Entity
An entity is a distinct, uniquely identifiable thing such as a business, person, or place that search engines and AI systems recognize as a single node with attributes, so Smith Plumbing in Dayton is one entity however it's written online.
Also known as: Named entity, Knowledge graph entity
An entity is a thing, not a string. Search engines and AI systems try to resolve the text they read into distinct real-world objects: this business, that person, this city, that service. Your company is an entity. Its address, phone number, hours, owner, services, and reviews are attributes attached to it. Entity recognition is the process by which a system reads Smith Plumbing, Smith Plumbing LLC, and Smith's Plumbing & Heating on three different sites and decides whether they're one business or three.
That resolution step is where a lot of small businesses quietly lose. If your website says one name, your Google Business Profile another, Yelp lists an old address, and your Facebook page has a phone number you stopped using, a system trying to identify you as a single entity has contradictory evidence. It may split you into two weak entities, merge you with a competitor of a similar name, or simply lack the confidence to name you. None of that shows up as an error; you just don't get recommended.
AI answer engines depend on entity resolution more than classic search did. When Perplexity answers a question about dentists in Ann Arbor, it's reading several sources at once and deciding which mentions refer to the same practice. Clear, consistent facts across your site and your listings make you an easy entity to assemble. A well-defined entity also gets described more specifically, because the engine can attach attributes like accepts new patients or emergency service with confidence.
For a small business, being a clean entity comes down to boring consistency. Same legal name everywhere, same address format, same phone number, same short description of what you do. Your own website should be the canonical statement of who you are, with your services and service area in plain text, because it's the one source you fully control. Directories and review sites then confirm it rather than contradict it.
Tibly's AI-readiness audit checks whether the basic facts on your site are stated in a way a machine can extract, and its cited-source tracking shows which listings the engines are reading about you. When those listings disagree with your site, that mismatch is usually one of the first things to fix.
Keep exploring the glossary
- Knowledge GraphA knowledge graph is a structured database of entities, such as businesses, people, and places, and the relationships between them, which search engines like Google use to answer factual questions directly and to understand what a business is.
- Structured Data (schema.org / JSON-LD)Structured data is machine-readable markup, usually schema.org vocabulary written as JSON-LD, that labels facts like a business's name, address, hours, and services so search engines can index them precisely, though no study shows it causes AI citations.
- Google Business Profile (GBP)Google Business Profile is the free listing a business manages in Google that holds its name, address, hours, phone, categories, photos, and reviews, driving Google Maps and local 3-pack results and serving as a heavily cited source in AI answers.
- LocalBusiness SchemaLocalBusiness schema is the schema.org structured data type, with subtypes like Dentist, Plumber, Restaurant, and LegalService, that marks up a business's name, address, phone, hours, and service area in JSON-LD so search engines can index those facts without inferring them.
Common questions about Entity
- How do I know if Google or AI engines recognize my business as an entity?
- Search your exact business name and see whether a knowledge panel or Google Business Profile card appears. Then ask an AI engine about your business by name and check whether it describes you accurately. Confusion with another business or vague answers suggest your facts are inconsistent across sources.
- Does schema markup make my business an entity?
- It can help classic search engines identify you, but it isn't required and it isn't magic. Search Atlas found no correlation between schema coverage and how often LLMs cite a site. Consistent, plainly stated facts across your site and listings matter more than markup.