: “Structured data won’t make your site rank better.” Google’s AI features guidance adds there’s “no special schema.org structured data that you need to add” for AI Overviews or AI Mode.
If a plugin wrote your schema, open the page source and read it once. If it says anything the page doesn’t, that’s your first fix.
Let Other People Confirm Who You Are
The most convincing evidence about your business is the evidence you didn’t write.
Everything so far is you describing yourself. Google’s local ranking help says prominence “means how well-known a business is” and is “also based on info like how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have.”
For a local firm, corroboration looks like:
- reviews on your Business Profile that mention the actual service and town
- a trade body or regulator listing with your name and a link
- local press, sponsorships, suppliers or partners mentioning you by the same name
- accurate directory listings (our local citations guide covers those)
A mention without a link still describes you, if it uses the right name and town.
Wikipedia? Most local businesses won’t qualify. Its notability guideline needs “significant coverage in multiple reliable secondary sources that are independent of the subject”, including at least one regional or national source. Directory-style listings don’t count, and Wikipedia strongly discourages editing articles about yourself. Don’t pay anyone to make you one.
If you’d rather someone checked whether Google and the AI tools have your business straight, tell us what you do and where. We’ll give you a straight answer on whether we can help, and if we can’t, we’ll say so.
FAQ
Is entity SEO different from local SEO?
Not for a local business. Entity SEO is the part of local SEO about Google being sure who you are and that your facts agree everywhere. Google still says local results are based mainly on relevance, distance and prominence, so entity work sits alongside your Business Profile, reviews and website, not instead of them.
Do I need a knowledge panel for my business?
No. Google says Business Profiles look similar to knowledge panels but are specific to businesses that serve customers at a particular location or within a service area. For a local business, the Business Profile is the one to get right. Keep it accurate, check it for changes Google has made, and make sure your website agrees with it.
Will adding schema improve my rankings?
Not directly. Google’s John Mueller said in 2025: “Structured data won’t make your site rank better.” Google doesn’t guarantee valid markup will produce any search feature either. What schema gives you is a clear, machine-readable statement of your facts, which is exactly why it has to match what’s visible on the page.
Do I need special markup for ChatGPT or Google’s AI Overviews?
Not for Google. Its guidance says there are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, and no special schema.org structured data you need to add. It does say to keep your structured data matching the visible text and your Business Profile up to date. For how AI tools pick sources, see our guide to AI search citations.