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Schema & Data

Knowledge Graph

Also known as: Google Knowledge Graph

Google's Knowledge Graph is a database of entities - people, businesses, places, and things - and the relationships between them. When Google shows a knowledge panel on the right of search results, it is pulling from the Knowledge Graph.

What it means

Google's Knowledge Graph is a vast database of entities and the relationships between them. Each entity - a person, a company, a city, a movie - has a unique identifier (called a Google KG ID) and a set of facts attached to it. When Google answers a question or shows a knowledge panel, it often draws on Knowledge Graph data.

Many other AI engines, including Gemini and Google AI Overviews, are tightly integrated with the Knowledge Graph.

Why it matters

Being recognized as an entity in Google's Knowledge Graph dramatically improves your odds of being cited in AI answers. The Knowledge Graph is, in many ways, what an AI engine reaches for first when asked "tell me about X."

Most small Australian businesses are not in the Knowledge Graph. Getting in is one of the highest-leverage AEO moves available.

How it's used

To improve Knowledge Graph presence:

  • Implement Organization or LocalBusiness schema with sameAs references to your social profiles, Wikipedia (if applicable), Wikidata, and Crunchbase
  • Get your business mentioned in authoritative sources Google trusts (industry publications, news sites)
  • Maintain a complete, verified Google Business Profile
  • Submit your business to Wikidata, the open-source structured database that feeds Knowledge Graph data

Read our AEO services page for how this fits into a full program.

Related terms

Entity SEO

Entity SEO is the practice of optimizing for the entities (people, places, brands, concepts) associated with your business rather than just keywords. It is how you get search engines and AI engines to recognize what your business is, not just what words it uses.

Schema Markup

Schema markup is structured code added to a webpage that tells search engines and AI engines exactly what each piece of content represents. Proper schema turns ambiguous text into machine-readable facts about your business, products, and reviews.

AI Overviews

AI Overviews are AI-generated summaries that appear at the top of Google search results for many queries. They synthesize information from multiple sources into a direct answer, with citation links to the websites Google pulled from.

Google Business Profile

Google Business Profile is the free Google tool that lets a business manage how it appears in Google Search and Maps. A complete, well-maintained Profile is the single highest-leverage signal for local SEO and AI engine visibility for service businesses.

Read deeper

Want help applying this to your business?

Book a free AI citation audit. We run thirty prompts across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews and send a personalised report within 72 hours.

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