What it means
Entity SEO shifts the optimization target from keywords to entities. Where keyword SEO asks "what words are people typing?", entity SEO asks "what concepts, people, places, and things does my business need to be associated with?"
An entity could be your business name, a service category, a geographic location, an industry concept, or a competitor. Search engines like Google and AI engines like Gemini use entity relationships to understand context, disambiguate brands, and deliver relevant answers.
Why it matters
In AI search, entities matter more than exact-match keywords. When ChatGPT answers "best plumber in Melbourne," it is reasoning about entities - the city of Melbourne, the service category of plumbing, the brands it associates with both. If your business is not strongly associated with the right entities, you do not appear.
Entity SEO is what gets you into those associations.
How it's used
To strengthen entity associations:
- Use schema markup with explicit
@idandsameAsreferences - Build topical authority by covering an entity (a service, a location, a concept) in depth
- Get mentioned alongside related entities in authoritative content (e.g. industry articles that name your business and your service category together)
- Maintain consistent business information across Google Business Profile, directories, and social profiles
Entity SEO is the foundation of modern AEO. See our AEO services for the full picture.